Odia Books

Kamapala Mishra was born in 1875,He is son of Pandit Damodara Mishra and Gayatri Devi, passed the
B.A. Examination from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, in 1897, worked for some time as Sub-Divisional
Officer in the State of Mayurbhanj, passed the B.L. Examination from Cuttack in 1908 and joined the bar. After a short period he lost his mental balance. He was temporarily cured and then served for some years as the Head Master of Talcher High School.Steeped in traditional culture, well-versed in Sanskrit and odia, he was a keen lover of music and drama.

He was a gifted singer of the traditional odia songs like the champus and chhandas. His first literary work was a poem, a ‘kavya’, named Apurva swapna (The unique dream) followed by his first drama, Sita bibaha (The marriage of Sita), both written while he was a student. Sita bibaha, published in 1899, is a drama of five Acts which presents Sita from her childhood and deals with her marriage with Rama and her journey with him to Ayodhya. It has an almost traditional introduction or Prastavana setting forth the theme through the song of a dancing ‘nati’.

But there is no ‘Sutradhara’ in it. Following his predecessor Ramshankar Ray and the Shakespearean tradition, Kamapala has often used blank verse in dialogues. Though his blank verse is occasionally uneven and faulty in rhythm, it is better than that of Ramashankar. As in Sanskrit dramas, here, too, the friends of Sita are seen engaged in plucking flowers or cracking jokes with Sita.

A Vidushaka is introduced. The mythological theme is treated with a bold originality. The miracle element, usual in mythological dramas, are comparatively less evident. There is no song from the Nepathya. Asides and whispered speeches are rare. The influence of the folk plays is seen in the presence of a rather large number of songs in the drama.

Basanta latika was published by the author’s son Umakant Mishra in 1933 but it had been written as early as 1913. It was first staged by the Balanga Theatre Party. It is semi-historical in theme depicting an imaginary tale of palace intrigue. In dialogue and craftsmanship, as also in the art of depicting varied emotions, it is superior to Sita bibaha.  It has no conventional ‘nata’ or ‘nati’ in the ‘prastavana’. Instead,Kamapala introduces Parvati and the Rajalakshmi of the Mayurbhanj royal family. In this drama, too, blank verse is introduced. Harishchandra of Kamapala Mishra, written in 1902 though never published, was staged more than once.

It is a drama in five Acts with mythological characters like Harischandra, Shaivya and Rohitasva and imaginary chatacters like Mangalya, Kalapi and Varana. Reformistic and realistic in approach, it is critical of the coarseness and vulgarity of the contemporary folk dramas and of the growing moral degeneration, religious corruption and the arrogance of the Brahmins.

Kamapala Mishra’s last two works are a drama named Durga sarari and a novel named Prabhamayee. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Girija Shankar Ray, Odiya natya kala; Hemantakumar Das, Odia natakara viksa dhara; Narayan Satpathy, Odia nataka natyakara; Priyaranjan Sen, Moden Oriya Literature; Ratnakar Chaini, Odia natakara udbbava o vikas; Saradaprasad Da1behera, odisha rangamancha itihasa; Sarbeswar Das, Nataka
vichara; Virakishore Das, Yuge yuge natya sahitya.

Odia Books By Kamapala Mishra

Apurva swapna
Sita bibaha
Ratnakar Chaini
Odisha Rangamancha Itihasa