| Anukulchandra (Thakur)
(1888-1969) Hindu devotee, physician and founder of the satsanga
Ashram (hermitage), was born on 14 September 1888 at Hemayetpur
in the district of pabna.
His father was Shibchandra Chakraborty, a contractor, and his mother,
Manomohini Devi.
Anukulchandra studied
up to Class IX in Pabna Institution and then went to Naihati High
School, West Bengal for further studies. He got a diploma in Homeopathy
from Calcutta National Medical School and returned to his village
to practice. Anukulchandra believed that ill health was not only
physical, but also mental and psychological. Accordingly, he placed
considerable emphasis on the treatment of mental diseases as well.
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Thakur Anukulchandra |
Anukulchandra was initiated into devotional ways by his
mother. This led to his forming a kirtan
party and performing kirtan.Sometimes during a performance, he would go
into a trance. His utterances during these trances were later collected
and published in a book titled Punyapunthi. It was from this period
that he started being addressed as 'Thakur'.
Anukulchandra set up a Satsanga Ashram at Pabna for fostering
spiritual development. The four ideals of Satsanga are education, agriculture,
industry and good marriage. He also set up a school, a charitable hospital,
an engineering workshop, a publishing house, a printing press. The Satsanga
still operates in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. In Bangladesh, it has
offices in several places, including Dhaka and Chittagong.
In 1946 Anukulchandra went to Deoghar in Bihar and set
up an ashram there on the model of Satsanga. He did not return to Pabna
after the partition of India, but continued to remain in Deoghar where
he died on 26 January 1969.
Anukulchandra was a prolific writer. Noted among his
94 books (82 in Bangali and 12 in English) are Punyapunthi, Anushruti
(6 volumes), Chalar Sathi, Shashvati (3 volumes), Pritibinayak
(2 volumes). [Paresh Chandra Mandal]
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