padmasri Satyanarayana Rajguru (1903-1997) was an Indian litterateur, epigraphist and historian. He was a curator and epigraphist at the

Odisha State Museum Odisha State Museum is a museum in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. In its original form it was established in 1932 and later moved to the current building in 1960. The museum is divided into eleven sections, viz, Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Armo ...

and was a recipient of

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

, ''Bharati Bhushan'' award, Ganjam Sahitya Sammilani award,

Odisha Sahitya Academy Award Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award () is a literary award awarded to an Odia language litterateur for outstanding contribution to Odia literature in various categories by the Odisha Sahitya Akademi, an institution established in 1957 in Odisha for act ...

and ''Sarala Sanman''. The

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, ...

awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian award of

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1974.

Biography

Born on 19 August 1903 to Harikrushna Rajguru and Sunamani Devi in the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

, Rajguru passed the ''Oriya and Sanskrit'' title examination from

Andhra University Andhra University ( IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the bigge ...

and started his career in 1929 as the manager of ''Parala Padmanabha Rangalaya'', the first theatre in Odisha, founded by Padmanabha Narayan Deb, erstwhile Raja of the state of Parala. During his tenure there, he was associated with the activities of

Utkal Sammilani Utkala Sammilani ( or, ଉତ୍କଳ ସମ୍ମିଳନୀ)is an Indian social and cultural organization. It was founded in Odisha in 1903 by Madhusudan Das and continues in present times. History Utkal Sammilani was founded by Madhusuda ...

and assisted

Krushna Chandra Gajapati Krushna Chandra Gajapati KCIE (26 April 1892 – 25 May 1974), also known as Captain Maharaja Sri Sri Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deba KCIE, was a key personality and regarded as the architect , founding father of an Independent O ...

in the formation of Odisha state in 1937; he is known to have submitted a thesis on the state reorganization. Rajguru, after his tenure as the president of the Ganjam District Education Council (1942–45), worked as an assistant at the Kalinga Historical Research Society at

Bhawanipatna Bhawanipatna is a city and headquarters of the Kalahandi district, in the Indian state of Odisha. Bhawanipatna has numerous temples dedicated to different deities of the Hindu pantheon. It is named after the presiding deity, Bhawani-Shankar an ...

from 1947 and later, joined

to work as a curator (1950–61) and later as an epigraphist (1963–70). He was a member of the working committee of Odisha Sahitya Academy and the chairman of

Paralakhemundi Paralakhemundi shortly known as Parala is district Headquarter of Gajapati district and one of the oldest Municipality established in 1885, in the Indian state of Odisha. Majority of the people in the town speak Odia. The city and the Distr ...

Municipality. He was a life member of Berhampur University and was awarded DLitt by the university. Rajguru is known to have done notable research on the history of Odisha and is credited with findings on the early of life of Jayadeva, the thirteenth century

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

poet and the author of Gita Govinda. He translated ''The Palanquin Bearers'', a poem by Sarojini Naidu into

Odia language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is als ...

under the name, ''Palinki Bahaka'' and has published several other works, some of which are prescribed text for university studies. * Mo Jeevana Sangrama (autobiography) * Swapane Chumban * Janani Utkal * Radhavisek * Odia Lipira Krama Bikash * History of Gangas * The Korasanda Copper Plate Grant of Visakhavarmma * History of Eastern Gangas of Kalinga * Heirographic Letters of Naraj * The Odras and their Predominency * The Historical Research in Orissa * The Konduli Copper Plate Grant of Narasimha Deva of Saka 1305 * Sumandal Plates of Dharmaraj * Ranpur plates of Dharmaraja * Historical Background of Gopinath & Radha Krishna * Oriya Inscription on a Stone Image * South Indian Inscriptions Satyanarayana Rajguru died on 11 June 1997 at the age of 93, his wife Taramani Devi preceding him in death by one year. He is survived by his sons Gopeshwar rajguru, Radha Raman rajguru and sitakant rajguru.

Honours, awards and recognition

Rajguru was awarded the civilian honour

in 1974 by the

. He received the

for his autobiography, ''Mo Jeevana Sangrama'' in 1996. He was also a recipient of ''Bharati Bhushan'' award from

Andhra Mahasabha Andhra Mahasabha (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర మహాసభ, IAST: ''Āndhra mahāsabha'') was a people's organisation in the erstwhile Hyderabad state of India. The organization spearheaded people's awareness and people's movements among the Telu ...

, Ganjam Sahitya Sammilani award (1968) and Odisha Sahitya Academy award (1968). A recipient of ''Sarala Sanman'' (1989) from Sarala Sansad,

Biography

Honours, awards and recognition

References

Further reading