Sambalpur: Noted Kosli writer and poet Nimain Charan Panigrahi, a well-known personality in the field of culture in western Odisha, passed away following a brief illness. He was 76.
Panigrahi, who was ailing for some time, breathed his last at a hospital in Bargarh, family sources said.
A native of Sindurbahal village in Balangir Sadar block, Panigrahi had retired from the Forest department in 2018. He had set up the library-cum-museum on the first floor of his house. While one room in the floor is a library consisting of palm leaf manuscripts, books on the region and documents, the remaining four rooms house an interesting collection of artefacts.
Panigrahi was inclined towards the art, folklore and culture of western Odisha since his childhood. Also a poet and story writer in Kosli language, Panigrahi had collected artefacts, rare objects and books for the last 50 years from different villages of the region.
His library has more than 5,000 old and valuable books including 1895 edition of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, 1809 edition of Sri Nrusingha Mahatmaya and 80 palm leaf manuscripts including ‘Nrusingha Purana’, ‘Go Sastra’, ‘Bhakti Granthabali’ and ‘Chandravati Bilasa’. One of his interesting collections is rare and antique jewellery including head gear that women of the region wore in earlier times.
Apart from people from across western Odisha, researchers from abroad like China, the US, Malaysia, Denmark, Vietnam and Thailand had visited his museum.
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