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{{short description|Wife of Rabindranath Tagore}}
{{hatnote|Since Devi is an honorific, the article's subject is known by her first name.}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mrinalini Devi
| image = Mrinalini Devi.jpg
| alt = Mrinalini Devi
| caption =
| birth_name = Bhabatarini Roy Choudhury
| birth_date = 1 March 1874
| birth_place = Dakshindihi, [[Jessore district|Jessor district]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (present-day [[Phultala Upazila|Phultala]], [[Khulna district]], Bangladesh)
| death_date = 23 November 1902 (aged 28)
| death_place = [[Jorasanko Thakur Bari]], [[Calcutta]], Bengal Presidency, British India
| nationality = Indian
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = [[Rabindranath Tagore]]
}}

'''Mrinalini Devi''' (1 March 1874<ref name="Olsen">{{cite book|author=Stephanie Olsen|title=Childhood, Youth and Emotions in Modern History: National, Colonial and Global Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBzeCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT287|date=6 October 2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-137-48484-0|page=287}}</ref><ref name="List">{{cite book |title=Accessions List, India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mrjvtxPZrEEC&q=Mrinalini+Devi+1874|year=1975|publisher=Library of Congress Office.}}</ref> – 23 November 1902<ref>{{cite book|author=K. S. Bharathi|title=Encyclopaedia of Eminent Thinkers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SifigXi4kbsC&pg=PA13|year=1998|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-687-1|page=13}}</ref>) was a translator and the wife of [[Nobel prize|Nobel]] laureate poet, philosopher, author and musician [[Rabindranath Tagore]]. She was from the [[Jessore district|Jessor district]], where her father worked at the Tagore estate. In 1883, at the age of nine, she married Tagore.

==Early life==
Mrinalini Devi was born to Benimadhob Roy Choudhury and Dakshayoni at [[Phultala|Phultala village]], in [[Jessore district|Jessor district]] of [[Bengal Presidency]] in [[British India]] (present-day [[Bangladesh]]). Her exact date of birth is not known. According to one estimate of a biographer, she was born on 1 March 1874.<ref name="ABP">{{cite web |script-title=bn:মৃণালিনী |trans-title=Mrinalini |url=https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/patrika/mrinalini-1.499542 |publisher=[[Anandabazar Patrika]] |access-date=31 May 2019 |language=bn |date=22 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531161324/https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/patrika/mrinalini-1.499542 |archive-date=31 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another gave her birth as 1872.<ref name="Olsen" /> Before her marriage, Mrinalini Devi was known as Bhabatarini. However, it is unknown whether it was her formal name or nickname. She studied until Class I in the local village school.<ref name="ABP"/> Her father worked at the Tagore estate.<ref name="DJ">{{cite news |script-title=bn:রবীন্দ্রনাথের জীবনে মৃণালিনী |trans-title=Mrinalini in Rabindranath’s life |url=http://web.dailyjanakantha.com/details/article/245353/রবীন্দ্রনাথের-জীবনে-মৃণালিনী/ |publisher=[[Dainik Janakantha]] |access-date=31 May 2019 |language=bn |date=27 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531185823/http://web.dailyjanakantha.com/details/article/245353/%25E0%25A6%25B0%25E0%25A6%25AC%25E0%25A7%2580%25E0%25A6%25A8%25E0%25A7%258D%25E0%25A6%25A6%25E0%25A7%258D%25E0%25A6%25B0%25E0%25A6%25A8%25E0%25A6%25BE%25E0%25A6%25A5%25E0%25A7%2587%25E0%25A6%25B0-%25E0%25A6%259C%25E0%25A7%2580%25E0%25A6%25AC%25E0%25A6%25A8%25E0%25A7%2587-%25E0%25A6%25AE%25E0%25A7%2583%25E0%25A6%25A3%25E0%25A6%25BE%25E0%25A6%25B2%25E0%25A6%25BF%25E0%25A6%25A8%25E0%25A7%2580/ |archive-date=31 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Marriage to Rabindranath Tagore==
[[File:Rabindranath-Tagore-Mrinalini-Devi-1883.jpg|thumb|Mrinalini Devi with [[Rabindranath Tagore]], {{circa|1883}}]]
The ''paka dekha'', a ritual in which members of the groom's family come to see the bride, was performed by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]’s elder brother [[Jyotirindranath Tagore]], his sisters-in-law [[Jnanadanandini Devi]] and [[Kadambari Devi]], and Rabindranath's nephew [[Surendranath Tagore]]. Although it is known that Rabindranath accompanied his family members from [[Jessore (city)|Jashore]] to Mrinalini Devi’s house, it is not known whether he participated in the ritual.<ref name="ABP"/><ref>{{cite news |script-title=bn:কবিগুরুর বিয়ের গল্প |trans-title=The story of Kabiguru’s marriage |url=http://www.risingbd.com/art-literature-news/124244 |publisher=Rising BD |access-date=31 May 2019 |language=bn |date=10 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531185821/http://www.risingbd.com/art-literature-news/124244 |archive-date=31 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Unlike traditional marriage which takes place in the bride's house, Mrinalini Devi married Rabindranath Tagore at the Maharshi Bhavan in the [[Jorasanko Thakur Bari]], in [[Calcutta]] (present-day Kolkata) at the wish of Rabindranath's father [[Devendranath Tagore]]. The marriage took place according to the rituals of the [[Brahmo Samaj]]. At the time of marriage she was 9 and Tagore was twenty-two years of age. They married on 24 [[Agrahayana]] 1290 in the [[Bengali calendar]] which is roughly 9 December 1883 in Gregorian calendar.<ref name="ABP"/><ref name="DJ"/>

After her marriage, Rabindranath gave her the name "Mrinalini". Tagore biographers assume that the name was designed to rhyme with "Nalini", a name he had fondly assigned to Annapurna Turkhad (daughter of [[Atmaram Pandurang]]), who was his former love-interest.<ref name="ABP"/><ref name="DJ"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/148506/nalini-annapurna-turkhad-rabindranath-tagore-priyanka-chopra/|title=Who Was 'Nalini', The Marathi Girl Rabindranath Tagore Once Fell in Love With|date=2018-07-05|website=The Better India|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref>

Mrinalini Devi was not forced to do the household chores immediately after her marriage. Devendranath admitted her and [[Hemendranath Tagore]]'s wife Kshinatanu to the [[Loreto House]] school to teach them English. He also bought them books, slates and school uniforms. After studying at the school for one year, Rabindranath appointed Pandit Herambachandra Bidyaratna, a home tutor, to teach her [[Sanskrit]]. His elder brother Birendranath's son Balendranath taught her English, Bengali and Sanskrit literature. [[Mark Twain]] became her favourite author.<ref name="ABP"/> According to the diary of her younger daughter Mira, one incident is noted as:
<blockquote>A table lamp is burning in the second floor [[veranda]] of [[Shantiniketan]]. There is an English novel in my mother's hands. She is reading it and translating it to my grandmother.<ref name="ABP"/> </blockquote>

Mrinalini Devi translated the ''[[Shanti Parva]]'' of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and ''[[Katha Upanishad]]''. The ''Katha Upanishad'' is currently kept at the [[Visva-Bharati University]]. Besides these, she also participated in the dramas which took place at the Thakur Bari. In the first ever dramatization of ''Raja o Rani'', she acted in the role of Narayani.<ref name="ABP"/>

In 1902, Rabindranath established Brahmacharya Ashram, a school in [[Shantiniketan]]. Mrinalini Devi sold off most of her wedding jewellery to fund this school.<ref name="ABP"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bn.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE:%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0_(%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%AE_%E0%A6%96%E0%A6%A3%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A1)-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A5_%E0%A6%A0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0.pdf/%E0%A7%A8%E0%A7%A6%E0%A7%A7|script-title=bn:পাতা:চিঠিপত্র (প্রথম খণ্ড)-রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর.pdf/২০১ - উইকিসংকলন একটি মুক্ত পাঠাগার|website=bn.wikisource.org |language=bn |access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref>

===Children===
On 25 October 1886, Mrinalini Devi gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Madhurilata and nicknamed Bela.<ref name="ABP"/> In 1888, she gave birth to a son, [[Rathindranath Tagore|Rathindranath]]. In 1891, she gave birth to a daughter, Renuka, and three years later, she gave birth to another daughter, Mira. In 1896, her youngest child Shamindranath was born.<ref name="ABP"/>

==Death==
By the middle of 1902, Mrinalini Devi became seriously ill. Subsequently, she and Rabindranath moved from Shantiniketan to Calcutta on 12 September. Doctors failed to diagnose her disease and she died the night of 23 November.<ref name="ABP"/>

==Image==
According to contemporary records, Mrinalini Devi was a woman with great personality.<ref name="ABP"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Rabindranath Tagore}}
{{Tagore family}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrinalini Devi}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1902 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:People from Khulna]]
[[Category:Tagore family]]
[[Category:Translators in British India]]

Mrinalini Devi - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article