Upendra Bhanja

Last updated

Kabi Samrāṭa

Upendra Bhanja

Bīrabara
Odissi musician poet Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja.jpg
Native name
ଉପେନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭଞ୍ଜ
BornKulagarh (present-day Kulada, Ganjam, Odisha, India)
Died1740 (Not Confirmed)
OccupationKing & Poet
Language Odia
PeriodRiti juga or Bhanja juga
Genre Odissi music
Notable worksBaidehisha Bilasa

Kabi SamrataUpendra Bhanja (Odia : ଉପେନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭଞ୍ଜ, romanized: Upendra Bhañja, Odia: [upend̪ɾɔbʰɔɲd͡ʒɔ] ⓘ ) was a 17th-century Odia poet-composer of classical Odissi music. [1] He is most known for his Odissi songs and kabyas written in the Odia language, primarily Baidehisa Bilasa, Labanyabati & Koti Brahmanda Sundari.

Contents

He was born during 1670 (opinions differ between 1670 and 1688) in Kulagarh, Ghumusar Zamindari, present day Kulada near Bhanjanagar, 80 kms from the Silk City Brahmapur, Odisha and died during 1740 (again opinions vary).

His first wife was the sister of the king of Nayagarh and the daughter of the king of Banapur was his second wife, who was an erudite princess and gave Upendra Bhanja poetical inspiration in an abundant measure. His grandfather King Dhananjaya Bhanja was a great poet and wrote Raghunatha Bilasa (The Ramayana), Ratna Manjari (a poetical romance) etc., which provided models to the prince for writing. But unlike his grandfather, he preferred his entire life to poetry rather than to ruling over a kingdom. He had a thorough training in Sanskrit classical literature and mastered Sanskrit dictionaries such as Amara Kosha, Trikanda Kosha and Medini Kosha. He even wrote a dictionary Geetabhidhana in Odia for helping poets. The town of Bhanjanagar is named after him. The music of Upendra Bhanja is central to Odissi music, the traditional classical music of the state of Odisha and Bhanja is widely respected as one of the greatest Odissi composers of all time.

Kabyas

Upendra Bhanja wrote some 52 books of which only 22 are available now. Due to the absence of a printing press, many of the hand-copied books have been lost. Some of his eminent kabyas are Baidehisha Bilasa (with "Ba" initial for each line), Rasalila, Brajaleela, Subhadra Parinaya(with "Sa" initial for every line), Labanyabati, Premasudhanidhi, Rasika Harabali, Subhadra Parinaya and Chitrakabya Bandodhya, Labanyabati, Koti Brahmanda Sundari, Kala Koutuka (with "Ka" initial for every line), Satisha Bilasa" (with initial 'Sa' initial every line), "Damayanti Bilasa" (with 'Da' initial each line) and "Padmabati Parinaya" (starts with 'Pa') etc. [1]

The first published work of Upendra Bhanja is "Rasapanchaka". The first dictionary "Gita Abidhan" was written by Upendra Bhanja in Odia literature. 'Kabi Samrata' was not the first title of Upendra Bhanja. He was rather entitled as "Birabara" as written by Bhanja himself in his kabyas.

The epithet Kabi Samrata is found only in the early part of 19th century in a book written by Mahendra Patnaik. Upendra Bhanja contributed 32,300 words to Odia language and literature.The obscurity of this incomparable poet of Odia literature, may be attributed to the lack of proper research. Plot and character in Bhanja literature plays negligible role but imaginary ornamental expression by way of literary techniques of the classical Indian literature dominates with magnetic, lovable, intellectual manner.

So, study of Upendra Bhanja requires high academic pursuits as well as sensible appreciation of art and literary value of the reader along with wide study range in the field of classical Indian literature and appreciable order of morality and spiritual thought.[ citation needed ] So for Upendra Bhanja, plot and character are not important but momentous feeling influences the character as well as the plot in the structural poetic forms and techniques with explosive reason and emotion in a way of synthetic, stylistic approach in almost all aspects of his expression through Odia language, literature, culture, socio-cultural behaviour, with high moral order and thoughts of superior human being.

On the other hand, his writings are being popularised by the commoners because of sensible, emotional touch with sympathetic unusual feelings of the human kind in the context of aesthetic sense and sensibility along with love and lovability of the mankind as experienced through the ages of time together.Strangely, without any deep appreciation of human value and literary appreciation with standard principles of study literature as prescribed in the research methodology and literary criticism with reference to classical Indian poetics, the poet Upendra Bhanja is being misunderstood by some pseudo critics/scholars and writers[ who? ] with biased opinions and unscrupulous baseless manners.

The first Ph.D thesis on Bhanja was submitted by Dr. Satyanarayan Acharya, the First Researcher on Upendra Bhanja, in the year 1978 under UGC sponsorship. Consequently, in the year 1988 Dr. Abhimanyu Baral submitted the thesis "Odia reetikabya paramparare Baidehisha Bilasa" to Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

Music

The works of Upendra Bhanja are based on Odissi classical music. He uses ragas and talas unique to the Odissi tradition and has thereby enriched the repertoire. His compositions are well-known across the state of Odisha and are frequently employed in Odissi dance as well as Gotipua, Sakhi Nata, Prahallada Nataka, Radha Prema Lila and other allied artforms. Some of the ragas frequently used by Bhanja are : Bangalasri, Baradi, Basanta, Basanta Baradi, Bibhasa Gujjari, Chinta Bhairaba, Ghantaraba, Kalahansa Kedara, Kali, Kamodi, Khanda Kamodi, Kousika, Kumbha Kamodi, Malaba, Mangala Baradi, Mangala Gujjari, Natanarayana, Nalinigouda, Pahadia Kedara, Panchama Baradi, Pattaha Manjari (Pattamanjari), Rajabije (Ranabije), Ramakeri, Sankarabharana, Soka Kamodi among others. [2] [3] [4] [5] Bhanja belonged to a family that was rooted in literature and music of the times, and his grandfather Dhananjaya Bhanja was an eminent composer of Odissi songs and the writer of a Ramayana kabya.

Style

Upendra Bhanja wrote in the last decade of seventeenth and the early decades of eighteenth century and championed a style of poetry called 'Reeti' and 'Deena' in Sanskrit poetics. Though many poets in the seventeenth and eighteenth centaurs write in reeti style, Upendra Bhanja is decided by the greatest of them all. Whether it is shringara, viraha, bhakti or karuna rasa, Upendra Bhanja is the poet of unsurpassed rhetorical excellence. We may venture to say that, apart from Sanskrit, no other language has a poet to compare with him. Upendra Bhanja had practiced his great poetic talents in using "upama","alankara", "rasas"in all his kabyas.

The greatness of Upendra Bhanja was in his "Alankara" use such as: Anuprasa, Jamak, etc. The style of presenting facts with comparable factors (upama) is very distinguishable in his

“Baidehisha Bilasa” is the pioneer work of Upendra Bhanja as declared by the poet."Rasika Harabali" was written on the basis of his own experience at the early part of his young life.His contemporary poet of Bhakta Kabi, Dina Krushna Das as described in his work “Kala Koutuka”. The socio-cultural way of contemporary Odias are vividly described in his literature .Upendra Bhanja is not only eminent poet of Odisha but also his writings will be explained through all classical contemporary music systems of India

Controversy

Upendra Bhanja had a poetic excellence and he has written all his Kabyas as the rules of Alankarshastra of that time, but his kabyas have made some critiques irritated for the sexuality he used in his imagery descriptions. During the beginning of modern period or age of Radhanath, Upendra Bhanja was criticised by some modernist for the obscenity in his kabyas. [1] There was a war of words between two literary periodicals The Indradhanu and The Bijuli. The two periodicals kept their support in favour of two poets Kabisamrat Upendra Bhanja and Radhanath Ray. It was also a war between conservatives and modernist in Odia Literature.

Upendra Bhanja was also criticised for his obscure words. Once a modern poet Guru Prasad (See Odia literature) wrote "Upendra Bhanja means a woman and a Dictionary". Though he was criticised by the modernists, he can be comparable with Kalidas in using simile (Upama) in his kabyas. But above all, the role of Upendra Bhanja can not be denied during the Riti Yuga period of Odia literature.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Gita Govinda</i> Medieval Indian text based on Hindu god Radha and Krishna

The Gita Govinda is a work composed by the 12th-century Hindu poet, Jayadeva. It describes the relationship between Krishna, Radha and gopis of Vrindavan.

The birthplace of the twelfth-century Sanskrit poet Jayadeva, author of the Gitagovinda, has been disputed, with the neighboring states of Odisha, West Bengal in eastern India and the region of Mithila staking a claim. This had led to a bitter feud between people on both sides that lasted for over a century. The issue is still debated by scholars.

Odia literature is literature written in the Odia language, mostly from the Indian state of Odisha. The modern Odia language is mostly formed from Tadbhava words with significant Sanskrit (Tatsama) influences, along with loanwords from Desaja, English, Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu), Persian, and Arabic. Its earliest written texts date from around 1000 CE. The earliest Odia newspaper was Utkala Deepika, first published on August 4, 1866.

Odisha is one of the 28 states of India, located on the eastern coast. It is surrounded by the states of West Bengal to the northeast, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and northwest, and Andhra Pradesh to the south and southwest. Odia is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by 33.2 million according to the 2001 Census. The modern state of Odisha was established on 1 April 1936, as a province in British India, and consisted predominantly of Odia-speaking regions. April 1 is celebrated as Odisha Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odissi music</span> Genre of Indian classical music

Odissi music is a genre of classical music in India, originated from the eastern state of Odisha. The traditional ritual music for the service of Lord Jagannatha, Odissi music has a history spanning over two thousand years, authentic sangita-shastras or treatises, unique Ragas & Talas and a distinctive style of rendition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banamali Dasa</span> Odia poet

Banamali Dasa is an Indian medieval Odia bhakta-poet & composer of Odissi music from the state of Odisha. "Dinabandhu daitari", "Kede chanda jane lo sahi", and "Manima he etiki maguni mora" are some of his notable writings that are used in Odissi. His songs are popularly sung in festivals, public gatherings, and in Odissi dance. Banamali's compositions are set to traditional Odissi ragas and talas and are extremely popular in the Odissi music repertoire. He is considered to be the foremost poet of the medieval Odia bhakti-literature. He started by writing rustic devotional Poetry, he later began to compose "bhakti"-poetry which gained larger acceptance and popularity among the other contemporary poets of his time. Typically, his poems are eyewitness accounts, and their simple, fervent language is much appreciated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abhimanyu Samanta Singhara</span>

Abhimanyu Samanta Singhara was an 18th-century Odia poet born in Balia, Jajpur best known as the writer of the kabya Bidagdha Chintamani. Abhimanyu was one of the important musician-poets in the tradition of Odissi music in the 18th century, composing mainly in the Chhānda style. He has also written many Odia folk songs like Bagha Gita, Chadhei Gita. He has written many poems about the love between Radha and Krishna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharata Lila</span> Indian performing theatre form

Bharata Lila is an Indian performing theater form of Ganjam district of Odisha. The plot is based on characters of the Mahabharata, thus the name of the form. Because of the importance of a central character Duari, Arjuna's sentry, it is also called Duari Nata or Duari Llla. The focal point of the plot is the story of Arjuna & Subhadra's romance, which is why it is also known as Subhadra Harana. Apart from Ganjam, it is also performed in some parts in western Odisha. The play is known for its effective use of humour within the traditional storyline. A regular performance of Bharata Lila in the 21st century goes on for about 10–12 hours. In the last century performances used to last for a couple of days at a stretch. The badi is a performance method in Odisha's traditional artforms where opponents compete with each other. In urban settings, Bharata Lila performances are regularly condensed to just 2–3 hours owing to lack of time.

Gouri Kumar Brahma was an academician, literary critic, orator and writer. His works are mainly in Odia and Sanskrit. He was popular for his talks on Jagannath culture and literature of Upendra Bhanja in Odia, English Sanskrit and Hindi. He died at Bhubaneswar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gita Prakasa</span>

The Gitaprakasa is a 16th-century musical treatise belonging to the tradition of Odissi music, written by the musicologist Krusnadasa Badajena Mahapatra. Mahapatra was a court musician of Gajapati Mukundadeba. It is the second earliest music treatise discovered from Odisha. The Gita Prakasa is one of the cornerstones of the Odissi music tradition and is widely quoted by later authorities such as the Sangita Narayana and the Sangita Muktabali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gopal Chandra Panda</span> Odissi Singer and Guru

PanditGopal Chandra Panda is a Guru of Odissi classical music, vocalist, researcher and composer. A disciple of Singhari Shyamsundar Kar, he has authored several books such as Odissi Raga Ratnabali & Odissi Raga Darpana, and is acclaimed for his efforts to collect & document several traditional Odissi ragas from the hinterlands. Panda served as a lecturer and head of department in the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya for nearly three decades. He has performed in music festivals across the country and is the founder of the Gopal Panda Odissi Academy. In 2011, Panda received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contributions to Odissi music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shyamamani Devi</span> Musical artist

Shyamamani Devi is a Odissi classical music vocalist composer. A disciple of Gurus Singhari Shyamsundar Kar and Balakrushna Dash, she is known for her popular renditions of classical Odissi music, such as Odissi, Chhanda, Champu, etc. authored by medieval Odia musician-poets such as Upendra Bhanja, Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha, Banamali Dasa, Gopalakrusna and others. She is also known for her renditions of light music such as traditional Odia folk music ,Odia film music and adhunika songs. In 2022, she was awarded the Padma Shri for he contributions to Odissi music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sangita Narayana</span> 17th-century Indian classical musical treatise

The Sangita Narayana is a 17th-century musical treatise belonging to the tradition of Odissi music, written by musician Kabiratna Purusottama Misra and attributed to Gajapati Sarbagya Jagannatha Narayana Deva of Paralakhemundi. It is one of the most important musical treatises discovered from Odisha and is one of the fundamental texts followed in Odissi music till date. The treatise was first published by the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1966, followed by a critical edition published by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in 2009. Manuscripts of the work are found across India, indicating its national circulation. In 1987, Jonathan Katz in his D. Phil. thesis extensively analysed the musicological portions of the Sangitanarayana.

Dhanasri is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa of the same name, the raga uses komala gandhara and komala nisada swaras and is traditionally associated with the karuṇa rasa. The raga is mentioned in treatises such as the Gita Prakasa and Sangita Narayana.

Gujjari is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa Karnāta, the raga uses komala gandhara, komala dhaibata and komala nisada swaras and is traditionally associated with the karuṇa rasa. The raga is mentioned in treatises such as the Gita Prakasa and Sangita Narayana. Among its angaragas, Mangala Gujjari is most prominent and has been used by Jayadeva in his Gita Govinda, alongside Gujjari itself.

Ramakeri is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa Barādi, the raga uses komala rusabha, komala dhaibata and tibra madhyama swaras and is traditionally associated with the karuṇa rasa. The raga is mentioned in treatises such as the Gita Prakasa and Sangita Narayana. This raga has been used by the 12th-century Odia composer Jayadeva in his Gita Govinda.

Baradi is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa Barādi, the raga uses komala rusabha, komala dhaibata and tibra madhyama swaras and is traditionally associated with the karuṇa rasa. The raga is mentioned in treatises such as the Gita Prakasa and Sangita Narayana. This raga has been used by the 12th-century Odia composer Jayadeva in his Gita Govinda along with its angaraga Desa Barādi.

Chinta Kamodi is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa Sri, the raga uses both suddha nisada and komala nisada swaras and is traditionally associated with the bhakti rasa. Occasionally, the komala gandhara is employed in a bakra prayoga.

Abhiri is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa Karnāta, the raga uses komala gandhara, komala dhaibata and komala nisada swaras and is traditionally associated with the karuṇa rasa. The raga is mentioned in treatises such as the Gita Prakasa and Sangita Narayana.

Kedara Kamodi is a rāga belonging to the tradition of Odissi music. Falling under the meḷa Sri, the raga uses both nisada swaras and is traditionally associated with the srungāra rasa. This raga is considered a conjunct of the rāgas Kedāra and Kamodi. The raga has been used by most of the famous composers including Kabi Samrata Upendra Bhanja and Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mansingha, Mayadhar: History of Oriya Literature: Publisher, Sahitya Akademi, Delhi
  2. ↑ Parhi, Dr. Kirtan Narayan (2017). The Classicality of Orissi Music. India: Maxcurious Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 383. ISBN   9788193215128.
  3. ↑ Panda, Pt. Gopal Chandra (December 2011). Odisi Raga Darpana (in Odia). Bhubaneswar.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ Das, Ramhari (2004). Odissi Sangeetara Parampara O Prayogaଓଡ଼ିଶୀ ସଙ୍ଗୀତର ପରମ୍ପରା ଓ ପ୍ରୟୋଗ[The tradition and method of Odissi music] (in Odia). Bhubaneswar, Odisha: Kaishikee Prakashani.
  5. ↑ Panda, Pt. Gopal Chandra (2004). Odisi Raga Ratnabaliओडिसी राग रत्नावली (in Hindi). Bhubaneswar. OCLC   225908458.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.