On this auspicious occasion of Odia New Year, I wish you proudly remembered these four illustrious kings of Odisha:
I wish we should be able to tell our story clear and loud so that the Indian history gives us our due respect that our past deserves.
- Kharavela, ( Aira & Kalinga Jina )
- Cholaganga, ( Ra’andi Pua Ananta)
- Narasihma ( Langula Narasingha)
- Kapilendra ( Kasia Kapila folk lore)
Each of them are much bigger in their valor and achievements than all the Indian Kings you have been told by the official historians of India.
Individually each of them deserve more attention than all the famous Rajput Kings, the Guptas, the Mauryas, Harsha, Vikramaditya and the Chola kings. Our history books so elegantly eulogized these kings in text books but remains silent on the exploits of the kings of the Kalinga. . Because nobody has ever tried to tell our story to the rest of India. But Odia people fondly remember them by their nick names and have spun million folk lores around their exploits. Here are a few:-
Aira and Kaliga Jina –
( From the Hathigumpha Inscriptions of Bhubaneswar)
Ashoka might have won the Kalinga War and extended the Magadha empire from Taxila to Kanyakumari, but within 100 years, the Great Kharavela defeated the Magadhas and brought back the Kaliga Jina to Odisha. He restored this symbol of Jainism in the rock cut caves of the twin hills of Kumari Parbat. ( Khandagiri and Udaygiri hills). But for these inscriptions, history would have labeled Odisha as one of the many defeated vassals of Ashoka. Let us proudly remember him on this auspicious day.
Ra’andi Pua Ananta :-
( Not to confuse with the popular story of Ra’andi Pua Ananta by fakir Mohan)
When Ananta Varman Chola Ganga Dev’s father was killed by the invading Cholas, the son of the widow queen of Kalinga nagar, present day Srikakulum ( hence Madala Panji labels him as Ra’andi Pua) escaped north ward. He outrun all his assasins and settled down in Puri. Rest is history. He went on to establish the powerful Ganga Dynasty of Puri. The Gangas went on to build ( renovate) the Jagannath temple of Puri, Barabati Fort and set up their new capital at Cuttack. The world famous Konark temple of Konark was also their creation. Madala panji recounts numerous stories around the Ra’andi Pua Ananta and his exploits. Let us proudly remember him on this day.
Kasia Kapila Bheta :-
( a popular folk tale of rural Odisha)
This popular folk tale immortalizes another great King of the ancient Odisha- Kapilendra Dev. He and his successors extended the territories of Odisha from Ganga to the river Krishna in south. He had brought 16 elephant loads of Gold and jewelleries from his numerous invasions of South kings. He donated all these gold to the Lord Jagannath. For him the lord is the original king of Odisha, he is a mere vassal ( samant raja) of the Lord.
The Sunavesha of the lord Jagannath of Puri started in his time. He also built the huge Maghanada Pacheri of the Shrimaandira.
Langula Narasingha :-
Folk tales attach a tail ( langula) to this illustrious son of Odisha. Like the mighty tail of the powerful Hanuman, his huge sword used to hang from his loin always, Always battle ready. He ruled Odisha when Qutubuddin Aibak established the Sultanate in Delhi. Qutubuddin had conquered the rajputs, desecrated Varanasi and other temples of north India. He had built the Qutub Minar on them. In the battle of Contai, Narasingha dev defeated the Generals of Qutubuddfin so thoroughly that Odisha remained free from Muslim Invasion for the Next 300 years. ( 1250 – 1550) While rest of india ( the so called legendary) Rajputs, Marathas, Hyderabadis and Bangalore had all surrendered to the Delhi sultanate, Narasingha Dev on the other hand had built the magnificent Konark temple with his loots from Muslim territories. Let us remember him with pride.
No wonder when Varanasi by Ganga, the sacred city of all Hindus fell to Muslims and was desecrated, Odisha built a New Varanasi by the river Mahanadi. It was named the Avinaba Varanasi Kataka. ( Katak in Odia means capital) Today Kataka has become Cuttack and Varanasi has become Bidanasi.
These are the proud stories of our rich past. On this auspicious day, Let us not only proudly remember their stories but also tell them to all those historians, for whom Odisha always remained as a small footnote in Indian history.
( 👇🏻here are few snippets from the history books from my blog)
Raandi Pua Ananta. – Dr Ramakanta’s Ideas
Dr Ramakanta's Ideas 