Devi Bagrodia

Background

Devi Prasad Bagrodia was born on November 8, 1939, in Chungigaon under Tengakhat Mouza in Dibrugarh district, Assam, to Shew Bhagovan Bagrodia and Basanti Devi Bagrodia. Other accounts identify his native village as Bhekulajuan, also known as Bhakalajan, in the Tengakhat area. He grew up in a rural Assamese environment shaped by the languages and cultural traditions of Upper Assam.

His later work remained closely connected with Assam’s literary and tea-growing communities. His career combined tea cultivation, social service, and sustained efforts to bring Assamese writing and religious literature to readers beyond the Assamese-speaking region.

Education

Bagrodia completed his matriculation at Tengakhat High School in an Assamese-medium program. He then studied Intermediate of Science and continued toward a Bachelor of Arts at Dibrugarh Hanumanbax Surajmal Kanoi College, commonly known as DHSK College. The college, established in Dibrugarh as one of Assam’s higher-education institutions, served the region’s expanding post-independence educational system.

He also underwent training connected with tea cultivation at the Tocklai Tea Research Centre in Jorhat. Tocklai, established in the nineteenth century, became one of the world’s important centres for tea research and served Assam’s tea industry through scientific work on cultivation, processing, and plant improvement.

Career

Bagrodia has worked as a tea planter in and around Dibrugarh while pursuing a parallel literary and social-service career. His professional interests brought together Assam’s tea economy, regional cultural institutions, and the movement of literature between Assamese and Hindi.

He began translation work in 1986, first concentrating on Assamese literary and cultural texts. His two-volume Hindi rendering of Jyotiprasad Agarwala’s writings, Jyoti Sudha, published in 1991, and Jyotiprabha, published in 1995, introduced the work of the Assamese poet, playwright, composer, and filmmaker to Hindi readers. Jyotiprabha was released by Shankar Dayal Sharma, then Vice President of India.

Bagrodia subsequently translated works associated with Nagen Saikia, Biren Barkataki, Srimanta Sankardev, and Madhavdev. His projects included Hindi versions of Gunamala, Borgeets, and Naam Ghoxa, as well as translations of Mit-Bhash, Chah Gasar Kalam, Mirabai, Agastha Yatra, and Mrityu Vijayini Kanakalata. Through these works he helped make Assamese literature, devotional poetry, and cultural history accessible in other Indian languages.

He has also published or brought out works concerning Assam’s literary and social history, including The Agarwala Family of Tezpur and a work on the ancestral connections of Jyotiprasad Agarwala with Tamulbari Tea Estate. His public cultural activity has included speaking at literary and community events and advocating the development of literary talent and cultural exchange.

Achievements

• Translated the complete known body of Jyotiprasad Agarwala’s writings into Hindi through the volumes Jyoti Sudha and Jyotiprabha, published in 1991 and 1995.

• Translated major Assamese literary and Vaishnavite works into Hindi, including Gunamala, Borgeets, and Naam Ghoxa, thereby extending the reach of Assam’s literary and devotional traditions.

• Promoted Assamese literature and cultural heritage through translations, publications, and public literary and community activities.

Works

• book

  • Jyoti Prasad, Ancestors

    (Work exploring Jyotiprasad Agarwala’s ancestral connectio...)

    2019

  • The Agarwala Family of Tezpur

    (Published work by Bibekananda Agarwala concerning the Aga...)

    1998

  • You and Me on a Journey to Light

    (Published work by Candraprasada Saikia and Ananda Bormudoi.)

    2003

• translation

  • Jyotiprabha

    (Hindi translation of Jyotiprasad Agarwala’s writings, rel...)

    1995

  • Gunamala

    (Hindi translation of Srimanta Sankardev’s Assamese devoti...)

    2010

  • Naam Ghoxa

    (Hindi translation of Madhavdev’s sixteenth-century devoti...)

    2017

  • Jyoti Sudha

    (Hindi translation of the writings of Assamese cultural fi...)

    1991

  • Mrityu Vijayini Kanakalata

    (Hindi translation of Biren Barkataki’s Assamese novel Mri...)

    2001

  • Sukhor Prithivi

    (English translation of a children’s work associated with ...)

    2001

  • Borgeets

    (Hindi translations of Borgeets composed by Srimanta Sanka...)

    2015

  • Chah Gasar Kalam

    (Translation associated with Assamese writing on tea and t...)

  • Mirabai

    (Translation work included among Bagrodia’s literary publi...)

  • Agastha Yatra

    (Translation work included among Bagrodia’s literary publi...)

  • Mit-Bhash

    (Hindi translation of a work by Assamese writer Nagen Saikia.)

    1998

Views

Bagrodia’s documented literary purpose has centred on cultural exchange through translation. He has described his translations of Sankardev and Madhavdev as an effort to make Assamese Vaishnavite literature better known beyond Assam, linking literary work with the preservation and dissemination of regional heritage.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Public accounts describe Bagrodia as a writer and social worker committed to translating Assamese literature and cultural heritage for wider audiences. At a 2017 book-release event, he stated that he wanted the works of Sankardev and Madhavdev to become familiar to readers outside Assam.

Interests

• Tea cultivation, Assamese literature, translation, cultural preservation, and social service.

Connections

Bagrodia is the son of Shew Bhagovan Bagrodia and Basanti Devi Bagrodia. His literary work is connected with Assamese writers and cultural figures whose works he translated, including Jyotiprasad Agarwala, Nagen Saikia, Srimanta Sankardev, and Madhavdev.

Father:

Shew Bhagovan Bagrodia

Mother:

Basanti Devi Bagrodia

Collegue :

Jyotiprasad Agarwala

Bagrodia translated Agarwala’s complete known writings into Hindi through Jyoti Sudha and Jyotiprabha.

Collegue :

Nagen Saikia

Bagrodia translated Saikia’s Mit-Bhash and identified Saikia as an influence on his translation of Naam Ghoxa.

Collegue :

Srimanta Sankardev

Bagrodia translated Sankardev’s Gunamala and Borgeets into Hindi.

Collegue :

Madhavdev

Bagrodia translated Madhavdev’s Borgeets and Naam Ghoxa into Hindi.

References

• The Sentinel Assam: Social Worker Devi Prasad Bagrodia Bags Assam Gaurav Award 2025 Reports Bagrodia’s selection for the Assam Gaurav Award 2025, his background, education, tea-cultivation training, languages, translations, and literary contribution.
  2026
• The Telegraph India: Madhabdeb’s Naam Ghoxa in Hindi Documents Bagrodia’s six-year translation of Naam Ghoxa, his earlier translations, and his stated aim of making Assamese Vaishnavite literature known outside Assam.
  2017
• The Sentinel Assam: Award for Translation Works Reports Bagrodia’s receipt of the Sajjan Jain Memorial Award for his contribution to literature and Assamese-Hindi translation.
  2016
• The Times of India: Jyoti Prasad Agarwala Remembered on 74th Death Anniversary Describes Bagrodia’s Hindi translations of Agarwala’s complete works and his recognition at a cultural event in Dibrugarh.
  2024
• The Sentinel Assam: Call to Nurture Literary Talent in Marwari Community Reports Bagrodia’s participation as an honoured guest and his advocacy of literary activity and cultural exchange.
  2015