Birakishore Das (23 November 189828 April 1973),
popularly known as "Jatiya Kabi Birakishore" (lit. National Poet, Birakishore) was a poet, social activist and politician from
Odisha
Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
.
Best known for the editor of " Mo Desha" a monthly magazine.
Early life
Birakishore Das was born on 23 November 1898 in a
Vaishnav Karan family at Punanga village of
Cuttack district
Cuttack district is one of the 30 districts of Odisha state in India. It is located in the coastal part of the state and its administrative headquarters are located in the city of Cuttack. As of 2011 Census, after Ganjam district, Ganjam, it is t ...
(now in Jagatsinghpur). He completed his matriculation at Victoria high School, Cuttack and later worked in the co-operative department of Odisha. After five years of service, he joined
Non-cooperation movement
Non-cooperation movement may refer to:
* Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule
* Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan
* Non-cooperatio ...
in 1921.
Works
He was very famous during the time of freedom struggle for his patriotic songs, directed against the
British rule
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
* or dire ...
and inspired thousands numbers of peoples.
His first publication " Mohana Banshi" , a compilation of national songs, was prescribed by the British government. He wrote poems to be recited in public meetings and in processions. for his poems against British empire he was imprisoned several times by British government. Among them " Bijuli Bati", " Mohana Bansi", " Sabuja", "Sarathi", "Bidrohi Vina", "Bana Bheri", "Rana Dunduvi" and "Ari Ferinahin Yuddha Sarinahin" are some of his popular collection.
In 1947 he edited and published a children's magazine " Mo Desha" (My Country) from Cuttack to inculcate love for the motherland among the children, which influenced and inspired a number of writers.
Personal life
He was married to Sarada Sundari Dei and they had 3 daughters and a son.
Later life
In 1957 by election at
Jagatsinghpur
Jagatsinghpur is a town and a municipality in Jagatsinghpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of Jagatsinghpur district. It got the recognition as a new district on 1 April 1993 formerly it was a sub-division ...
, he was elected as a legislator (1957-1961) and 1961 to till death (1973) worked as the secretary of Odisha Syllabus and text book committee. He was pioneer in publishing suitable text books and got awards from the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
.
See also
*
Jatiya Kabi Bira Kishore Government and Junior College, Cuttack
References
{{Reflist
1898 births
1973 deaths
Indian male poets
Indian independence activists from Odisha
Odia-language poets
Poets from Odisha
20th-century Indian poets
20th-century Indian male writers
Members of the Constituent Assembly of India