On the first death anniversary of eminent tribal scholar and Kui exponent Pandit Raghunath Rath, his son handed over his precious collection of 2,500 books and journals to the National Archives of India’s (NAI) Bhubaneswar Record Centre on Sunday.
A self-trained anthropologist, Rath’s passion was the study of the history, culture and traditions of Kandh tribals. He spent many years of his life with Kandhs and mastered the Kui language.
He had observed and recorded the transformation that was happening to these original people and how so-called modern development was obliterating and obscuring the ancient traditions.
Rath was conferred with many awards, including Sahitya Akademi and Itihas Sankalan Samiti awards.
The books were handed over to NAI Deputy Director Dr T Hussain. Speaking on the occasion, and State Convener of INTACH Amiya Bhusan Tripathy spoke about the great work done by Rath. Former bureaucrat Sanjib Hota also paid tributes to Rath,
Assistant Director of Archives Dr Lalatendu Dash Mohapatra said Rath’s books would be kept in a special gallery for the benefit of researchers and scholars. Historian Anil Dhir said that 2,500 more books would soon be handed over to the Odisha State Archives.
Eminent academicians and scholars, including Dr DP Pattanayak, Dr Bimalendu Mohanty, Dr Sanjay Acharya and Dr Jatin Nayak, were present.