Cover of a Byomkesh Bakshi stories collection , English translation. Still from the TV version with Rajit Kapoor (in the foreground) as Bakshi.

Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictional detective in Bengali literature created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The character has been inspired by the legendary Sherlock Holmes, but entirely Indianized by the literary genius of the author. Initially serialized in the literary magazine Basumati, the stories and novels were all eventually published in hardcover editions, the first being Byomkesher Diary. Image File history File links Byomkesh_book_cover. ... Image File history File links Byomkesh_book_cover. ... Bengali or Bangla (IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages. ... Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay has been a well known literary figure of Bengal. ... A portrait of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ...

The detective was picturized in a film (Chiriyakhana or The Zoo) by Satyajit Ray, starring Uttam Kumar in 1967. It has also been televised in Hindi by Doordarshan by Basu Chatterjee, featuring Rajit Kapoor. Chiriakhana or Chiriyakhana (meaning the zoo in Bengali) is the name of the Bengali cinema, by Satyajit Ray, starring Uttam Kumar, released in 1967. ...   (Bengali: সত্যজিত্ রায় Shottojit Rae) (May 2, 1921–April 23, 1992) was an Indian filmmaker who is widely regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. ... Uttam Kumar (Bangla: উত্তম কুমার ) (3 September 1926 - 24 July 1980) was a legendary Bengali actor. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Doordarshan (sometimes DoorDarshan; ) is a Public broadcast Terrestrial television channel run by Prasar Bharati, a board nominated by the Government of India. ... Basu Chatterjee is a noted Indian Film Director. ...

Major characters and events

Byomkesh meets his lifelong friend, Ajit in Satyanveshi(Satya-Truth and anveshi - investigator), where he introduces himself as a "truth seeker" under the alias Atulchandra Mitra. Later, Byomkesh and Ajit share a flat on Harrison Street. Ajit's ambition from the start is to be a writer and he becomes moderately successful by narrating their cases. He buys a car in the later years of World War II. Byomkesh and Ajit get many of their leads from their favorite newspaper, Dainik Kalketu. Byomkesh marries Satyaboti, someone he meets while investigating the murder of Karalicharan Basu. Later, they buy a house. Puntiram is their faithful servant through most of the novels. The sympathetic police officer, Purandar Pandey, who helps out in many cases first makes his appearance in Chitrochor. During the Durgo-rahasyo case, Byomkesh's son is born. In many of the novels written after the war, Sharadindu changes from a first-person narrative to a more impersonal third-person format. Ajit Bandyopadhyay, also known as Ajit Banerjee or simply Ajit, is a longtime friend, associate, and narrator of Byomkesh Bakshi in the Bengali detective fiction written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Literature Featuring Byomkesh Bakshi

Anthologized in Sharadindu Omnibus Volume I

1. Satyanneshi: Byomkesh makes his first appearance and meets lifelong friend and narrator, Ajit.
2. Pother kanta (also transliterated as Pather kanta). This ia a short novel featuring an innovative serial killer.
3. Seemanto-heera (can also be transliterated as Sheemanto heera, Seemanta heera or Shimantohira). A story featuring the theft of a diamond.
4. Makorshar rosh 'A story about a man consuming "Tarantulla" venom of spider as intoxication.
5. Arthamonorthom
6. Chorabali
7. Agnibaan' 'This story is about a scientist who invented match sticks to kill his wife to claim the insurance money but eventually his only son and daughter died.
8. Upasonghaar
9. Roktomukhi neela
10. Byomkesh o Boroda
11. Chitrochor' 'A Story about a man who stole a group photograph to conceal his identity.
12. Durgo-rahasyo
13. Chiriyakhana

Pother kanta (Bengali: পথের কাঁটা) also spelled Pather kanta, (Lit: A thorn on the path) is a detective novel written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay featuring the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi and his friend, assistant, and narrator Ajit Bandyopadhyay. ... Sheemanto heera (The Frontier Diamond) is a detective novella written in Bengali by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay featuring the sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi and Ajit Bandyopadhyay. ... Chiriakhana or Chiriyakhana (meaning the zoo in Bengali) is the name of the Bengali cinema, by Satyajit Ray, starring Uttam Kumar, released in 1967. ...

Anthologized in Sharadindu Omnibus Volume II

1. Adim ripu
2. Banhi-patanga
3. Rokter daag
4. Monimondon
5. Amriter mrityu
6. Shaila Rahasya
7. Ochin pakhi
8. Kohen kobi Kalidas'
9. Adrishyo trikon
10. Khunji khunji nari
11. Adwitio
12. Mognomoinak
13. Dushtochokro
14. Hneyalir chhondo
15. Room no. 2
16. Chholonar chhondo
17. Shojarur kanta
18. Benishonghar
19. Lohar biscuit
20. Bishupal bodh. Incomplete

Penguin Books (India) have started publishing English translations (translated by Sreejata Guha currently living at Pittsburgh, USA) of Byomkesh novellas. The first book released in 1999 titled Picture Imperfect has the following stories: 1. The Inquisitor (Satyanveshi) 2. The Gramophone Pin Mystery (Pather Kanta) 3. The Venom of the Tarantula (Makarshar Rosh) 4. Where there's a Will (Arthamanartham) 5. Calamity Strikes (Ognibaan) 6. An Encore for Byomkesh (Upasanhar) 7. Picture Imperfect (Chitrachor) The subject of this article may not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ...

Trivia

Harrison Street and Strand Road intersection c. 1945. Byomkesh and Ajit spent most of the years in an apartment not far from here.

• The customs and manners of Calcutta during the British Raj are very well portrayed in the earlier books, from street names to the names of the shops. Interestingly, the bridge spanning the Hooghly river, was a pontoon bridge as mentioned by Byomkesh twice in Pother kanta. This was prior to the current Howrah Bridge, construction of which began three years after the publication of the first edition of the novel.

• In the foreword to the first anthologized edition of stories featuring Byomkesh, Byomkesher diary, published by Gurudas Chottopadhyay and Sons, which contained Pother kanta, Satyanneshi, Seemanto-heera and Makorshar rosh, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay wrote, "Many will be anxious to know whether these are original stories or merely transcreated from foreign novels. For the interest of the general reader, I'd like to make it known that these are completely my own creations"

• Although Pother kanta was the first novel featuring Byomkesh that Sharadindu wrote, since Satyanneshi is the novel in which the character of Byomkesh Bakshi is established, it is considered by readers to be the first in the series.

• Byomkesh learned to play chess from Ajit.

• Byomkesh learns to love poetry on reading Sukumar Ray's Abol Tabol, a book given to his son by Ajit.

• Byomkesh's father was a mathematics teacher by profession.

• Byomkesh reads the personal advertisements in a newspaper as if they were the real news. In stories like Pather Kanta, cases are partially introduced through the personal advertisement section of the newspaper.

• Although most stories are penned by Ajit, somewhere through the second book of Byomkesh stories, he gives up writing Byomkesh's accounts.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (948x720, 187 KB) Summary Photos taken by GIs in Calcutta in 1945. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (948x720, 187 KB) Summary Photos taken by GIs in Calcutta in 1945. ... This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ... The flag of British India British India, circa 1860 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule; from Sanskrit Rajya) was the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, which included the present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Burma (Myanmar), whereby these lands were under the colonial... The Hooghly River (alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) is a distributary of the Ganges River in India. ... Pontoon bridge across the James River at Richmond, Virginia, 1865. ... The Howrah Bridge spans the Hooghly River, linking Howrah to Kolkata, India - the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. ... A foreword is a literary device that is often found in the beginning of a piece of literature, before the introduction. ... Pother kanta (Bengali: পথের কাঁটা) also spelled Pather kanta, (Lit: A thorn on the path) is a detective novel written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay featuring the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi and his friend, assistant, and narrator Ajit Bandyopadhyay. ... Sheemanto heera (The Frontier Diamond) is a detective novella written in Bengali by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay featuring the sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi and Ajit Bandyopadhyay. ... Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay has been a well known literary figure of Bengal. ... Pother kanta (Bengali: পথের কাঁটা) also spelled Pather kanta, (Lit: A thorn on the path) is a detective novel written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay featuring the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi and his friend, assistant, and narrator Ajit Bandyopadhyay. ... A well-known photo of Sukumar Ray Sukumar Ray (Bangla:সুকুমার রায়) (1887-1923) was a Bengali nonsense poet, story writer and playwright. ... Abol tabol (Weird and random) is a collection of poems and rhymes by Sukumar Ray. ...

External links

• An outline of Bengali fictional detectives
• An English translation of a few stories (ISBN 0-14-028710-8)
• Also a second book translated in to English
• View rerun of Byomkesh Bakshi episodes on Door darshan uploaded to Web