Gana Kabi Baishnab Pani’s 133th birth anniversary falls on October 27. He was born in the night of Kumar Purnima in 1882 at Kothapada village in Cuttack district in a poor Brahmin family to father Sudarsan Pani and mother Chhaya Devi.
He was named as Satrughna by his parents. In his childhood he was suffering from various diseases and his parents were unable to provide him treatment. Then they dedicated the child to lord Jagannath under a banyan tree of Badachhata mutt in Puri and changed his name from Satrughna to Baishnav.
Poverty also created hindrances in his way to get education. Baishnav dropped out from Class -VII. However, as Baishnab was very sober and fond of singing, villagers came forward to provide him financial assistance to continue his studies. He had good command over Odia and Sanskrirt languages. later, he joined as a Pala artist and wrote many books, including dramas and poems.
It was stated that he was a devotee of Binod Bihari deity and visited the temple regularly. His first creation is Meghanada Baddha in 1903 and he dedicated the book to Binod Bihari. His prominent writings were based on mythological plots with incorporation of contemporary socio-economic and political issues of the society. He was a champion of lyric and music.
He never forgot to include the problems of the downtrodden and women. Baishnav was a social reformer and did not believe in castism as he married to a girl belonging to a washer man family in spite of hindrance created by his family members and people of higher caste.
While struggling with poverty, fortunately Mahanta of Kothapada mutt allowed him to join his theatre troupe to act in minor roles in yatra stage. At the age of 21, Baishnab wrote 600 books which include 150 yatras, 19 farces and 65 anthologies of lyrics, poems, stories and other literary pieces. Some of his popular yatras Dronacharya Baddha in1928, Karna Arjuna in 1929, Rangasabha in 1930, Daksha Yajna in 1932,Karnadana Parikshya in 1951, and some other yatra stories are Karna Baddha, Bijay Basanta, Abu Hassan farce, Saudagara farce, Natua Mohanty etc. He was very popular in both West Bengal and Odisha for writing, directing and acting in Odia folk opera.
His creations are still played at different places in the State and also in radio and television for the entertainment of people.
Recognising his contributions to the Odia yatra and literature, the Utkal Sahitya Samaj awarded him “Ganakabi” at a function held at Banipitha Sriram Chandra Bhawan, Cuttack posthumously (10 years after his death) in the presence of a galaxy of prominent writers and poets.
The Ganakabi Smruti Sansad,Kothapada, which was formed in 1964, observed the birth anniversary of Ganakabi first time. Presently, a number of institutions and individuals are observing it.
Baishnab Pani is in the heart of Odias and also will continue to remain forever. He died in 1956.