Odia Books

Artaballava Mohanty was born in 1887,at Naganapur of Cuttack district. He passed his M.A. in Sanskrit from Calcutta University in 1914 and joined Ravenshaw College as a lecturer. He began his literary career right from the time he joined the college. His chief contribution to odia literature are the books he edited for the Prachi Samit. He retrieved countless palm leaf manuscripts of old works from remote villages, edited them painstakingly and published them.

These works include kavyas, kavitas, treatises on‘chhanda’ and ‘chaupadi koili’ and a host of other things. It is through his efforts that much of anceint odia literature which had almost been lost and forgotten, was retrieved and brought to limelight. He also removed many literary disputes regarding the authorship and dates of many important old works.

In addition to editing ancient kavyas and lyrics, he also edited Madala panji, the temple chronicles of Jagannath Puri, inscriptions and copper-plates. He was also the first to recognize odia writers’ contribution to the Brajaboli literature and to trace the origin of odia literature to Charyagiti. His discovery of Rudrasudhanidhi is another remarkable achievement. It is an anceint odia prose work tinged with rich poetic qualities.

He also edited Sarala Mababharata unparalleled in odia literature. Mention must also be made of his remarkable discovery of Santha literature of the 16th century, kavya literature of the 17th and 18th centuries and the literature of the Mahima cult. Besides he also wrote a number of essays in odia and English on the religion, culture and literature of odisha.

glish on the religion, culture and literature of odisha.The books edited with elaborate scholastic introductions by him include Rasakallola (by Dinkrishna Das), Lavanyabati (by Upendra Bhanja), Mathuramangala (by Bhaktacharan Das), Sasi sena (by Pratap Ray), Rama bibha (by Arjun Das), Rukmini bibha (by Karitka Das), Prema panchamrita (by Bhupati Pandit), Bidagdha chintamoni (by Abhimanya Samanta Singhar), Sashi rekha (by Padmanav Sri Chandana), Khadanga bhagabata kadha-danga (by Dinbandhu Das), Jagamohan chanda (by Dinakrishna), Rasabaridhi, Madala Panji, Stuti chintamani (by Bhima Bhoi), Gurubhakti gita, Usha bhilasha (by Sisusankara Das), Gopi bhasha (by Danai Das), Purnattama chandrodaya (by Brundavati Das), Parache gita (by Dwarika Das), Nishdha raj, Narayana sattakam, Gopal-charitamrittam (by Jagannath Das), Bata abakasha (by Balrama Das), Premabhakti brahmagita (by Yasobanta Das), Brahma sankoli (by Achyutananda Das), Rahasya manjari (by Dev Durlava Das), Siba sirodadaya (by Yasobanta Das), Chautisha madhuchakra,Brihat naradiya puran, Tatamata gita, Srtinishedha gita (by Bhima Bhoi), Chatura binoda (by Brajanath Badajjena), Nala charita (by Madhusudan Das), Mahima dharma pratipadaka, Chautisha (by Bhima Bhoi) , Bhajana mala (by Bhima Bhoi), Jayakrishna bhagana, Sadhgati, Prachina gadya, Padyadarsha, Chaitanya bhagabata (by Iswara Das) , Nirguna mahatma (by Chaitanya Das), Bishnugarva purana (by Chaitanya Das).Mohanty was awarded the titles of Vidya Bhushana by Andhra Research Society, Raibahadur by the then British Government, and Padmashri by the Government of India for his life-long devotion to and research in odia literature. . BIBLIOGRAPHY: Artaballava Souvenir; Rastrabhasapatra (1956); Ravenshaw College Centinary Souvenir.

Odia Books Artaballava Mohanty

Charyagiti
Sarala Mababharata
Mathuramangala
Rama bibha
Bidagdha chintamoni
Rasabaridhi
Madala Panji
Raibahadur