President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday (Jan 21) paid rich tributes to the memory of Michael Madhusudan Dutt marking the 195th birth anniversary of the great poet of Bengali nation, reports state news agency BSS.

President Abdul Hamid, in his message, said, unique quality of the legendary poet has enriched Bangla literature a lot.

The poet earned name and fame in the arena of literature for his extraordinary works, he added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a separate message, said, “The literary work of Madhusudan, who introduced sonnet in the Bangla literature is a great asset for our country and language.”

Both President and Prime Minister welcomed the initiative to organise a weeklong “Madhu Mela” at Sagardari in Jessore marking his birth anniversary.

Michael Madhusudan Dutt was born at Sagardari under Keshabpur upazila in Jessore on Jan 25, 1824. He was born to the land lord Raj Narayan Dutt and Janhabi Devi.

He died at Kolkata General Hospital on Jun 29, 1873. He was buried at Park Street, Kolkata, India.

He is specially known for the famous epic Meghnadbadh Kabya (1861), which is a tragic epic and is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content.

For his contributions, Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet.