Bhubaneswar: On the occasion of the 101st death anniversary of Byasakabi Fakir Mohan Senapati, the statue of the poet at Vani Vihar square was garlanded by the members of Utkal Sammilani on Saturday morning.
President of Utkal Sammilani, Mancheswar branch, Bhubaneswar Dillip Dashsharma said that as per the Georgian calendar the legendary poet’s death anniversary falls on June 14. However, we observe it as per the Hindu month and so celebrated it today on the ‘Sankranti’ day.
Novelist, short story writer, poet, philosopher and social reformer Fakir Mohan Senapati was born to Born to Lakhmana Charana Senapati and Tulasi Devi Senapati on January 13, 1843, at Mallikashpur, Balasore under Bengal Presidency in erstwhile British India (Now in Odisha).He passed away on June 14, 1918.
Fakir Mohan is often referred to as the Vyasa (writer of Mahabharata) of Odisha. And hence he has been epithet as Byasa Kabi. Senapati married Leelavati Devi in 1856 at the age of thirteen. However, she died when he was 29. In summer 1871, he married Krushna Kumari Dei, who died in 1894 leaving behind a son and a daughter.
The legendary writer had a struggling life. Born in a middle-class family when he was merely one and a half year old his father passed away. After fourteen months his mother also died. And hence his grandmother brought up him. As per reports Fakir Mohan’s uncle did not allow his education. Besides, his weak health also was a hurdle for which he became a late learner. As per reports, he paid towards his educational expenses by working as a child labourer.
Fakir Mohan dedicated his life to the development of Odia language in the later 19th and early 20th century. He is known as the father of modern Odia prose fiction. His four novels, written between 1897 and 1915, reflect the socio-cultural conditions of Odisha during the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries.
While the three novels, ‘Chha maana Atha Guntha’, ‘Mamu’ and ‘Prayaschita’ explore the realities of social life in multiple dimensions, ‘Lachhama’ is a historical romance dealing with the anarchical conditions of erstwhile Odisha in the wake of the Maratha invasions during the eighteenth century.
‘Chha Maana Atha Guntha’ is the first Indian novel to deal with the exploitations of landless peasants by the feudal Lord. It is said, it was written much before the October revolution of Russia or much before the emerging of Marxist ideas in India. Fakir Mohan is also the writer of the first autobiography in Odia, ‘Atma Jeebana Charita’.
Senapati’s ‘Rebati’ (1898) is widely recognized as the first Odia short story. It is the story of a young innocent girl (Rebati) whose desire for education has been dwelt upon in the work in the context of a conservative society in a backward Odisha village. His other popular stories are ‘Patent Medicine’, ‘Daka Munshi’, and ‘Adharma Bitta’.
Fakir Mohan Senapati had himself founded Utkal Sammilani.
On the occasion of the death anniversary of the great writer, Dashsharma said, “The prime objective and the message which the organization wanted to give to the society is that today’s young mass should study about the great poet and adopt his ideologies to make our society a better place to live in.”
The program was successfully conducted with the guidance of Dashsharma where all members of the organization were present.
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Ms Kalinga AI