Kalindi Charan Panigrahi (2 July 1901 – 15 May 1991) was a noted Odia poet, novelist, story writer, dramatist, and essayist. He is famous for his magnum opus ''Matira Manisha''. He has been awarded Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi award for contribution to Odia literature.

Early life

Kalindi Charan was born on 2 July 1901 at Biswanathpur,

Puri District Puri district is a coastal district of the Odisha state of India. It has one sub-division, 11 tahasils and 11 blocks and comprises 1722 revenue villages. Puri is the only municipality of the district. Konark, Pipili and Nimapara are the thre ...

. His father was Swapneswar Panigrahi and mother was Saraswati Panigrahi. His father was a lawyer and freedom fighter. He studied at

Puri Zilla School Puri Zila School is a government high school and one of the oldest school in Odisha, India. It was established in 1853 in the holy city of Puri, located in Kundheibenta Sahi. The school moved to another building which later converted to Samant ...

. After completing high school he studied at Ravenshaw College , Cuttack. During which he started his literary career

Literary life

While he was studying at Ravenshaw college he was founder of a club called "Nonsense Club". He along with his writer friends of the club published a handwritten magazine called “Abakash” which was later renamed to “Shakti Sadhana”. Kalindi Charana Panigrahi, younger brother, Bhagabati Charana Panigrahi, the founder of Marxist trend in Odisha, formed a group in 1920 called "Sabuja Samiti". Two of his writer friends

Annada Shankar Ray Annada Shankar Ray (15 March 1904 – 28 October 2002) was an Indian poet and essayist in Bengali. He also wrote some Odia poetry. He wrote several Bengali poems criticising the Partition of India. Most notable is "''Teler shishi bhaanglo bole k ...

and Baikuntha Patnaik were also members. They were influenced by the romantic thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore. The word 'sabuja' was inspired from the Bengali magazine Sabujpatra published by Pramatha Chaudhuri. This ushered in a short lived but influential movement in Odia literature called ''Sabuja Juga''.During the life time of this movement, he wrote seven poems for ‘Sabuja Kabita’. His other important works are of the period were ‘Chhuritiye Loda’, ‘Mo Kabita’, ‘Kshyanika Satya’. During the 1930s the progressive Marxist movement was in full swing in Odia Literature.Sabuja movement later gave way to the progressive movement known in Odia as pragati age. Later Kalindi Charana Panigrahi wrote his famous novel ''Matira Manisha'', being influenced by Gandhian thought. He was for a period, the editor of English Journals, ''Bhanja Pradipa'' and ''Mayurbhanja Chronicle''.

Family

His eldest daughter Nandini Satpathy was born in 1931, who later went on to become the

Chief Minister of Odisha The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Followin ...

. His younger brother Bhagabati Charana Panigrahi was the founder of Communist Party in Odisha. Bhagabati's great contribution for the Independence of India is underplayed in the history, because he was illegally imprisoned, and slow-poisoned by the British. His grandson

Tathagata Satpathy Tathagata Satpathy (born 1 April 1956) was a member of the 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Dhenkanal constituency of Odisha, and was re-elected for the fourth time in 2014. He was a member of the Biju Janata Da ...

is a politician and a newspaper owner who had been elected to the Parliament of India for four times. His great grandson Suparno Satpathy is a noted columnist, a political leader and an awarded social activist who is the incumbent Chairman of SNSMT as well as the Cidevant Chair of PMSA-Odisha,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

Awards and honours

He was honoured with the fellowship of Sahitya Academy in 1971. In the same year, he was honoured with

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by Government of India. In 1976, Sambalpur University conferred on him an honorary D.Litt. degree.

Major works

His major works include: * poems – ''Jadu Ghara'', ''Puri Mandira'', ''Mahadipa'', ''Mo kabita'', ''Manenahi'', and ''Churitie Loda'' * novels - ''ମାଟିର ମଣିଷ ( Matira Manisha)'' (1934), ''ଲୁହାର ମଣିଷ (Luhara Manisha)'', ''ଅମରଚିତା (Amarachita)'',''ଆଜିର ମଣିଷ (Aajira Manisha)'' and ''ମୁକ୍ତାଗଡର କ୍ଷୁଧା (Mukta Gadara Kshudha)'' * short Stories – ''Devadashi'', ''Rashi Phala'', ''Shesha Rashmi'', ''Sagarika'', and "Mansha ra bilapa" * dramas – ''Padmini'' and ''Pridarshi'' * biographical works – ''Bhaktakabi Madhusudana'', ''Karmabira Gauri Shankar'' and ''Jaha Ange Nibhaichi'' (autobiography) * essays – ''Sahitya Samachara'' and ''Sahityika'' The Odia film '' Matira Manisha'' (1966) directed by

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...

is based on his novel of same name.

Notes