ऋतुचक्र [Rutuchakra]

by Durga Bhagwat, दुर्गा भागवत

Collection of writings on 12 months & 6 seasons of year which could be experienced in India.

Genres: Marathi, Nonfiction

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Durga Bhagwat's notable works include biography of Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat, Pais, a collection of articles based around religions, their literature and practises and Vyas Parva, a book about her study of Mahabharat. She studied religious literature, particularly Buddhist, works of Marathi saints from Dnyaneshwar to Tukaram, major Sanskrit works of Vyas and Adi Shankaracharya. Her book 'RRitu-chakra', detailing the nature (particularly trees and flowers) in each Indian month, is perhaps her most famous work. In early 1940s during her stay in forest, she tried to cook a vegetable which turned out to be poisonous and she was bed-ridden for years. The recovery was slow but it helped her observe the changes in the nature over the 12-month cycle, and spurred her to write articles on each seasons. She was a good cook having inspiration from Smt Seetabai Bhagwat,her paternal aunt.Though she has not written any specific book on this topic,had written many articles on this topic.She was much interested in crafts even,on which she wrote many articles.She was a lady who was interested in learning any new thing and was ever curious to have knowledge.That is why perhaps Va Pu Kale calls her as 'Marathi Saraswatachi Sarswati'.
Even though good-looking in her young age, Durga Bhagwat never married. The reason according to her as told in a personal interview was that she spent several years of her youth in research, during which she was also the victim of food poisoning and by the time she recovered from it, it was too late.
Her idols throughout her life had been Vyasa, Gautama Buddha, Adi Shankaracharya, Henry David Thoreau, and Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar.

Reviews

[अनिकेत · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author is a detailed observer, she observes changes in nature, atmosphere around & easily draws out impacts of those changes on livings' life. Nature changes its pattern/behavior in different colors & so does the trees, birds, animals & we human beings...once again through her writings, she highlights how the Indian traditions/mythology is built around the moods of nature.