Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay (Banaphool) was born on 19th July, 1899 at Manihari, a quaint village of Bihar situated at the confluence of the rivers Koshi and Ganga.

Balai Chand had become a contributor in the well­known magazines of Bengal at a relatively young age. However, his teachers did not like his literary pursuits because they thought it would interfere with his education. To avoid the notice of teachers Balai Chand adopted the pseudonym 'Banaphool'. Banaphool took his Degree in Medicine from the Patna  University. After qualifying as a Doctor, he started practising as a pathologist initially in rural Bengal and finally set up hi s practice at Bhagalpur, a very prosperous town in the  30's.

The underlying  Bengali culture mixed with the social picture of the milieu he lived in, influenced Banaphool in all his writings. Many critics are of the opinion that his scientific training might have given his precision of expression. Banaphool started writing at a time when the Bengali literary scene was vibrant with stalwarts like Tagore, S.C. Chatterjee,  Bibhuti Bhushan, Tara Shankar, Manik Bandopadhyay and when the new intellectual group headed by Premendra Mitra, Buddhadeb Basu and others were trying to set a different tune. In this backdrop, Banaphool made his mark particularly in the field of short stories. Banaphool also made significant contribution to Bengali drama and novel. He wrote several epic novels like Sthabar, Jangam, Dana as also shorter novels like Bhuban Som, Hate Bazare etc. Banaphool had varied interest in life. Apart from practising medicine, he was an amateur ornithologist and a serious gardener. Cooking was a special hobby of Banaphool.

Politically, Banaphool was inspired by the Non­ Cooperation and Quit India movements. Having suffered serious injuries in the communal riot of 1946, he used it as the backdrop for "Swapna  Sanvab", in which he depicted the ultimate triumph of total human values over the narrow parochial sentiments. However, after independence, Banaphool became very bitter over the partition of India and degeneration of values in public life. In one of his novels "Prachhnna Mahima" in early 60's footfall of Naxal Movement could be heard.

A  prolific  writer,  during  his  lifetime  Banaphool received a lot of acclaim. He was the President of several literary bodies including Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. A popular writer, his works have been translated not just in Hindi and regional languages, but a number of foreign languages also.

The  Department   of  Posts  is  happy   to  issue  a commemorative  stamp  on  the  occasion  of  the  birth centenary of Banaphool.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India