Odia Books

Govind Chandra Surdeo was born in 1884,in the royal family of Tarala, an outlying estate in the south of odisha, and was brought up by his maternal uncle, the ruler of Nayagarh. In 1905, he passed the Entrance examination from Collegiate School, Cuttack. He continued his studies at Ravenshaw College but had to leave college when his uncle died. Surdeo was a gifted boy and his talent was manifested early in composing songs and writing dramas. He was also an actor and musician.

In 1911 he married Chandraprabha, the only daughter of Shyamsundar Narendra, the Zamindar of Kendrapara.Thereafter his life was spent in pursuit of dramatic art, writing plays and staging them at different places. Kendrapara, Cuttack and Nayagarh were the main centres of his activities.Music and drama were his lifelong companions for which he had to incur great finailcial loss including that of his vast property. He met with a sudden and untimely death while staging a play at Sergarh in the district of Ganjam.

Surdeo was a musician, painter and actor all at the same time and trained many students in these forms of art. Under his direction hundreds of plays were staged at a time when there were no professional theatrical organisations in odisha. He first organised a Rasa party (a dramatic performance depicting the Rasa Lila of Lord Krishna through songs) called ‘Radha Krishna Rasa party’ at Kendrapara in 1919, and gave a new turn to the traditional Rasa performance in odisha.

Most of his plays are based on mythology or history. His two short plays named Pathoi bohu and Patent medicine are dramatisations of two famous short stories written by Fakirmohan Senapati. His lyrical compositions, both patriotic and devotional, are of a high order and are popular to this day.

Some of his significant works are Rasa lila, Mana bhanjan, Jugala milan, Sakhi Gopal, Dhruba, Sudama,Gopeswar puja, Indra sabha, Naramedha yajna, Narakasura badha, Maya sabari, Shrikrishna mahima,Utkala ramani, Mukunda Deva, Hindol bijoy, Mibaraputra, Tarabai. He wrote some one-act plays and farces as well. Though many of his plays are staged even today, unfortunately a vast bulk of his work still remains unpublished.

Rasalila
Mana Bhanjan
Jugala Milan
Sakhi Gopal
Dhruba
Narakasura Badha
Gopeswar Puja
Indra Sabha
Naramedha Yajna