Facts About Odiya Literature

Important Facts and Figures about Odiya Literature are as follows:

Charyapadas

Charyapada is considered to be the earliest extant work in the field of Bengali, Assamese, Odiya as well as the Maithili Language. It’s a collection of Buddhist mystical poems or songs belonging to 8th–12th century.  These songs have the element of the ritual gathering of practitioners in a tantric feast. The Charyapadas were written by the Mahasiddhas or Siddhacharyas, who belonged to the various regions of Assam, Bengal, Odisha and Bihar. Charyapada is also the collection of the oldest verses written in pre-Modern Bengali.

Sarala Das

Sarala Das was a 15th-century poet and scholar of Odiya literature, best known for a trilogy Mahabharata, Vilanka Ramayana and Chandi Purana. He is considered to be the first Odiya writer.

Panchasakha

Panchasakhas were the five poets of Odiya Language in 15th and 16th century. These were Balaram Das, Jagannath Das, Achyutananda Das, Ananta Das and Jasobanta Das. All of were from the Utkaliya vasihnavism.

Upendra Bhanja

Upendra Bhanja was a Odiya Poet of 17th century who wrote Bidehisha Bilasa, Koti Brahmanda Sundari and Lavanyabati. These are considrered to be the landmarks of Odiya Literature. Also somtimes referred as Kabi Samrat among Odiya poets.

Radhanath Ray

Radhanath Ray (1849–1908) was the most well-known Odiya poet of this 19th century. He wrote intially in Bengali as well as Odiya but later shifted entirely to Odiya language. He is honoured in Odiya literature with the title Kabibara.

Fakir Mohan Senapati

Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918) was a prolific Odiya fiction writer and is known as father of modern Odiya prose fiction. His Rebati (1898) is widely recognized as the first Oriya short story.

Gopabandhu Das

Gopabandhu Dash (1877–1928), fondly called as Utkalamani was a social worker, reformer, political activist, journalist, poet and essayist. He was instrumental in making Oriya journalism suitable for the common man. He published a monthly magazine called Satyabadi in 1914. He also started the popular Odiya newspaper Samaj.

Gopala Chandra Praharaj

The Purnachandra Oriya Bhashakosha is a monumental 7-volume work of about 9,500 pages published between 1930 and 1940. It was a result of the vision and dedicated work of Gopal Chandra Praharaj (1874–1945) over nearly three decades.

Gopinath Mohanty

Gopinath Mohanty (1914–1991) was the first winner of the prestigious Jnanpith award for Odiya Language and is considered to be the most eminent Odiya writer after Fakir Mohan Senapati. He received Jnanpith award for Matimatala (1964), a novel of epic dimension based on life in rural Odisha.

Sitakant Mahapatra

Sitakant Mahapatra (born 1937) is a former IAS officer and is a notable poet and literary critic in Odiya and English language. He was awarded the 1974 Sahitya Akademi Award in Oriya for his poetry collection, Sabdar Akash (The Sky of Words) and was  awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1993 for outstanding contribution to Indian literature.

Pratibha Ray

Pratibha Ray is a leading Oriya novelist and academician, who has written over 40 novels, travelogues and short stories. She is winner of the Jnanpith Award for the year 2011. She was the first woman to win the Moortidevi Award in 1991.