For the first time, the Odisha Sahitya Akademi celebrated birth anniversary of legendary litterateur of undivided Koraput district Bhagirathi Patra. Patra belonged to Nabarangpur district.
He is remembered not only for his contribution to the Odia literature but also for his research in Odia language. His writings have made him immortal and one of the great litterateurs of south Odisha, said District Education Officer Kulamani Nath Sharma on the Patra’s 76th birth anniversary.
Attending the function, BDO Gunanidhi Nayak said Patra’s entire life was dedicated to the upliftment of deprived section of the society. “His writings became the voice of the voiceless. We should preserve all his writings,” he added.
Poet Narayana Panda recounted Patra’s relentless and selfless service to society as well as to the Odia literature. “He was the pioneer of library movement in the district. He established district’s first library,” Panda said.
Presiding over the meeting, Odisha Sahitya Academy member Bulu Hota disclosed about a survey conducted by a research team that visited Nabarangpur and adjacent districts. The team opined, “In the ‘Meghaduta’, poet Kalidas described “Amrakuta’ which is now known as Umerkote, situated in the district of Nabarangpur. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Umerkote was known as Amarkantak where the famous poet was born.”
Hota further claimed that besides all the descriptions of natural sites in Meghaduta poem, Nabarangpur, Koraput, and Malkangiri districts too figure in the poem. The Ramagiri mountain mentioned in the poem is situated in Boipariguda block of Koraput district and geographically Ramagiri is to the south of Amarkantaka and Savari river, Janaka Tanaya Kunda, Dandakaranya and Maithali of Ramayan era are found in Malkangiri district which was known as Malyabantagiri. During a recent study, the local writers and researchers who said that Nalas, who had good rapport with Vikramaditya, ruled Umerkote region. They claimed that Kalidas’s father worshiped the idol of Vishnu, which was found in Kasaribedha village near the ruined fort of Podagada. Four inscriptions of Podagada tell a lot about this history, said Hota.
Among Other speakers Dr Vijaya Mishra, Narayana Panda and DIPRO Haladhar Nial remembered the great litterateur. Dr Bijaya Mishra was conferred with Bhagirathi Sanmana.