Dharma Narayan Barma

Dharma Narayan Barma is a retired schoolteacher from Tufanganj in Cooch Behar who has given his life to reviving the Kamatapuri language and the history of its speakers. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of literature and education, from West Bengal ^[1].

Teacher

Barma was born on 10 November 1935 and took a master’s degree in Sanskrit from Calcutta University in 1959 ^[2]. He taught at the Metropolitan Higher Secondary School in Calcutta, then returned home to teach at the Nripendra Narayan Memorial school in Tufanganj until he retired ^[2].

He was a founding member of Tufanganj Mahavidyalaya, a college now under Panchanan Barma University, and helped found the Baorkodali Higher Secondary School ^[2]. He served on the Cooch Behar district school board for five years in a row ^[2].

The palace and the language

In 1977 he led the campaign to have the Cooch Behar Palace protected as a monument of national importance; it was then made a museum ^[2]. As president of the Maharaja Naranarayan Chila Ray Seva Trust he gave financial help to needy Rajbanshi families for schooling, medical care and weddings ^[2]. Since 1972 he has been president of Raidak, a magazine published in Kamatapuri ^[2].

Grammar and history

In digging out the history of his mother tongue he built up a wide knowledge of the linguistic history of Indian languages ^[2]. He wrote A Step to Kamata-Bihari Language in English to give the language a structured grammar, along with books in Bengali on its grammar, literature and history and on the history of the Kamrup–Kamata–Cooch Behar kingdom ^[2].

His historical novels tell the stories of Maharaja Naranarayan and Maharaja Nilambar of the Kamata kingdom, and he wrote an account of the warrior Chila Ray ^[2]. He has also written two books on spiritual thought in the path of his guru ^[2].