Odia Authors Info

 Dinakrishna Das was born in 1650, he stands out among the great poets and devotees of Krishna and Radha cult in the medieval odia literature and flourished during the rule of king Divya Singh Dev of Khurda Royal Families. He was of the age of ornate poetry in odia. The metaphors and similies were modelled on the pattern and style of Sanskrit Kavya and the hall mark of ornate style was verbal artificialities, pedantries, subtle rhymes, etc. Further, the literary compositions during his period were marked by adherence to the depiction of the theme of Vaishnavite devotion enshrined in the eternal love of Radha and Krishna. Medieval odia poetry was overwhelmingly packed with the essence and import of Vaishnavite movement. Besides, the pervading cult of Jagannath had exerted its indelible impact on odia literature and it was a force to reckon with. The then odia literature and the writings of the medieval poets like Dinakrishna Das emphasised the importance of lord Jagannath or Purusho...

 Gopabandhu Das was born in 1877, He was a well known poet. Born in a middle-class Brahmin family, he received his B.A. degree from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and a law degree from Calcutta University. He practised law before he joined the Gandhian movement and worked for the poor in rural odisha. He has been described as the founder of the Satyabadi Age in odia literature, so called after the Vana Vidyalaya he had set up at Satyabadi, near Puri in 1915. He and his compatriots, Godavarisa Misra and Nilakantha Das wrote a kind of poetry that was simple and lyrical and dealt mostly with the history, legends and folklore of odisha. Their immediate aim was to create a literature that would arouse the people’s nationalist sentiment. Gopabandhu’s poetic career began with Abakasa Chinta (Thoughts of leisure-hours, 1899). It is a collection of lyrics he wrote during his school and college days. A second edition was published probably around 1912. The 1912 edition contains thirtynine poems...

 Jagannathprasad Das was born in 1936 is a noted poet and playwright. An M.A in Political Science from the University of Allahabad, he is a senior officer of the Indian Administrative Service. His first collection of poems Prathama Purusha (First Person, 1971) is quite popular and has been translated into Hindi and English. The poems are spoken by an ‘I’ who could be both the poet himself, a modern man, or the primal man. This ambiguity in the title gives a special significance to the book. For, the sense of loneliness and fear which the poems convey belongs, to both the poet and his primal ancestor. The book depicts a world in which strains, crossroads, labyrinths, circles, and mirrors are the staple images. It is ‘a strange land’, an‘enormous void’. And the people who inhabit it – emperor, soldier, magician, harlot – act out their roles in a,spiritless, mechanical manner. Life is but a mask play. But the ‘I’ is no passive onlooker, nor is he indifferent to the meaningless goings...

 Kamalakanta Das was born in 1906, he passed the Matriculation Examination from the Pyarimohan Academy, Cuttack in 1927. After seeking employment at many places he at last got a job in the Co-operative Department. In 1962 he retired from Government service and spent his life of retirement at Cuttack till death.Kamalakanta was a prolific writer. He tried his hand in writing novels, short stories, poems and essays.But he won popularity and appreciation chiefly as a novelist. His first novel Bou (Mother), which he wrote at the age of eighteen, is considered to be his best. Soon after its publication in 1930, he was known as a novelist of high order. His life was a life of dedication to literature. He continued his creative activity till rendered invalid and speechless by disease. His works comprise twenty-four novels, six collections of short stories, one collection of poems and a few prose essays. He was a painter and artist too. For his life long contribution to Oriya literature, h...

 Kartika Das was born in 1600,No information is available as to his family or residence. Rukmini Bibaha (literally, Rukmini’s marriage, published by Prachi, 1930), a kavya in ten cantos and Nabanuraga(literally, the advent of love, yet unpublished) are the two works ascribed to his authorship. The theme of the former is the marriage of Srikrishna with Princess Rukmini. The story occurs in the Bhagavata, the Harivamsa and other Vaisnavite works. The style is mostly Puranic but in some passages, human form and beautiful nature are decribed in a simple and lucid diction. The salient point about this work is the poet’s choice of a theme of Krishna’s love with Svakiya Nayika (married wife) while the general trend,

 Kisoricharana Das was born in 1924,he is an outstanding representative of the generation of short story writers who came to dominate the Oriya literary scene after the sixties. He has distinguished himself by concentrating on a particular area of experience, the middle and the upper middle classes and also by bringing an introspective reflective element into the Oriya short story form. The predominant theme of his stories is a search for meaning in life by the members of a comfortable middle class. His characters seek to go beyond the commonplaceness of everyday life based on habit, compromise and trivialities. This search often involves a rejection of the secure and familiar world of middle class living and its values. Most of the characters withdraw into their familiar worlds after a brief contact with other worlds of ecstasy or intensity or of any significant experience. The stories of Das are structured as a series of situations which give rise to reflections on the part of th...

 Kunjabehari Das born in 1914 is a poet and essayist who graduated from Ravenshaw College and obtained his M.A. Degree both in odia and in Sanskrit from Calcutta University. He worked as Lecturer and Superintendent of Sanskrit studies in odisha, then joined as Reader in Odiya at Viswabharati, Shantiniketan. Again he came back to odisha and became Professor of odia in Ravenshaw College. Kaidi (The Prisoner,1938) his first publication deals with the sacrifice of freedom fighters. Prabhati (The morning Songs, 1943)is a collection of sonnets in which he follows the metaphysical trend of Madhusudana Rao, Pashana Charane Rakta (Blood under the Feet of Stone, 1945) is a long dramatic poem, which is based on a historical myth of transformation of cruel Ashoka to a benevolent emperor. Charanika (Lady Bard, 1948), a poetic drama, centres around the legend of the famous temple at Konarka. Birashri(Heroic Beauty, 1948) contains ballads on historical and legendary themes. The other collections ...

 Madhava Das was Vaishnava poet, most probably born in the first half of the sixteenth century in the Brahmagiri region of Puri district in odisha. He is also known as Madhava Ratha. Chaitanya came to odisha in 1599 and soon the foundation of odishan Vaishnavism was laid. Madhava Das, who was staying at Puri came into contact with the Vaishnava saint of the time. He wrote a small book named Chaitanyavilasa, depicting the life history of Chaitanya with specific reference to his devotional aspects or lila. The book contain ten, chapters.

 Madhusudan Das was born in 1848 called the father of modern odisha, was a legislator, an advocate,the most respected man of odisha and the first minister in India to give up ministership with a monthly salary of Rs.5000/-. After his Matriculation he studied at Calcutta and after obtaining M.A., and B.L. degrees of Calcutta University he became the Headmaster of a high school in Calcutta. In the meantime he had embraced Christianity. Then he joined the Cuttack Bar and became a leading advocate and founded the Utkal Tannery and another organisation for the upliftment of filigree industry in odisha. He inspired people with Swadeshi ideas such as revival of Charkha etc. He was a patron of Womens Education too. As founder of the Utkal Sammilani in 1903 and sometimes presiding over its annual sessions he delivered his stirring presidential addresses in odia and inspired the organisation with a dozen of patriotic songs. One such address is now entitled Jatiya Jibana (National life).

 Manoj Das was born in 1934.He is a prominent writer in odia and English. In his career as a student he was attracted towards the leftist political philosophy. A deep humanistic note is noticed in all his works. Prominent among his short story collections are Manoj Dasanka Katha O Kahani (winner of the Sahitya Akademi award in 1972), Dhumrabha Diganta O Anyanya Kahani, Abu Purusha O Anyanya Kahani and Laxmira Abhisara. The Crocodiles Lady and Fables and Fantasies for Adults are his two short story collections in English. With a keen observation of human nature he brings out the pathos and predicaments of life. Through subtle irony and often through comic extravaganza, he communicates a vision of life where various existential compulsions weigh on man making him take, at times, very ridiculous steps. There is a strong undercurrent of sadness in almost all his stories which springs often from a nostalgic yearning for a lost world of love or innocence. This intimate loss is either of ...

 Durga Charan Parida was born in 1929.He did his M.A. from Santiniketan; West Bengal. A poet of post Independence odia literature, his poems composed in couplets and short stanzas, speak of his deep sense of involvement and personal love. The first collection of his poems, Indrayudha (1961), bears the imprint of his passionate love, intimacy of experience and romantic vision of life. Most of the poems included in this volume are pure lyrics and are rich in visual imagery and symbols. Primarily a lyricist, he also wrote some prose-poems in the sixties. Though he moved away from the pursuit of poetry under the pressure of his duties as Government servant, his earlier compositions bear a testimony to his romantic sensibility.

 Raghu Arakhita was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath. Reference to this devotee occurs in Madalapanji , the chronicle of the temple of Lord Jagannath, and in a few other ancient literary works. It is probable that he lived during the reign of Prataprudra Deb (1497-1540), the Gajapati king of odisha, and was perhaps a contemporary of Sri Chaitanya. Rama Das (18th c.) in his Dadhyata bhakti, a popular biographical work in verse, has elaborately written about the life of this devotee. He was born to rich parents in a village situated on the north-eastern border of odisha adjacent to Bengal. He was married when yet a boy. He lost his parents and fortune early and became a destitute. For this he was known as Raghu Arakhita, i.e. Raghu, the destitute. He left his ancestral house, became a Vaishnava sanyasi and went to Puri, where he lived almost as a beggar. The later part of the story narrates how Raghu Arakhita, by the grace of Lord Jagannath, was re-united with his wife, and how they...

 Bibhuti Pattnaik is a prolific writer of novels and short stories, teaches Odia literature and language in a college. The locale of his novels varies from the rural landscape to the royal palace or to the centres of modern civilization, their popularity depending mainly upon the romantic appeal. The prominent theme of his novels is often a deep emotional man-woman relationship, and varied experiences of love contribute to the intense fervour in his novels. In every novel a tangled knot of human relationships is presented, exposing the various facets of human character, and he, adept in feminine characterization, explores the mind of woman to show her in various shades of light. Women characters like Nirupama represent the traditional Indian womanhood, whereas at the other extreme one finds Pratima Chaudhuri and Sushama representing a type of modern woman born of the new civilization in all its perversion of values. This obsession with the false values of a philistine civilization ...

 Gopalballav Das was born in 1860,He was the younger brother of Utkal Gaurab Madhusudan Das, one of the patriots and founders of the modern State of odisha. His father was Raghunath Das and mother, Parvati Devi. Having passed M.A. examination from Calcutta University, he was appointed a Deputy Magistrate by the Government, the most covetable job for any Indian in those days under the English ruler. When the minor king of Keonjhar was installed on the thronej Gopalballav Das worked as superintedent of that State. It was during his stay at Keonjhar that he came in contact with the tribal communities and wrote his only and now available novel Bhima Bhuniya. If not for anything else. Gopalballav Das is well remembered for this novel alone.By temperament he was a traditionalist. He wrote poetical works like Usha, Taraksamhar and Konark and he is credited with the composition of several lyrics. The odia novel as a literary phenomenon was a thing of the closing years of the nineteenth cen...

 Bhima Dhibara A is famous in odia literature for his kavya Kapatapasha. From the surname Dhibara it can be surmised that the poet was a ‘Dhibara’ or fisherman by caste. The poem was written most probably in the 17th century. It is divided into 10 cantos, each in different metres, such as, Nalini Gouda, Bangalashri,etc. The poet possibly because of his low-caste origin does not make any pretension of great learning. His use of simple idiomatic language to express deep emotions in popular melodious metres, has made the poem popular all over the state among all sections of people. Although the poem is named Kapatapasha, i.e. the foul dice-game, it does not give an account of the game. The poem begins dramatically from the scene in the court of the Kurus when Yudhishthira,completely defeated In the game of dice, had lost everything including his brothers and his and their wife. The poet then proceeds to describe the humiliation of Draupadi, at the hands of Dushasana, which however bro...

 Sri Chandana Partha author of Kalabati was a vassal chief of Banapura and son of a medieval Odiya poet, named Padmanabha Narendra. Kalabati, named after its heroine, is a narrative poem in seven cantos and deals with the story of her love for the Prince of Madhubana, their union, estrangement and reunion through the intervention of supernatural forces. The story is simple and conceived, on the whole, in the puranic style, and though at times it borders on monotony, the treatment of love in separation has some poignancy and makes a direct appeal to the heart.

 Benudhar Raut born in 1925 in the village of Harichandanpur in Keonjhar district. He did his M.A. in Odiya in 1949 from the Utkal University and joined a Government College as lecturer in Odiya. Benudhar has written primarily poetry, but he has also to his credit a number of articles on art and literature which appeared in different periodicals from time to time. s a poet he is basically an experimentalist and has tried diverse techniques. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he does not blindly imitate the new poets of the West. He believes that problems and their solutions in the east and in the west cannot be the same and they call for totally different approaches. Benudhar does not try to imitate a technique which does not suit the subject. He often seeks to modify the technique to suit his need. His poetical works include Pingalar surya (1967). He also wrote some essays which, though few in number, testify to the clarity and originality of his thought.

 Gourishankar Ray was born in 1838 ,in a Bengali family at Dikshitpara in the district of Cuttack. After receiving informal education in Oriya, Urdu and Persian in his native village, he came to Cuttack for studies, whereafter he joined a college at Hoogly for higher studies. He returned to Odisha, joined the Commissioner’s Office, Cuttack, as a clerk, and later rose to be a ‘translator’ in the Cuttack Collectorate.With the help of a few friends he set up the Cuttack Printing Company and started editing Utkal deepika, a weekly newspaper, for the benefit of the people of Odisha. He was associated with the paper for more than half a century, and is regarded as the father of journalism in Odisha. Utkal deepika became the centre of socio-cultural and political activities in the state. A good number of classical and puranic literature in Odisha,written on palm leaf, was decaying. He collected the material and got it printed with correct reading and notes.

 Paramananda Acharya was born in 1891,He was a great scholar in history, archaeology and in the study of Archives. He combined his historical insight and perception with his literary abilities to produce monumental works on the history, archaeology and literature of odisha. After his education in a village school he studied at Amarada M.E. School and ultimately passed B.Sc. in 1933 from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta. He worked with Ramaprasad Chandra in the Archaeological Survey of Mayurbhanj and Kahiching. Later on in 1934, he accompanied the prince of Mayurbhanj to England. While in England he studied the ancient inscriptions including those of Chandrika Devi in Royal Asiatic Society. He attracted public attention when he published his study on the inscription of Ananta Basudev temple. He was appointed by the odisha Government as Superintendent of Archaeological Department in 1950 and with a record achievement to his credit in the field of historical study of odisha, he retired...

 Padmanabh Srichandan a poet in the tradition of ornate poetry (riti kavya), belonged to the royal family of Banki, in the district of Cuttack, and ruled from 1735 to 1757. odisha was then under the Muslim rule which was shortly followed by the Maratha rule. In ancient times, Balabhadra Dhall, a prince from Dhalbhumi came to Banki and became its king. The political history of Banki, a small principality, is later marked by the rule of a dynasty whose royal title, Srichandan, was granted either by the Raja of Puri or Khurda. Padmanabh was the contemporary of king Ramchandra II and Birakishore of Khurda. Padmanabh was a person imbued with scholarship and poetic genius. He was also a lover of sports. His chief poetical work, Sashirekha, is an outstanding literary product divided into thirty-six cantos. It is an imaginative kavyadesigned on the model of the famous kavya Labanyabati by Upendra Bhanja, the most outstanding poet in the ornate genre. The first canto contains benediction, ...