Bhubaneswar: In a first, the birth anniversary (jayanti) of ‘Swabhab Kabi’ Gangadhar Meher was observed in Dubai on August 4 through a webinar.
It was the 158th Jayanti of the legendary Odia poet of 19th century.
Dr. Chandra Shekhar Khuntia of the Odia Society of UAE took to Twitter informing about the webinar.
History was created yesterday when for the first time ever #GangadharMeherJayanti 🙏was celebrated in a foreign land #Dubai through an webinar, where Odias living in UAE joined together to pay tributes to the legendary poet. This legends & their lagacy inspire us to the core🙏🌷 pic.twitter.com/DX2drKU7aZ
— Dr.Chandra Sekhar Khuntia🇮🇳 Modi ka Parivaar💞 (@drkhuntia21) August 4, 2020
Gangadhar Meher, born in 1862 to a poor weaver family in Barpalli, is regarded as one of the gems in Odia literature. He was also fondly known as ‘Prakruti Kabi’.
The poet was considered as curiously talented as his literary works were tough for scholars to analyse while he was educated just up to standard five. He was a Judicial Moharir (accountant) by profession.
His major works include Balaram-Dev, Pranaya Ballari, Kichaka Bada, Indumati, Ayodhya Drusya, Padmini and the magnum opus Tapaswini. The poet’s poem collections include Arghyathali, Kavitakallola, Kavitamala, Krusaka Sangita.
Gangadhar Meher breathed his last on April 4, 1924. After 25 years of his death in 1949, the premier college of Sambalpur was named after him.
