Prophets and Poets in Odisha

Various prophets visited Odisha ; the significant among those visits is the visit of Adi Sankaracharya in 9th century to Puri to make it a center of his mission and a towering citadel of his spiritual ideology & message. He established four monasteries in four corners of Indian Peninsula out of which “The Gobardhan Pitha” of Puri was one of the most significant. Another Great Saint Ramanujacharya, the proponent of Visistadwaita philosophy also visited Puri and established the Emar Matha. Poet Jayadev composed his world famous lilting treatise “Gita Govinda” in 12th C.A.D. Subsequently in 16th century Sri Chaitanya, the exponent of the Bhakti Cult came to Odisha and made Puri his abode for last 18 years of his life. His contemporary Pancha Sakha i.e. Sri Jagannath Das, Sri Achyutananda Das, Sri Balaram Das, Ananta and Yasobanta were spiritual stalwarts and literary luminaries of the time.

Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja, Kabi Surya Baladev Ratha, Radhanath Ray, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Pandit Gopabandhu Dash, Pandit Nilakantha Das,Gangadhar Meher, Godabaris Mishra, Kalandi Charan Panigrahi, Sachidananda Routray & many others have contributed substantially to the language & literature of Odisha .

Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das was the architect of Modern Odisha and subsequently Sri Nabakrushna Chowdhury, Dr. Hare Krishna Mahatab, Sri Bijayananda Patnaik and others engineered their best efforts for catapulting Odisha to Himalayan heights of fame.

In fact, Odisha has become a multi dimensional, multi colored, vibrant and boisterous modern state all set on its journey in the present millennium to make its presence and voice felt in the nooks and crannies of the world through the Universal Cult of brotherhood, its unique cultural heritage, luxuriant forests & wild life, sprawling Chilika Lake, bountiful coastline, wide range of tribes & colorful canvass of art & culture.

Odisha has been resurgent again rejuvenating and resuscitating its ancient glory, glamour and greatness.