Bengali Ramayana - Krittivasa

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The Bengali Ramayana was written by Krittivasa.

Here is what Krittivasa says about himself in teh

Ramayana :<br><br>In the land of the king Vedanuj, there

was a priest named Narasimha. He used to stay in the

land of Banga but one day looking for solitude he came

to the banks of the Ganges. <br>One night the priest

spent on the banks of the river. Here he stayed. His

son was Garveshwar. Garveshwar’s sons were Murari,

Surya and Govinda. Murari had seven sons, the eldest

was called Bhairava. His wife was from the Ganguly

family. <br>Surya’s son Nishapati was a great priest. He

was the official priest of King Gaudeshwar.

<br>Bhairava, Murari’s son was very famous as a priest. His

name was known as far as Varanasi. In the month of

Magha, on the day of Shree Panchami, Bhairava had a son

named Kriitvasa.<br>When he was twelve years old,

Krittivasa went northwards to study the Vedas. Completing

his studies, Krittivasa then went to the land of King

Gaudeshwar. The king greeted Krittivasa. <br>Kriitivasa was a

great poet with the gift of music. One of the kings

courtiers, Kedar Khan, wanted to hear the Ramayana. He and

the other courtiers approached Kriitivasa. Taking

permission from the king, asking permission from his

parents, Krittivasa started composing the Ramayana in

poetic verse (chanda).