[5][6][7] He is best known for his novels Atmaprakash (1964), Aranyer Din Ratri, Sei Somoy, Pratham Alo (1996), and Purba Paschim; travelogues Payer Tolay Sorshe (Vol.

1 and 2); the poetry collections Eka ebong Koekjon (1958), Ami Ki Rokom Vabe Beche Achi (1966), and Hathat Nirar Janya.

[8] Sunil Gangopadhyay introduced the fictional character Kakababu, writing 36 novels in the series that became influential in Bengali children's literature.

[9][10] His prose style, conversational and colloquial, simple and lucid yet deeply penetrating with often a thin layer of dry humor, has by now created a niche of its own which have influenced many later writers, not only in Bengal but elsewhere too.

[2] Gangopadhyay was the founder editor of Krittibas, a seminal poetry magazine started publishing from 1953, that became a platform for a new generation of poets experimenting with many new forms in poetic themes, rhythms, and words.

[15] Sunil, along with Tarun Sanyal, Jyotirmoy Datta and Satrajit Dutta had volunteered to be defence witnesses in the famous trial of Hungry generation movement poet Malay Roy Choudhury.

His historical fiction Sei Somoy (translated into English by Aruna Chakravorty as Those Days) received the Indian Sahitya Akademi award in 1985.

[citation needed] The same is true for Prothom Alo (also translated recently by Aruna Chakravorty as First Light), another best selling historical fiction and Poorba-Pashchim, a raw depiction of the partition and its aftermath seen through the eyes of three generations of Bengalis in West Bengal, Bangladesh and elsewhere.

[1] Though he wrote all types of children's fiction, one character created by him that stands out above the rest, was Kakababu, the crippled adventurist, accompanied by his young adult nephew Santu, and his friend Jojo.

Controversially, Gangopadhyay's body was cremated following Hindu custom on 25 October at Keoratola crematorium with several dignitaries and numerous fans paying their last tributes.

The vacuum created by his death cannot be filled.Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, who was closely associated with the writer since 1964, said that Bengali literature would remain indebted to him.