Once the dacoit Ratnakar decided to sacrifice a girl in order to please Goddess Kali. But the girl cried and pleaded for her life. Ratnakars’ mind changed and he decided to set the girl free. Another dacoit, claims power, kidnaps the same girls gain and prepares to sacrifice her. Ratnakar discovers this, curses and sets the girl free again. But to worship the goddess, he asks his men to find another sacrifice. But when they were to hunt down a prey, Ratnakar asked them not to release the arrow. Later Ratnakars’men found that their leader was taking no more pleasure in bloodshed. Considering it a shameful cowardliness, they abandoned him. Valmiki began to wander in the forest. One day he saw a young hunter killing two innocent love birds.
It is then when he saw the image of Maa Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge). Maa Lakshmi tried to lure him with wealth, failing to which Maa Saraswati appeared and blessed him.
She told she came to him as the young girl, to melt and fill his heart with music and knowledge. She blessed him with the power to create music, giving him her veena and promised that his name shall resound over ages to come. Ratnakar thus became Rishi Balmiki (Valmiki, sanskrit) and is believed to have penned down the epic – the Ramayana.
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“Balmiki Pratibha, is a bengali opera penned down by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Dakshinee Bhavan, one of the premier institute of imparting tagores music to present generations staged this opera at Kalamandir, Kolkata on 09.12.11.”
From Balmiki Pratibha photos, posted by Anirban Saha on 12/11/2011 (34 items)
- Balmiki Pratibha (Rabindra Geeti-Natya) staged at Kalamandir by Dakshinee bhawan.
- They are the bana-devi’s. They voice wisdom at parts of the story to take it forward.
- The story starts with depicting the “dashyu’s” or the dacoits, whos’ leader is Ratnak…
- the dacoits, looted and happily so shared with their entire clan, claiming they fear …
- ..and there came the leader of all the dacoits – Ratnakar.
- He decided to worship Goddess Kali in a fashion quite elegant, and orders others to f…
- sincere to their leaders, they set out to find a prey.
- ..but not before having something for food.
- ..and there, this balika (young girl) did lose her way in the dense jungle… sits do…
- ..and what better prey to sacrifice would they have got?
- She was taken to the leader, for her to get sacrificed, to please Goddess Kali.
- She was taken to the leader,
- ..and the bono-devis (thats actually the inner soul) starts singing “Daya karo anatha…
- the leaders mind changes… and he decides to leave her free. —
- Okay, now the thing is… who wishes to wash their hands off from such a target?? Onc…
- thats the preparation for sacrificing her!
- ..and He prepared to sacrificed her to please Goddess Kali.
- Ratnakar – the leader of Dacoits, discovered it and was very angry at them, for not …
- Hahaha, the second in power dacoit blames the others for having persuaded him to do s…
- ..and she decides to let her free again.
- …and Balmiki turns saint, listening to his heart that could have not bared any more…
- ..but even then he had to worship Goddess Kali…. so he asks others to get another p…
- They are the bono-devis. (fairies of the forest) and their work is simple : appear at…
- Balmiki withdraws his command to hunt down a prey.. and tells his group, not to hunt …
- Slowly, but gradually the dacoits felt, that this “raja” or leader is losing on his m…
- Now that the band of dacoits didnot listen to him, Balmiki found 2 forest hunters hun…
- Goddess Saraswati appears! She is the goddess of learning… to bless him.
- To test his intentions, Maa Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) lured him of the show of weal…
- Finally the time of enlightenment… and I shouldnot joke here… Maa Saraswati appea…
- She blessed that the cry of the poor girl has changed him, and he shall be able to ch…
- Thats the blessing. Ratnakar apparently became a muni , or a saint.. and became Rish…
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Photograph : Anirban Saha Photography.