Nanda Kishore Bal

Nanda Kishore Bal (22 December 1875 – 1 July 1928), was an Indian poet of the era of initial modernity in Odia poetry. He was born at Kusupur village in the Cuttack district of Odisha. He was initially named as Rasananda Jena. Later he was adopted by her aunt and then came the name Nanda Kishore Bal.^[1] He is popularly known as "Palli Kabi" (the poet of rural life) for his tender lyrics, celebrating the beauty of rural Odisha in his poems.^[2]

Nanda Kishore Bal
Born	Rasananda Jena (1875-12-22)22 December 1875 Kusupur village, Odisha
Died	1 July 1928(1928-07-01) (aged 52)
Occupation	Poet, novelist
Nationality	Indian
Period	Nineteenth century
Relatives	Bhajanananda Jena, Hiranmayee Devi (parents)

Pallikabi Nanda Kishore Bal was a poet of the rural scene, portraying its simplicity, its superstitions and festivals. His popular lyrics for children Nana Baya Gita are sung to the accompaniment of music.^[3] He wrote several poems that reveal his strong spiritual inclination, and sharp awareness of social problems. Among his collections are, Nirjharini(The Stream), Palli Chitra (The picture of countryside), Basanta-Kokila, Tarangini, Charuchitra, Nirmalya, Prabhata Sangeeta, Sandhya Sangita, Krushna Kumari and Sarmishtha.

Nanda Kishore Bal wrote about a hundred sonnets which are scattered throughout his collections. His sonnets deal with both nature and personal suffering, and reveal high poetic sensibility. These sonnets are known for their restrained thoughts and versification.^[4]

Kanakalata by Nanda Kishore is a novel published in 1925. A substantial part of this novel was actually published in serialized form in Utkal Sahitya in 1913. The plot of the novel is an indictment of the evils of dowry system in rural aristocratic society, and the predicament of the child-widows, who were condemned into a life of anguish and suffering.^[5]

See also

• Odia literature
• Odia language

References

1. "Pallikabi Nanda Kishore". No. SAMBAD Bhubaneswar Edition 01/07/2015 Page 4. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
2. A History of Indian Literature
3. Jagannath Mohanty (2009). Encyclopaedia of Education, Culture and Children's Literature: v. 4. Children's literature and education. Deep & Deep Publications. pp. 49–. ISBN 978-81-8450-151-3.
4. Mohan Lal (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 4145–. ISBN 978-81-260-1221-3.
5. K. Moti Gokulsing; Wimal Dissanayake (17 April 2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. pp. 107–. ISBN 978-1-136-77291-7.