Banamali Roy, the landlord of Tarash, was born in September 1862. He studied up to the entrance examination of Pabna Zilla School. After the death of his adoptive father Banwarilal Roy in 1882, Banamali Roy became the heir to his father’s property. He was a man of extraordinary talent. Under his good management, the income of the zamindari (A person who use to run the living expenses by power of own land) increased greatly. He donated a lot of money and land for patriotic causes. Banwari Nagar CBP High School ‘Pabna Edward College’ Banamali Institute, Thomson Hall, Elliot Industrial School, Hospital, Town Hall, Pabna Elliot Banamali Technical School, Famine Bhandar, Shyam Kundu Paskobar, renovation of Jagannath Dev Temple and many other philanthropic works. The British government praised the name of Banamali Roy and awarded him the title of ‘Rai Bahadur’ in 1894 through the ‘Abhishek’ ceremony. He spent the last of his life in Vrindavan Dham in religious work and hospitality.
His two sons, Bhush Bhusan Roy Bahadur and Radhika Roy Bahadur, established ‘Banwari Nagar Coronation Banamali High School’ in 1912 to keep their father’s legacy intact. They used to support the school for twenty-four rupees annually until it received government aid. School land, playgrounds, etc. are their donation. Until the zamindari was uprooted, the school used to get an annual assistance of twelve hundred rupees from the Tarash zamindari.
On 23 November 1914, the famous benevolent zamindar ‘Rajarshi Roy Banamali Roy Bahadur’ died in Vrindavan Dham.
Banamali Institute:
Banamali Shilpakala Kendra or Banamali Institute is a cultural and arts institute located in Pabna district. Its former name is Banamali Rangamancha.
On March 5, 1924, Roy Bahadur Khitish Bhushan Roy and Roy Bahadur Radhika Bhushan established the Banamali Institute, a cultural institution on 39 decimals of land to commemorate the memory of their father. The names of many famous artists are associated with this cultural institution. The famous film actress of the subcontinent Suchitra Sen (Roma) acted in Banamali in her childhood. Folk song emperor Abbas Uddin Ahmed has sung here. Apart from this, many high quality poets, litterateurs, musicians, actors, actresses from Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh have come here in various cultural programs.
The foundation stone was laid on 5 April 1924. Once upon a time, actors like Chhabi Biswas, Robi Roy, Mamata Banerjee came here from Kolkata to act in ‘Sita Natak’. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen also performed at Banamali Hall. In the turmoil of the partition of 1947, the condition of this institute became deplorable. After 1960, it was turned into a public institution.
In 1985, an inter-district drama festival was held under the initiative of Banamali with the participation of 33 drama groups. In 1949, at the initiative of Pabna Deputy Magistrate Mahatab Uddin Sarkar, the play Siraj-ud-Daula was staged here. Artist Tejen Chakraborty played the role of Siraj and Nishikanta Bakshi played the role of Aleya. Poet-writer of the country. Poet Mazharul Islam, Dr. Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, poet Bande Ali Miah, Syed Shamsul Haque, Kabir Chowdhury, poet Shamsur Rahman, Badruddin Omar, Nirmalendu Gun, Kamal Lohani, lyricist Gouri Prasanna Majumdar, principal of Santiniketan Dr. Shailajaranjan Mukhopadhyay, poet Sufia Kamal, Supriya Bari, Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, Hasan Azizur Haque, Dr. Abdul Khalek, Zulfikar Matin, Nazim Mahmud and others. Barin Majumder, Jaganmoy Mitra, Ahindra Chowdhury, Ferdousi Rahman, Nitya Gopal Joardar, Bulbul Chowdhury, Pilu Momtaz, Tapan Chowdhury, Abdul Jabbar, Farida Yasmin, Ustad Yasin Khan, Amzad Hossain, Anwara, Anwar Hossain, Dolly Zahur, Humayun Faridi, Suborna Mustafa, Pijush Bandyopadhyay,Raisul Islam Asad, Mamunur Rashid, Aly Zaker, Ramendu Majumder, Dr. Enamul Haque, Masum Aziz and countless artists and technicians of the country came to Banamali and glorified this institution.
In 2008, the modernization work of Banamali Institute began. It was modernized by spending huge amount of money in public-private initiatives. On 24 October 2014, at an emergency meeting of the executive committee of the Banamali Institute, its name was changed to ‘Banamali Shilpakala Kendra’.
Among the music and dance organizations, active are Tal-Loy Shilpigosthi, Anindya, Ganashilpi, Udichi, Lalit Kala Kendra, IFA, Afa Institute, Surer Mela, Destination, Sonar Bangla Maa Academy, Nrityanchal Pabna, Rabindra and Nazrul Parishad, Lalon Parishad, Suchitra Sen Smriti Sangrakshan Parishad, Bachan Style, etc. Apart from this, the singers of the younger generation have also formed several bands. Among them, bihanga, meeting, address and vibhava are quite popular.
