For Haramoni, he visited hundreds of villages of Rajshahi, Pabna, Nadia, Murshidabad, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Barisal, Noakhali and Dhaka. He was encouraged by the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Kshitimohan Sen, Pallikobi Jasimuddin, singer Abbas Uddin and painter Zainul Abedin. He was inspired when his collection of a song of Lalon Fakir sung by Premdasa Bairagi was published in the Haramoni section of the monthly literary magazine Probashi.
Haramoni was the name of a regular section of monthly literary magazine Probashi that was dedicated for publishing folk songs collected from rural areas. Mansuruddin picked up this name for publishing his collection of folklore. The first volume of Haramoni (Lost Jewels in English translation), essentially an anthology of Baul songs, was published in 1931. Mansuruddin himself published this volume which was printed by Karim Box Brothers. Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote the Preface of the book when its first volume was published. In 1942, the second volume was published by the Calcutta University. In 1948, Mansur uddin took initiative to publish the third volume of Haramoni. The University of Dhaka published the fourth volume in 1959. The manuscript contained 400 songs and as many as 300 of them got lost. The fourth volume contained many songs of Pagla Kanai. The fifth volume was edited by Professor Muhammad Abdul Hye and published by the Department of Bengali, Dhaka University, in 1961. It contained many songs of Lalon Fakir and Pagla Kanai. Again it is Mansur Uddin who at his own initiative published the sixth volume of Haramoni in 1967. However, by then Bangla Academy had published the seventh volume in 1964. The sixth volume contained nearly two hundred songs of Lalon Fakir. The seventh contained about seven hundred songs many of which were collected from Sylhet area. Also there was some of Panjeri Shah or Panju Shah. Mansuruddin added an 84 pages long introduction to this volume that focused on the life of Hason Raja, Panju Shah, Shitalong Sha, Arkum Shah, Monomhon, Radharaman, Dwija Das, Sheikh Bhanu, Qurban, Abdul Jabber, Madan Ganbi, Shah Mohammad Yasin, Ram Gopal, Kala Chand Pagla, Ananta Goshai and Abdul Wahed, among others. The eighth volume contained more than eight hundred songs collected from Kushtia, Faridpur, Pabna and Dhaka. It was published in 1976. It is the Bangla Academy that published the ninth volume in 1988. However, the tenth volume was already published in 1984. The 13th volume was published in 1984 by the Bangladesh Folklore Parishad. As many as eight more volumes remain to be published by the Bangla Academy, Dhaka. Apart from Baul songs, Haramoni contains a huge number of rural songs of different categories like Meyeli gaan, Baro Maishya and Deho Totwo.
Shirni (1931),Dhaner Mavjari (1933), Agarbati (1938), Bangla Sahitye Muslim Sadhana (1960-1966), Iraner Kobi (1968),
Awards: In 1987 Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India awarded him D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters) honoris causa for his lifelong contribution to folklore collection and research. He received many other awards during his lifetime including the following:
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee Award, Calcutta University, (1926), Bangla Academy Award(1965), Muktodhara Sahitya Puroshker (1982), Alokto Sahitya Puroshker (1983), Independence Day Award (1984), Khoda Boks Puroshker, Kalu Shah Puroshker (1986), Sher-e-Bangla National Award and Gold Medal (1980), Ekushey Padak (1983), Nasiruddin Gold Medal (1983),
Annadashankar Roy dedicated his Lalan and His Songs (1978) to Muhammad Mansuruddin.
Also Sanatkumer Mitra dedicated his Lalan Faquir, Kobi and Kabya (1979) to Mansuruddin.
Bibliography:
Tofael Ahmed: Bangladesher Atmaar Sondhaney Sahitya Acharjya, Dhaka, 1983. Dr. Momin Chowdhury: Muhammad Mansururddin Dhaka, 1988. Lekhak Ovidhan ,Bangla Academy, 1999.
References:Wakil Ahmed. “Mansuruddin, Muhammad”. Banglapedia. Retrieved June 15, 2015.http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=79564 The long tradition of Bengal mysticism Aide Memoire -Dacca/1954 by Hasnat Abdul Hye http://www.newagebd.com/2005/dec/05/oped.htm/http://www.bangladeshmoves.com/literature.htm/http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/07/24/news0854.htm A lyricist of mystic heart.
Categories: 1904 births1987 deaths Bengali-language writers Bangladeshi male novelists University of Calcutta alumni University of Calcutta faculty University of Dhaka faculty Dhaka College faculty Indian folklore Bengali folklore Bengali writers Bangladeshi folklorists 20th-century novelists Recipients of the Independence Day Award Recipients of the Ekushey Padak.
