Later Śākta poetry imitates Rāmprasād a great deal. Kamalākānta Bhaṭṭāchārya came close to him in point of time, living in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and well into the nineteenth. Nothing much seems to be known of him; he removed from Ambikānagar. in the Khulnā district, to Kōtālhātā, in the Burdwan district, in 1800, and he was the religious preceptor of the Mahārājā of Burdwan. His Śākta poetry does not appear to deserve its reputation; out of his many songs we have given four. One of the best Śākta poets was Nilakaṇṭha Mukhopādhyāya, a native of the village of Dharaṇī, in the Burdwan district, a district that has been a nurse of poets. Nīlakaṇṭha was a good singer, leader of a jātrā (yātrā)[1] which was very popular in West Bengal, thirty years ago. He was the author of numerous Vaishṇava and of over a hundred Śākta songs; these are sung throughout the Burdwan, Bānknrā and Birbhum districts. The reader will notice that No. LXXVIII is modern in tone, influenced by the teaching of Rāmkṛishṇa Paramhaṁsa, that all worshipped gods are the same. Nilakaṇṭha died aged sixty; but no one apparently knows the dates of his birth or death, though many people now living met him, and his memory is cherished as that of a very simple-minded and attractive man. Of the poets represented in this book by one poem only, Maharājā Rāmkṛishṇa, of Naṭōr, is the earliest; he was a contemporary of Rāmprasād. Rasikchandra Rāy (1820-1893), a voluminous writer of songs for jātrās, composed the well-known song which is No. LXXVI of this book. Rāmchandra Datta (1861-1899), author of No. LXXXI. was a doctor on the staff of the Medical College, Calcutta. In 1879, he began to visit Rāmkṛishṇa Paramhaṁsa, and joined his movement. By his extensive practice and his salary as a professor, he made a large income, most of which he spent in religious works.
The vast Sākta literature is monotonous with its four or five themes—Kālī's neglect of her votary. Śiva's
- ↑ Travelling theatrical party.
