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is an early medieval Odia poet. Nothing absolutely is known about his family and place of residence. The only work attributed to his authorship is the Kalasa Chautisa (first discovered and included in the Prachina Gadyapadyadarsha of Artaballabha Mahanti in 1932) which was not known to the earlier historians of Odia literature. Mahanti happened to come across a phrase – Kalasa Padhanti (literally, read or recite Kalasa) in the Mahabharata of Sarala Das and supposed that by Kalasa,
Sarala Das referred to this hitherto unknown Kalasa Chautisa of Baccha Das. Accordingly he argued in the critical introduction of his work that in order to be so mentioned by Sarala Das this literary piece must have attained sufficient popularity and hence concluded that it was written a century earlier i.e. in the middle of the 14th century. For about two decades Mahanti’s view was accepted and Kalasa Chautisa was held to be the earliest specimen of extant Odia poetry. But in the early fifties Mahanti’s argument was challenged and the time of Kalasa Chautisa as well as Baccha Das became an interesting controversial issue. The work was studied in its various aspects such as theme, ritual discipline, diction, poetic pattern and music and it is now generally believed that the word kalasa in the Mahabharata did not mean the title of this poem. On the contrary it meant benedictory verses, recited on auspicious occasions like marriage. Hence Baccha Das was not anterior to Sarala Dasa. Its subtlety of poetic concept and the logical and more polished use of idioms,
despite some archaic words and phrases, suggest that the work may belong to a more developed period, the early 16th century.

Kalasa Chautisa is in fact a panegyric to Shiva although cleverly written in the form of a satire. As a Chautisa it contains thirty four stanzas composed in the alphabetic order peculiar to that poetic pattern. The theme is the marriage of Shiva and Gaura (Gouri: Parvati). But the bridegroom has been described as old and decrepit and as he rides on his old haggard bull bending almost double in tense asthmatic fits, he is unable to recognise men from a close distance, nor can he hear their voices. An incarnation of poverty, the bearded rustic has besmeared his body with ashes, and has a wreath of serpents on the heavy braids of hair on his head. The wretched looking man is unable to hold himself erect while sitting on the altar. The daughter of
King Himavanta and her mother take a glimpse of this gaunt man from aside and both burst into tears while Gauri swears that she would commit sucide if her hand is given in marriage to this old man. They allege that although there were so many young princes, the father has picked up this old man as suitor to his beautiful
young daughter with a motive to make money out of it. But soon the king comes and consoles them saying that Gauri was a really fortunate girl in getting for her spouse this God of the gods. The king’s order was carried out and the marriage solemnized. After the rituals were over, Shiva dropped his disguise and appeared as a handsome young man and the couple had a happy honeymoon.

The style and diction are mainly archaic, but the satire is based on the social evil of selling young maids to rich and lustful old man and in this context the realistic depiction of the bridegroom in near-death condition and strong resentment of the young maid in juxtaposition make this poem a unique piece of art, although some critics feel that the traditional character of Uma has been lowered thereby.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bamsidhara Mahanti, Sahitya O Samskriti, Janashakti Pustakalaya 1955, Gaurikumara Brahma, Samasya O Samadhanas; Kunjabihari Tripathi: Odia Sahitya Samiksana (1936).

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