Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar was one of the most celebrated fairy tale writers of Bengal in 20th Century. He was born on 15th of April, 1877 at Ulayil village, Dhaka district of undivided Bengal.
Although he started his literary journey with the publication of a collection of poems, named “Utthan” at the age of 25 years, his life-long interest in the folk tales and fables of Bengal motivated him to collect such oral stories from different parts of Bengal. He used to record these stories with phonograph, and then prepared the manuscript, keeping the simple language and phonetic usage unmodified to keep the aboriginal flavour intact. His work was, thus, almost comparable with the Brothers Grimm. The first of this monumental work resulted in the renowned fairy tales book named “Thakurmar Jhuli”, published in 1906. This book also contained original cover and illustrations by Dakshinaranjan himself, which were highly praised by others (e.g. by Satyajit Ray) for their unique style and creative design. His other noteworthy literary works include “Thakurdadar Jhuli”, “Thandidir Thole”, “Dadamoshayer Thole”, “Charu o Haru”, “First Boy”, “Last Boy”, “Utpal o Robi”, “Banglar Brotokotha”, “Sobuj Lekha”, “Amar Desh”, “Ashirbad o Ashirbani”, “Kishorder mon”, “Natun Katha”, “Rupak Katha”, “SrishtirSwapno” “Banglar Sonar Chele”, “Chirodiner Rupkatha” etc. Apart from literary contribution to Bengali folk lore, the compilation of his patriotic songs, named “Ma ba Aahuti” was quite popular among the contemporary society. Dakshinaranjan also served as the editor of a number of journals such as “Sudha” (1901–1904), “Sarathi” (1908) and “Path” (1930–1932). Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar passed away on 30th of March, 1957 at the age of 80 years.