‘Echos of Assam’ is launched in Assam

The Swami Vivekananda Indian Cultural Centre, Sri Lanka, has taken steps to translate the poems of the esteemed Assamese poet Nilamani Phookan, known as the “Sage of Assam” and the “Silent Poet,” into Sinhala.

- Sunila Wijesinghe

This collection of poems, titled “Echoes of Assam,” has been translated by the distinguished literary figure and poet Ajantha Seneviratne. This book will be unveiled at a ceremony was held on September 10th in Assam, celebrating the 94th birthday of Phookan. The Assam Charu-Karu Kala Parishad will organize the event.

Professor Ankuran Dutta, the Director of the Indian Cultural Centre, who wrote the foreword for this book, has said the following:

“Tt is also important to acknowledge the contribution of Ajantha Seneviratne, a renowned Sri Lankan novelist and poet, who translated selected poems of Nilamani Phookan into Sinhala from the English translations by Krishna Dulal Barua. This achievement is significant not merely as an act of literary admiration but because it represents the first attempt to bring Phookan’s poetry into a foreign language within the South Asian region.