Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 15:
By Swetaparna - August 15, 2016
Finally, Odia will be used as the official language in all transactions of the Odisha government from tomorrow.
“Rules of the Official Language Bill have been approved. It will come into effect from tomorrow. We are hopeful that all efforts will be made for implementation of Odia as the State language within this year,” informed Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here today.
A committee with the Chief Secretary as its chairperson has been formed to oversee implementation of the use of Odia in all official business of the state government. The committee will every six months take stock of the situation. A special division under the General Administration department will oversee implementation of the use of Odia language in official transactions of the state government.
On the other hand, linguists have expressed doubts over the implementation of Odia as the state’s official language. They have alleged that it was being implemented in haste.
They are of the opinion that Odisha was yet to constitute a language commission or a state directorate for overseeing its implementation unlike Hindi and other regional languages.
They have further said that had a State Language Commission been constituted with quasi-judicial powers then implementation of the government’s directives would have been much easier.
“A regulatory commission with quasi-judicial powers at the non-governmental level should have been constituted which could put pressure on the government where it would have failed. This has not been discussed. Now it cannot be said that it has moved forward or it has moved backward,” opined linguist Debi Prasanna Patnaik.
“In order to implement Odia as the official language, it’s essential to form language commission. But then neither language commission has been constituted nor have penal provisions been made. On the other hand, it has been left in the hands of the bureaucrats to implement the law. Then how it’s going to be implemented?” questioned Baisnab Parida, convener of Bhasa Surakshya Sammilani.
The official languages of India
The Constitution of India designates the official language of the Government of India as Hindi written in the Devanagari script, as well as English. There is no national language as declared by the Constitution of India. Hindi is used for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.
Odia
Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ About this sound oḍiā (help·info)) (formerly romanized as Oriya) is a language spoken by 4.2% of India's population. It is a classical Indo-Aryan language that is spoken mostly in eastern India, with around 40 million native speakers globally.
It is the predominant language of the Indian state of Odisha (Orissa) where native speakers make up 75% of the population, and is also spoken in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
Odia is one of the many official languages of India; it is the official language of Odisha and the second official language of Jharkhand. The language is also spoken by a sizeable population of at least 1 million people in Chhattisgarh.
Odia is the sixth Indian language to be designated a Classical Language in India on the basis of having a long literary history and not having borrowed extensively from other languages.
The earliest known inscription in Odia dates back to the 10th century AD
The Odia script is developed from the Kalinga alphabet, one of the many descendants of the Brahmi script of ancient India.[1] The earliest known inscription in the Odia language, in the Kalinga script, dates from 1051. The script has undergone several phases.
The script in the Edicts of Ashoka at Dhauli and Jaugada and the Minor Inscriptions of Kharavela in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves give the first glimpse of possible origin of the Odia language.
From a linguistic perspective, the Hati Gumpha inscriptions are similar to modern Odia and essentially different from the language of the Ashokan edicts. The question has also been raised as to whether Pali was the prevalent language in Odisha during this period. The Hati Gumpha inscriptions, which are in Pali, are perhaps the only evidence of stone inscriptions in Pali. This may be the reason why the famous German linguist Professor Oldenburg mentioned that Pali was the original language of Odisha.
There are noticeable similarities between the Odia and Thai alphabets, which provides clues about the Sadhabas, Kalinga traders who traveled to south Asian countries and ruled there, leaving evidence of the Odia script on the Thai script, along with a cultural impact.
The curved appearance of the Odia script is a result of the practice of writing on palm leaves, which has a tendency to tear the leaves when many straight lines are written.
NEW DELHI, February 20, 2014
Odia is billed as the first language from the Indo-Aryan linguistic group and the case for making it a classical language
Odia on Thursday became the sixth language of the country to get “classical language’’ status after the Union Cabinet conceded a long-pending demand for putting it in the same league as Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Odia is billed as the first language from the Indo-Aryan linguistic group and the case for making it a classical language was also premised on the fact that it has no resemblance to Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali and Telugu. The proposal was moved by the Culture Ministry.
Once a language is declared classical, it gets financial assistance for setting up a centre of excellence for the study of that language and also opens up an avenue for two major awards for scholars of eminence. Besides, the University Grants Commission can be requested to create – to begin with at least in Central Universities – a certain number of professional chairs for classical languages for scholars of eminence in the language.
The criteria for declaring a language as classical mandates high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1,500-2,000 years, a body of ancient literature/texts which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers and a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community. Also since the classical language and literature is distinct from the modern, there can also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.
The Odia language literature
The Odia language literature (Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସାହିତ୍ୟ) is the predominant literature of the state of Odisha in India. The language is also spoken by minority populations of the neighbouring states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. The region has been known at different stages of history as Kalinga, Udra, Utkala or Koshala. Odisha was a vast empire in ancient and medieval times, extending from the Ganges in the north to the Godavari in the south. During British rule, however, Odisha lost its political identity and formed parts of the Bengal and Madras Presidencies. The present state of Odisha was formed in 1936. The modern Odia language is formed mostly from Pali words with significant Sanskrit influence. About 28% of modern Odia words have Adivasi origins, and about 2% have Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu), Persian, or Arabic origins. The earliest written texts in the language are about thousand years old. The first Odia newspaper was Utkala Deepika first published on 4 August 1866.
Odia is the only Indo-European language of India other than Sanskrit and the sixth Indian language that has been conferred classical language status.
The first Literature of Odisha
Odia literature has origins going back to the 4th centuries BC. The development of Odia can be seen through its spoken and written forms. The spoken literature are expressed two ways. One preserved through folk forms and the other preserved through inscriptions. The stories and songs about birth, death and everyday life are an oral culture to some extent evidenced through surviving cave paintings that indicate something of the creativity of this underlying literature. The Gudahandi painting of Kalahandi district and the cave art of Khandagiri and Udayagiri reflect something of these ancient traditions and achievements.
The age of Charya literature (7th – 8th centuries AD)
The Charyapada is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition during the Pala Empire in Ancient Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
It was written in an Abahatta that was the ancestor of Assamese, Bengali, Sylheti, Oriya, Maithilli and many other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages between the 8th and 12th centuries and it is said to be the oldest collection of verses written in those languages.
As songs of realization, the Charyapada were intended to be sung. These songs of realisation were spontaneously composed verses that expressed a practitioner's experience of the enlightened state.
Pre-Sarala Age - 12th – 14th century AD
In the pre-Sarala period, Natha and Siddha literature flourished in Odisha. The main works of this period are Shishu veda (an anthology of 24 dohas), Amara Kosha and Gorakh Samhita. Shishu veda is mentioned in the works of Sarala Das and the later 16th century poets. It is written in Dandi brutta. Raja Balabhadra Bhanja wrote the love story, Bhagabati known for its emotional content. The other important works of this period are the Kalasha Chautisha (By Baccha Das) Somanatha bratakatha, Nagala chauthi, Tapoi and Saptanga.
Rudrasudhanidhi is considered the first work of prose in Odia literature written by Abhadutta Narayan Swami.
Markanda Das composed the first Koili (an ode to cuckoo) in Odia just before the beginning of the age of Sarala Das. His composition Kesava Koili describes the pain of separation of Yasoda from her son Krishna. He is also known to compose the epic Daasagriba badha, Jnaanodaya koili etc.
The age of Sarala Das
In the 15th century, Sanskrit was the language for literature in Odisha and Odia was often considered the language of the commoners and shudras (Untouchables), who had no access to Sanskrit education.
This was not an exact translation from the Sanskrit original, but rather an imitation; for all practical purposes it can be seen as an original piece of work. Sarala Das was given the title Shudramuni, or seer from a backward class. He had no formal education and did not know Sanskrit.
This translation has since provided subsequent poets with the necessary foundation for a national literature, providing a fairly accurate idea of the Odia culture at the time.
Sarala-Das, born in the 15th century Odisha of the Gajapati emperor Kapilendra Deva, was acclaimed as the "Adikabi" or first poet. The reign of the Gajapatis is considered the golden period for Odisha's art and literature. Kapilendra Deva patronized Odia language and literature along with Sanskrit unlike his predecessors who used only Sanskrit as the language of literature. In fact a short Odia poem Kebana Munikumara is found in the Sanskrit Drama Parashurama Vijaya ascribed to none other than the emperor Kapilendra Deva himself.
There is a legend that Sarala Das's poetic gift came from the goddess Sarala (Saraswati), and that Sarala-Das wrote the Mahabharata as she dictated it.
Though he wrote many poems and epics, he is best remembered for the Mahabharata. His other most known works are Chandi Purana and the Vilanka Ramayana. He also composed the Lakhsmi-Narayana Bachanika.
The five friends
Five Odia poets emerged during the late 15th and early 16th centuries: Balaram Das, Atibadi Jagannath Das, Achyutananda Das, Ananta Das and Jasobanta Das. Although they wrote over a span of one hundred years they are collectively known as the "Panchasakhas", since they adhered to the same school of thought, Utkaliya Vaishnavism. The word "pancha" means five and the word "sakha", friend.
The most influential work of this period was however Atibadi Jagannath Das's Bhagabata, which had a great influence on the Odia people as a day-to-day philosophical guide, as well as a lasting one in Odia culture. this work also had a great influence in the standardizing of the Odia language. Its popularity in Odisha reached to the level of it being revered in many homes. Many villages in Odisha used to have a small house or room known as bhagabata tungi, where villagers would gather to listen to recitations of Dasa’s Bhagabata. Many of its verses have become proverbs and are used by people throughout Odisha.
Riti Yuga/Age of Upendra Bhanja (1650–1850)
After the age of the Panchasakhas, several prominent works were written, including the Usabhilasa of Sisu Sankara Das, the Rahasya-manjari of Deva-durlabha Dasa and the Rukmini-bibha of Karttika Das. A new form of novels in verse evolved at the beginning of the 17th century when Ramachandra Pattanayaka wrote Haravali. The prominent poets of the period, however, are Dhananjaya Bhanja (born 1611. AD), Dinakrushna Das (born 1650. AD), Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja (born 1670. AD) and Abhimanyu Samanta Simhar. Their poetry, especially that of Upendra Bhanja, is characterised by verbal tricks, obscenity and eroticism.
Upendra Bhanja's works like Baidehisha Bilasa, Koti Brahmanda Sundari and Labanyabati are considered landmarks of Odia Literature. He was conferred with the title "Kabi Samrat" of Odia literature for his aesthetic poetic sense and skill with words. He wrote 52 books out of which only 25-26 are available. He alone contributed more than 35000 words to Odia literature and is considered the greatest poet of Riti Juga.
A new form of poetry called "Bandha kabita" also started during this time where the poet wrote the poem within the bandha or frame of a picture drawn by him. Upendra Bhanja was the pioneer in this form of pictorial poetry. His Chitrakavya Bandhodaya is the first such creation containing 84 pictorial poems.
Towards the end of Riti Yuga, four major poets emerged and enriched Odia literature through their highly lyrical creations. These were Kabi Surya Baladeb Rath, Brajanath Badajena, Gopal Krushna Pattanaik and Bhima Bhoi. Kabisurya Baladev Rath wrote his poems in champu (mixture of prose and poetry) and chautisha style of poetry. His greatest work is Kishore Chandranana Champu which is a landmark creation extensively used in Odissi Music.
Print based publishing
The first printing of the Odia language was done in 1836 by Christian missionaries, replacing palm leaf inscription and revolutionising Odia literature. After this time books were printed and journals and periodicals became available in Odia. The first Odia magazine, Bodha Dayini was published in Balasore in 1861. Its goal was to promote Odia literature and draw attention to lapses in government policy. The first Odia paper The Utkala Deepika, was first published in 1866 under editor Gourishankar Ray and Bichitrananda. The Utkal Deepika campaigned to bring all Odia-speaking areas together under one administration, to develop the Odia language and literature and to protect Odia interests.
Radhanath Ray (1849–1908) is the most well-known poet of this period. He wrote with a Western influence, and his kavyas (long poems) included Chandrabhaga, Nandikeshwari, Usha, Mahajatra, Darbar and Chilika.
Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918), the most known Odia fiction writer, was also of this generation.
Among the contemporaries of Fakir Mohan, four novelists deserve special mention: Aparna Panda, Mrutyunjay Rath, Ram Chandra Acharya and Brajabandhu Mishra.
Aparna Panda's Kalavati and Brajabandhu Mishra's Basanta Malati were both published in 1902, the year in which Chha Mana Atha Guntha came out in the book form.
Brajabandhu Mishra's Basanta Malati, which came out from Bamanda, depicts the conflict between a poor but highly educated young man and a wealthy and highly egoistic young woman whose conjugal life is seriously affected by ego clashes. Through a story of union, separation and reunion, the novelist delineates the psychological state of a young woman in separation from her husband and examines the significance of marriage as a social institution in traditional Indian society.
Ram Chandra Acharya wrote about seven novels during 1924-1936. All his novels are historical romances based on the historical events in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Odisha.
Mrutyunjay Rath's novel, Adbhuta Parinama, published in 1915, centres round a young Hindu who gets converted to Christianity to marry a Christian girl.
One of the great writers in the 19th century was Pandit Krushna Chandra Kar (1907-1995) from Cuttack, who wrote many books for children like Pari Raija, Kuhuka Raija, Panchatantra, Adi Jugara Galpa Mala, etc.
One of the prominent writers of the 19th and 20th centuries was Muralidhar Mallick (1927–2002). His contribution to Historical novels is beyond words.
Another illustrious writer of the 20th century was Mr. Chintamani Das. A noted academician, he was written more than 40 books including fiction, short stories, biographies and storybooks for children. Born in 1903 in Sriramachandrapur village under Satyabadi block, Chintamani Das is the only writer who has written biographies on all the five 'Pancha Sakhas' of Satyabadi namely Pandit Gopabandhu Das, Acharya Harihara, Nilakantha Das, Krupasindhu Mishra and Pandit Godabarisha. Some of his well-known literary creations are 'Bhala Manisha Hua', 'Manishi Nilakantha', 'Kabi Godabarisha', 'Byasakabi Fakiramohan', 'Usha', 'Barabati'.
20th century writers in Odia include Pallikabi Nanda Kishore Bal (1875–1928), Gangadhar Meher (1862–1924), Chintamani Mahanti and Kuntala-Kumari Sabat Utkala-Bharati, besides Niladri Dasa and Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928). The most notable novelists were Umesa Sarakara, Divyasimha Panigrahi, Gopala Praharaja and Kalindi Charan Panigrahi. Sachi Kanta Rauta Ray is the great introducer of the ultra-modern style in modern Odia poetry.
Others who took up this form were Godabarisha Mohapatra, Mayadhara Manasimha, Nityananda Mahapatra and Kunjabihari Dasa. Prabhasa Chandra Satpathi is known for his translations of some western classics apart from Udayanatha Shadangi, Sunanda Kara and Surendranatha Dwivedi.
Criticism, essays and history also became major lines of writing in the Odia language. Esteemed writers in this field were Professor Girija Shankar Ray, Pandit Vinayaka Misra, Professor Gauri Kumara Brahma, Jagabandhu Simha and Harekrushna Mahatab. Odia literature mirrors the industrious, peaceful and artistic image of the Odia people who have offered and gifted much to the Indian civilization in the field of art and literature.
Distinguished prose writers of the modern period include Fakir Mohan Senapati, Madhusudan Das, Godabarisha Mohapatra, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi, Surendra Mohanty, Manoj Das, Kishori Charan Das, Gopinath Mohanty, Rabi Patnaik, Chandrasekhar Rath, Binapani Mohanty, Bhikari Rath, Jagadish Mohanty, Sarojini Sahoo, Yashodhara Mishra, Ramchandra Behera, Padmaja Pal.
But it is poetry that makes modern Odia literature a force to reckon with. Poets like Kabibar Radhanath Ray, Sachidananda Routray, Guruprasad Mohanty, Soubhagya Misra, Ramakanta Rath, Sitakanta Mohapatra, Rajendra Kishore Panda, Pratibha Satpathy have made significant contributions towards Indian poetry.
Anita Desai's novella, Translator Translated, from her collection The Art of Disappearance, features a translator of a fictive Odian short story writer; the novella contains a discussion of the perils of translating works composed in regional Indian languages into English.
Four writers in Odia - Gopinath Mohanty, Sachidananda Routray, Sitakant Mahapatra and Pratibha Ray - have been awarded the Jnanpith, a prestigious Indian literary award.
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