The Tarakeswar affair (also known as the Tarakeswar scandal or the Mahant-Elokeshi affair) refers to a public scandal in 19th-century Bengal during the British Raj. It resulted from an illicit love affair between Elokeshi, the wife of a government employee Nobin Chandra, and the Brahmin head priest (or mahant) of the Tarakeswar Shiva temple.[1][2] Nobin subsequently decapitated his wife Elokeshi because of the love affair. A highly publicised trial followed, dubbed the Tarakeswar murder case of 1873, in which both the husband and the mahant were found guilty in varying degrees.[2]
Bengali society considered the mahant's actions as punishable and criminal, while justifying Nobin's action of killing an unchaste wife. The resulting public outrage forced authorities to release Nobin after two years.[1][3] The scandal became the subject of Kalighat paintings and several popular Bengali plays, which often portrayed Nobin as a devoted husband. The mahant was generally presented as a womaniser, who took advantage of young women. The murder victim Elokeshi was sometimes blamed as a seductress and the root cause of the affair. In other plays, she was absolved of all guilt and was portrayed to have been tricked and raped by the mahant.[4]
- ^ a b "The Mahant arrives in jail; Tarakeshwar affair". Official site of Museum. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ a b Chattopadhyay, Swati (2005). "Representing sexual transgression". Representing Calcutta: modernity, nationalism, and the colonial uncanny. Routledge. pp. 229–237. ISBN 0-415-34359-3.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
movingherewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Legal throwback: The Tarakeshwar murder case of Hoogly involving infidelity, adultery". News9live. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search