kolkata an exhibition of rare colour etchings manuscripts letters and documents at the sadharan brahmo samaj library at bidhan sarani has brought alive the bengal renaissance the days of raja ram mohan roy and rabindranath tagore the two doyens of bengals sociocultural resurgence the exhibition which will continue till january 28 is part of the 185th maghotsava celebration an annual event of sadharan brahmo samaj some of the artifacts being exhibited are rare etchings that capture early19th century life and rituals in kolkata none of these etchings done by european artists were formerly available in india art restorer and archivist ganesh pratap singh painstakingly bought these back from different international auctions these are our treasures of our country lying with personal collections mostly of europeans and americans once they are up for sale i dont lose a moment in buying them back said singh who for the first time is showcasing his treasure trove which includes tagores rare photographs an original deed of a loan agreement of tagore during the 1900s is also part of the exhibition tagore probably took the loan for his family business singh said the colour etchings are the most remarkable portrayals of socioreligious life of kolkata and bengal in the early19th century there are scenes of charak utsav from markets and a series on the custom of sati where a widow would be burnt alive on her husbands pyre father of bengal renaissance ram mohan roy took the lead in abolishing this custom several letters written by ram mohan and keshav chandra sen are also on display we have also brought some of the pieces from our own collection at ram mohan library said subrata dutta joint secretary of the samaj the brahmo samaj library in itself is a historic place visited by the whos who of bengal renaissance for intellectual exchanges the formative years of people like sukumar ray were shaped here said bijon chanda another joint secretary and key custodian of the 25000 rare books manuscripts and photographs but january 26 is a special day when brahmos from different corners of the country would meet at the majestic prayer hall to pray for peace sudin chattopadhyay a former professor of history at the then presidency college was delighted to see the etchings and pointed out that their depiction of sati was still relevant for the current generation the word sati now does not bring the horrible picture of the custom to ones mind the current generation that only has textual knowledge of the custom will get a glimpse of how horrible the practice was after seeing these paintings he said