Odia Books

Though the exact dates of his birth and death are not known, he is said to have lived in the 17th century. It was the time of Muslim rule in Orissa when many rulers indulged in iconoclastic activities against the Hindu religion. Hence attempts were made to defend the Hindu religion in devious ways. One such was to transform the Muslim divinity ‘Satyapir’ into Hindu ‘Satyanarayana’ and people wrote poetical accounts called ‘pala’ to celebrate the divinity’s powers. Kabi Karna was the first writer to write palas in odia, and he introduced ‘Satyanarayan pala’ in the contemporary society.

He wrote sixteen palas which were popularly known as ‘solapala’ (sixteen palas) and contained sixteen different stories in verse, mostly in rhymed couplets, and in a combination of both odia and Bengali languages. These are generally stories depicting people in great distress and suffering, from which they escape through worshipping Satyanarayana who was revered as an incarnation of divine Lord Vishnu. These palas are often read out at the time of real worship, and apart from their narrative interest, they contain moral instructions for the listeners. Solapala is a collection of stories in verse as also a compendium motivating people irrespective of communities towards developing faith in gods and religion. To that extent Kabi Karna remains an important poet, whose book not only had a significant social impact but also inspired many writers subsequently to write similar books.

Odia Books By Kabi Karna

Solapala
Satyanarayan Pala