Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra, Oriya poet
Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra (born 1937), a former member of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), is one of the well-known writers of India. He writes poems and literary criticism in Oriya and English. Author of more than seventy noted titles, and winner of all the important literary awards in India including the Bharatiya Jnanpith, his works have been translated in almost all Indian languages and several foreign languages. (He published more than 300 poems and 28 publications in English, as the records go. He has written books on social anthropology in which he discusses the relationship between the traditional tribal society and the new government-sponsored development policies and programs. He has closely followed the Santhal tribal culture and ethos.
His works include: Dipti O Dyuti (his first collection, 1963), Ashta Padi (1963), Saara Aakas (1971), Ara Ddrushya (1981), Shreshta Kavita (1994), Sabda Svapna O nirvikata (1990), Aneka Sarata (1981), Ushavilasa (1996) and in English: The Ruined Temple and other poems (1996). Unending Rhythms is his work on oral poetry of Indian tribals in translation. ‘The Curve of Meaning’, ‘Gestures of Intimacy’, ‘The Role of Tradition in Literature’, and ‘Tradition and the Modern Artist‘ are some of his earlier collections of essays.
The awards he was given include, apart from the Jnanpith (1993): Padma Bhushan (one of the nation’s highest civilian awards), Sahitya Akademi Award (from New Delhi and more than once from Orissa, his home state), the Kumaran Asan Poetry Award of Kerala, the Sarala Award, the Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Award of the Highest Honour from the Soka University of Tokyo.
A former IAS officer of the 1961 batch, Sitakant had held several important posts in the administrative set up, including the post of the secretary of the ministry of culture in the Government of India. He served as the president of UNESCO’s World Decade for Cultural Development. He was senior Fellow of Harvard University, and Honorary Fellow of International Academy of Poets, Cambridge University.
Courtesy: ‘Srikant Mahapatra’, Movie directed by Mr. Suresh Kohli for Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
You can buy this DVD from Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
