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Jyoti Prasad Agarwala

A person whose ancestors belonged to Marwar of Rajasthan did so much for his birthplace Assam that there are hardly few other names in Assam which come close to his level. He is no one but Jyoti Prasad Agrawala. He is the 'Rupkonwar' of Assam and Assamese society.



Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala


Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was born in 17 June, 1903 in Tamulbari Tea Estate of Dibrugarh. His father was Paramanada Agarwala and mother was Kiranmayee. He started his education He studied in Tezpur Government High School and completed his matricualtion. During high school time itself he joined the freedom movement. After matriculation he joined National College of Calcutta and completed his I.A from there. For his graduation he went to Edinburgh University, Britain. He also joined M.A but before finishing it he cam to Germany to study Films. AFter seven months of studies in Film, he came back to Assam in 1930.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala's actual artistic and political journey begins after 1930. He dedicated himself fully in the freedom movement. He was even jailed for 15 months and fined Rupees 500 for his active involvement in the fightings of Independence. But he parallely kept on working on the art culture front and also for the upliftment of the Assamese society.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala started writing since the age of 14 years only. At that time he wrote down the famous play 'Sonit-Konwari'. For next few years during his student days he wrote many short stories. Jyoti Prasad was very good in studying children psychology. He wrote many stories for children. Some other plays written by him are Rupalim, Karengar Ligiri, Lobhita, etc. His plays are acted on stage till date in Assam.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was a fantastic poet as well. He wrote more than 300 songs and gave music to most of them. These songs collection is known as Jyoti Sangeet. It bacame a new genre of music itself in Assam in later days.

The most valuable gift of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala to Assamese world is 'Joymoti', the first cinema. He is the father of Assamese film and he has invested huge amount of time and his own money into it. He first setup a studio 'Chitrban' in Bholaguri tea estate in Tezpur in 1934. he started making 'Joymati' from there. In 1935 the movie was released. In 1939 he made the second Assamese movie 'Indramalati'. He also built a cinema hall 'Junaki' in tezpur in 1937. Along with 'Kalaguru' Bishnu Prasad Rabha, he produced the record play of 'Joymoti' and 'Sonit Konwari'.

Another contribution of Jyotiprasad agarwala is the publication of the newspaper 'Axomiya' in 1944. He also established an assamese music school in Tezpur.




Postal stamp of Jyotiprasad Agarwalla published by
Indian govt.(2004)


Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was a true Assamese in heart. His whole family contributed a lot to the Assamese for generations. Great Assamese poet Chandra Kumar Agarwala was his uncle. He also invested a huge proportion of his wealth into the welfare of the society and also to the freedom movement. It's unfortunate that Jyoti Prasad Agarwal who is known as 'Rupkonwar' (Prince of Beauty) to Assam, had to quit this life in just an age of 48. He was suffering from cancer and was in the charge of Tamulbari tea estate of Dibrugarh, the same place where he was born in 17 June, 1951.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala is immortal in Assamese society. His death anniversary, 17 June is calebrated as 'Jyoti Divas' in Assam every year.

You can discuss more about Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and Assamese Music here.

You can also listen to Jyoti Sangeet.