GANGADHAR MEHER : Selected Works

Gangadhar Meher (1862-1924) is well-known all over Orissa as swabhaba kabi, a born genius, for his poetry that is delightfully direct, spontaneous and full of natural grace. He occupies as distinguished a place in Oriya poetic canon as Radhanath Ray and Madhusudan Rao, his senior contemporaries and synthesizes the best of both poets such as the former`s artistic beauty and the latter`s philosophical depth with his own a rich fare of authentic human sentiments, moral concerns and staunch spiritual faith, all animated by a mythopoeic imagination and culminating in a cosmic vision of ananda or divine bliss. Meher`s oeuvre is immense, characterized by a wide range of formal and tonal variations. His long epic narratives, namely Tapaswini, Pranaya Ballari and Kichaka Badha have been regarded as classics of Oriya poetry.