Agartala, May 9: In 1927, Tripura’s last king, Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, received a telegram from Rabindranath Tagore asking for financial assistance so that a painter from the state, Dhirendra Krishna Debbarman, could accompany him to his tour to Bali and Java in the Indonesian archipelago.

Eighty-four years later, the hitherto unpublished telegram saw light of day when Tripura University vice-chancellor Prof. Arunoday Saha released a copy which he had received from Prajna Debi, a member of Tripura’s royal family.

The telegram, dated June 28, 1927, read: “His Highness, Maharaja Tipperah, Agartala. May I seek your highness help about Dhiren’s expenses approximately three thousand rupees accompanying me Java giving him unique opportunity for his artistic career — Rabindra Nath Tagore.”

“I had obtained a copy of this telegram from Prajna Debi,” Saha said.

At that time, Dhirendra Krishna, barely out of his teens, had returned to Agartala briefly after completing his education at Santiniketan and had married Saraju Debi, daughter of Brajendra Kishore Debbarma who was close to Tagore, he added.

Dhirendra Krishna went on to become a celebrated artist and principal of Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati.

Holding up the copy of the telegram, Saha said it bore King Bir Bikram’s signature dated July 5, 1927, and an order from the king for payment of the amount.

“The king had sanctioned the money within a week and a copy of his order had also been forwarded to the British resident as required by then princely Tripura’s relation with the British government,” said Saha. Tagore was keen to take along Dhirendra Krishna to Java and Bali, he added.

Quoting from an article authored by Dhirendra Krishna, Ashram school and reminiscences of Rabindra Nath, Saha said Tagore’s entourage to Java and Bali included stalwarts like Suniti Kumar Chatterjee and Surendra Nath Kar.

“On that tour, Dhirendra Krishna and others used to wear western clothes but Suniti Kumar and Dhirendra Krishna had faced serious problems in putting on a tie. In fact, they would wear the tie right after their morning shower and take it off only at the end of the day to prevent any mishaps,” Saha said.

He said Dhirendra Krishna had fallen sick on the tour because of constant exposure to sea wind and cold at night and informed Tagore about his problem. After examining him with mock-seriousness, Tagore jokingly said the sea wind had nothing to do with Dhirendra Krishna’s sore throat, but that it had something to do with his separation from his newly wedded wife.

“Finally, Tagore gave him some medicine from his personal stock and this was enough to cure Dhirendra Krishna,” said Saha, an authority on princely Tripura’s relations with Rabindranath Tagore and Visva Bharati.