Remembering Mahamahopadhyay Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya: One of India's greatest Sanskrit scholars

Remembering Mahamahopadhyay Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya: One of India's greatest Sanskrit scholars

In his hometown of Narit, he founded a secondary Anglo-Sanskrit school that is still in operation today as Narit Nyayratna Institution.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Tuesday, February 21, 2023, 04:26 PM IST
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Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya (22 February 1836 – 12 April 1906) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit, and the principal of the Sanskrit College between 1876 and 1895. A friend and colleague of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, he played an important role in the Bengal Renaissance. He was one of the most eminent Bengalis in Kolkata of the nineteenth century.

In 1876, he took over as Sanskrit College's principal after Prasanna Kumar Sarbadhikary.

During his 19 years as principal, he took the initiative to start the Sanskrit Title Examination, which awards titles to deserving students in specialised Sanskrit departments.

In his hometown of Narit, he founded a secondary Anglo-Sanskrit school that is still in operation today as Narit Nyayratna Institution.

He revised Kavya Prakas, Mimansa Darshan, and the Black Yajur Veda with extensive comments. Comments on Dayananda Saravati's Veda-Bhashya, Tulasidharan Mimansa, The Authorship of Mrichchhakatika, and Lupta Samvatsara are only a few of the pamphlets he produced.

The renowned Vedic scholar Swami Dayanand responded to the questions posed by Mahesh Chandra Nyayaratna in 1880 by writing a book under the title Bhranti Nivarana.

He made significant contributions to the general growth of Sanskrit study as well as the relief of hunger, the promotion of education, and the opening up of communication channels through financial and other methods.

He played a key role in creating roads and infrastructure, including tramways, in his hometown of Howrah in addition to significantly enhancing the roads and infrastructure in and around Narit.

On February 16, 1887, in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, the title of Mahamahopadhyay was given to him as a personal accolade for excellence in oriental learning. It gave him the rank in Durbar right after titular Rajas.

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