Odia Books

Radhanath Ray was born in 1848.He is fondly described as the father of the new era of Oriya literature. He lost his mother at the age of eight, an event which left him melancholy and desolate. A brilliant student,he passed the Entrance examination from the Balasore High English School and was admitted to Presidency College, Calcutta. But ill health and poverty compelled him to give up studies and join the Balasore HighEnglish School as a teacher in 1864.

Though the medieval Odia literature was rich and distinct literary tradition and history, some of the Bengali educationalists wanted to abolish Odia language as the medium of teaching from schools. As Bengal was under by British rule much before Odisha, the Bengalis had the privilege to motivate the Anglicist scholars to prove Odia as a branch of Bengali language. However, John Beams, a British officer of East India Company first tried to prove that Odia is more ancient language than Bengali, and it had a richer literature which Bengali had not.

In the Odisha division, there were only seven Odia School teachers; Bengalis formed the majority of teachers, even in the remote areas. Consequently, Bengali text books were prescribed for Odia students. At that time, Radhanath was one of prime figure along with Fakir Mohan Senapati, who fought against the expansionism of Bengali educationalist to eradicate Odia language from Odisha. He was the Inspector of Odisha Schools Association and along with Fakir Mohan Senapati and Madhusudan Rao, he tried to promote text book writings. Radhanath Ray is a respectable person he wrote his Odia poetry very light and clean.

In 1869, while he was working as a teacher, he passed the Intermediate Examination. Then this he worked at the Puri Zila school. At Puri his acquaintance with Madhusudan Rao, a promising and brilliant student of the School, subsequently turned to be a life-long literary friendship. In 1872 he became Deputy Inspector of Schools of the Balasore district. It was because of his encouragement and inducement that the first monthly literary journal of Orissa, the Utkal darpan, was published from Balasore under the patronage of his friend,Prince Baikunthanath De. Ray proved to be a devoted officer and was made Joint Inspector of Schools of Orissa, which was then part of Bengal

Radhanath’s creative genius flourished in poetry, essay and translation for a period of over forty years.His poems created a tradition with a new outlook, and profoundly influenced many a young poet and writer of subsequent years. Radhanath’s art is a treasure-house of various themes and experiences, and his poems give probably the most graphic account of Orissa and its manifold beauties.

His first poems were written in Bengali. A collection of these appeared in 1873 under the title Kabitabali.Subsequently, as a part of the new wave in Oriya literature, and in a way promoting it, he turned to Oriya and became the first important modern poet of Oriya literature. Within a period of sixteen years from 1880 he wrote his famous kavyas: Kedar Gouri (1886), Chandrabhaga (1886), Nandikeswari (1887), Usha (1888), Parvati (1891), Chilika (1892), Mahayatra (1893), Darbar (1896) and Jajati Keshari (1898), as well as an excellent translation of Meghaduta.

Radhanath released Oriya poetry from conventional style, rhythms and old bondages. He used a language varied and easily understood by readers. He rejected play on word as a poetic device and simplified the poetic diction. He often used colloquial words which add to the strength of the language. He used figures of speech such as alliteration, simile, metaphor and hyperbole, but only sparingly. He was the first poet in Oriya to use blank verse in his incomplete Mahajatra.

Oriya literature before Radhanath seldom reflected the local colour. He is the first major poet to turn to the scenic beauty of rural Orissa. His description of lakes, rivers, and valleys of Orissa were extremely appealing and colourful. The description of the beautiful lake, Chilika in the poem of the same name, the Mahanadi Valley in Mahajatra, the descriptions of Puri and Balasore in Chandrabhaga and Usha are rich in colour and detail.

Radhanath is also regarded as the first prose essayist and writer of travelogue in modern Oriya literature. Some bibliography like D.C. Roy, Radhanath jeebani , D.P. Patnaik, Kabilipi (Visva Bharati, Santineketan);N. Samant Roy. Jugasrasta Radhanath; P. Acharya, Radhanathanka ananya pratibha.

Chandrabhaga
Chilika
Jajati Keshari
Meghaduta
Kedar Gouri
Radhanath jeebani
Parvati
Mahayatra
Darbar