Odia Journalism Day: History & Significance Of Vernacular Press In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Celebrating 158 years of its journey, Odia journalism appears to have traversed a long and arduous path playing a significant role in the socio-political and economic spheres in the state over the years.

Launched on this day in 1866, ‘Utkala Deepika’ is regarded as the first Odia newspaper. The weekly publication was started by Gouri Shankar Ray and Babu Bichitrananda Das. To mark this momentous event, August 4 is also celebrated as Odia Journalism Day in the state.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi extended his greetings to Odia journalists on this occasion. The contribution of journalists in maintaining democratic values as the fourth pillar of the constitution is unique and incomparable, he said in a post on ‘X’ handle.

The journey of Odia journalism started with the publication of ‘Utkala Deepika, he said.

Notably, Bichitrananda Das had established the Cuttack Printing Press in 1866 and ‘Utkala Deepika’, edited by Gouri Shankar Ray, was published from there. Ray continued to be the editor of the publication till his death in 1917. The weekly newspaper played a pivotal role in the fight for bringing all Odia-speaking tracts under a single province in India in order to develop the Odia language, educationists and writers feel.

Though ‘Utkala Deepika’ is popularly accepted to be the first Odia newspaper, the publication of ‘Kujibara Patrika’, which was published by Sadhu Sundar Das, a saint, predated it. Its publication started in 1837. In 1861, five years before the catastrophic famine of Odisha of 1866, the first Odia magazine ‘Bodha Dayini’ was published from Balasore. The main object of this magazine was to spread the Odia literature and to point out the administrative lapses.

Publication of ‘Utkal Deepika’ commenced at a time when Odisha was facing a host of problems and it played a significant role in the social and political life of the state. The newspaper effectively brought to the fore the common people’s plight and drew the attention of the then administration. When Odisha was hit by a severe famine, miseries to the people caused by it were extensively covered in the journal.

The weekly also offered a host of suggestions on how the administration could mitigate the plight of the starving people. Published for seven decades till 1936, the journal made sincere efforts for the integration of the Odia-speaking areas.

On March 6, 1920, ‘Utkal Deepika’ published a news on how the Raja Saheb of Kanika in the Central Council delivered an interesting talk on the unification of Odia-speaking areas under one administration. On February 19, 1927, it published a report on the proposal given by Pandit Nilakatha Das in the Central council for the union of Odia-speaking areas where he said that there would be no rest to the Odias till they achieve this objective and mentioned about the launch of a wide-spread movement for that purpose.

After the publication of Utkala Deepika, Odia journalism continued to grow steadily. Only two years later, in 1868, Fakir Mohan Senapati established another printing press in Balasore. In 1869 late Bhagavati Charan Das started ‘Utkal Subhakari’ to propagate Brahmo faith. Another weekly paper ‘Sambad Vahika’ was published from Balasore in 1868. The Utkal Society of Cuttack published ‘Utkal Hiteisini’ in 1869.

Another press was set up in Balasore in 1873. Between 1873 and 1899, publication of different journals and newspapers got momentum.
In the last three and half decades of the 19th century a number of newspapers were published in

Odia, prominent among them were ‘Utkal Deepika’, ‘Utkal Patra’, ‘Utkal Hiteisini’ from Cuttack, ‘Utkal Darpan’ and ‘Sambada Vahika’ from Balasore, ‘Sambalpur Hiteisini’ (May 30, 1889) from Deogarh. In 1879, an Odia fortnightly newspaper called ‘Mayurbhanj Pakshika Patrika’ was published from Baripada. It was edited by Haraprasad Das with the financial help of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Bhanja Deo. The main objective of the paper was to review the political matters of Mayurbhanj in simple ‘Odia’ language.

In April 1891 a literary magazine titled ‘Utkal Prabha’ was published from Baripada with the financial help of Maharaja Ramachandra Bhanja Deo. In 1880 Dina Banerji edited a paper called ‘Bideshi’ from Cuttack.

“Samaj”, the OdiaDaily of Cuttack was founded by late Pandit Gopabandhu Das as a weekly in 1919 to support the cause of freedom struggle of the country. In 1928, Sashi Bhusan Rath started the Odia Daily ‘Asha’ from Berhampur, which helped the people to launch their struggle more effectively and vigorously to secure the unification of the outlying Odia areas under one administration. Krupasindhu Hota , a noted congress activist, in an interesting article in Asha of November 3, 1924, pleaded for the unification of the odia areas of Ganjam , Jeypore, Medinapur, Singhbhum, Phuljhar with Odisha for Odia Mulaka.

Another Odia monthly magazine which commanded great influence through out the state for its critical writings was ‘Niakhunta’. It was more popular for its satirical writings and poems. This was first started in 1938 from Berhampur by late Godavarish Mahapatra and later shifted to Cuttack. ‘Krusak’. Another Odia weekly also started its publication in 1938 from Cuttack under editorship of Sarangdhar Das.

In the post-Independence era, journalism in Odisha assumed new direction as many young men accepted it as avenue for employment. Dr Harekrushna Mahatab’s ‘Prajatantra’ offered this opportunity to employment seekers in journalism and also to the young aspirants for building political careers. On November 14, 1974, a new Odia daily ‘Dharitri’, under the ownership of former chief minister Nandini Satapathy, was added to the family of newspapers of Odisha.
Many other papers which were published in the early part of this century, however, went out of existence.