Odia Books

Kesabraj Harichandan was the king of Surangi (1697-1715), (an area towards the south of odisha, now in northern Andhra Pradesh), on the coast. He was a painter and a poet, and his son Dinabandhuraj Harichandan, also a poet, wrote of him as the best of men having many ‘divine virtues’. He was a contemporary of Upendra Bhanja, and his kavya Rasasindhu Sulakhyana written in 1710, and published by Cultural Affairs Department, Government of odisha, compares favourably with the famous kavyas of Upendra Bhanja.

It deals with Sulakhyana, a lady of incomparable beauty, her growing into age, her trials in love and final happiness. It is a fictional account, at par with the fictional kavyas of Upendra Bhanja, and has many poetical felicities. In contrast to Upendra’s style, its language is simpler, more direct, though equally gripping, and achieves an instant communication with the readers. The following is an extract from the 5th canto of the kavya, which describes the physical beauty of Sulakhyana through a series of comparisons:

If there is no lightning or thunder or wind,
And the sky is full of young clouds,
Like darkness in deep, dark night,
Then probably you can compare her hair to that;
Waters of Jamuna,
And no flow of water,
And no movement of aquatic animals
Then probably you can compare her hair to that;
Or is it that all night’s darkness
has hidden behind her face,
Fearing that it is a moon?
Or is it that the spots of moon
Have been kept separately as hair,
Away from the moon?
Or do they crawl from the hills of breast,
To drink the wind of life from the youth? (tr.)

It is not a small strength to maintain one’s ground against the extremely powerful poetical force of Upendra Bhanja, which Kesabraj Harichandan did, and there lies his significance as a poet. (Ja.M.)

Odia Books Kesabraj Harichandan

Rasasindhu Sulakhyana