Odia Books

Radhamohana Gadanayaka was born in 1911,He is a lyricist and balladist in modern odia literature. He is well acquainted with other languages also like Sanskrit, Bengali and English. He started working as a Production Officer in the Directorate of Education of Odisha, but did not continue for long. Gadanayaka always wanted to be a free man without any bondage so that he could be a sincere and dedicated poet. In 1925 he started his poetic career by writing a poem in Gadajata basini, a journal of that time. His early poems are collected in Banaraji nila (The forest’s blue, 1968, written during 1925-28). But his collection, Kabyanayika (Poetry, the heroine, 1945) established him as one of the leading poets of the day. In the poem‘Kabi heba pain basana mora’ (My aspiration to be a poet) he narrates the objective of his poetic vision.

Prior to this, he translated Sohrab and Rustum of Arnold and Meghaduta (The cloud messenger) of Kalidasa into odia successfully. His poetic drama Kalidasa (1940) is based on the life and achievement of the great poet.The poet’s other books like Utkalika (Stories of Utkal, 1945), Smaranika (Stories of remembrance, 1950),Kaishorika (Stories of adolesence) and Samukara swapna (Dream of an oyster shell, 1961) are fine collections of ballads. As a ballad writer, he is next only to Godabarisa Mishra, the noted poet of ‘satyabadi’ school. His Pashupakshir kabya (Poems of birds and beasts, 1959) is a beautiful collection of ballads on beasts and birds.

Mausumi (Monsoon, 1951) is a collection of narrative poems which reminds us of Shelley’s‘Ode to the West Wind.’ In Dhusara bhumika (Grey preface, 1960) he narrates the grey stories of the postindependence period. The poem Ayi prithi (Oh, earth) recollects the plentiful days of Prithu, the mythical king described in the Bhagavata, when this earth had to become a cow (Kamadhenu) to cater to the needs of the people. Duiti tahara dena (His two wings, 1954), a collection of poems, depicts the contemporary scene and happenings of the country. Surya o andhakara (The sun and the darkness. 1974), a memorable collection, earned the Sahitya Akademi award for the poet in 1975. Unlike his contemporaries, Gadanayaka did not join any camp. He is individualistic in temperament. Being a ballad writer, he has not accepted modernistic approach and technique of poetry.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Laxmidhar Nayaka (ed.), Gadanayaka abhinandana grantha (Cuttack, 1961)

Odia Books By Radhamohana Gadanayaka

Kalidasa
Utkalika
Smaranika
Kaishorika
Samukara Swapna
Surya O Andhakara
Mausumi