Chautisa or Chautisha () is a genre of literary composition in

Indian literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akadem ...

. It was popular form of writing in medieval Indian poetry. It is a form of

constrained writing Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form. D ...

where each verse begins with consecutive letters of the alphabet, typically starting with the first

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...

. The word 'Chautisa' means thirty four, signifying the number of consonants in Odia script.

History

Chautisa is one of the earliest form of poetry in Odia language. Numerous Chautisas have been written in medieval Odia literature. The Prachi Samiti (1925–34) collected and published four volumes of medieval poetry and contains hundreds of Chautisas. The earliest known Chautisa is the Kesaba koili of Markanda Dasa.

Baladeba Ratha ''Kabisurjya'' Baladeba Ratha (alternatively spelled ''Kabisurya, Kavisurya Baladev Rath,'' Kabisūrjya Baḷadeba Ratha, ; c. 1789 – 1845) was an Indian poet who wrote in the Odia language, and a composer and musician of Odissi music, most kn ...

Banamali Dasa Banamali Dasa (; 1720–1793) was an Indian medieval Odia ''bhakta-poet'' and composer of Odissi music from the state of Odisha. "''Dinabandhu daitari''", "''Kede chanda jane lo sahi''", and "''Manima he etiki maguni mora''" are some of hi ...

, Dinakrushna Dasa are some of the most famous poets who wrote Chautisas.

Structure

Typically the poetry starts with the letter କ and ends with କ୍ଷ. Each verse or line of each couplet starts with the same letter. There are some poetic liberties taken by the poets. Such as in place of the letter ଙ/ଞ, words beginning with ନ are used as there are no words that begin with those letters. Some poets reverse the order of the letters and wrote starting from କ୍ଷ and ends with କ. This is called ''Olata Chautisa''. Typically the Chautisas have 34 couplets/stanzas. Other popular variants include: *Chautisa with 2 couplets – each couplet containing 17 consonants. *Chautisa with 3 couplets – two couplets containing 12 consonants and one couplet with 10 consonants. *Chautisa with 6 couplets – E.g. Chitau chautisa by

Upendra Bhanja ''Kabi Samrata'' Upendra Bhanja, ) was a 17th-century Odia poet-composer of classical Odissi music.Mansingha, Mayadhar: ''History of Oriya Literature'': Publisher, Sahitya Akademi, Delhi He is most known for his Odissi songs and kabyas written ...

. *Chautisa with 9 couplets – E.g. Hanumanta Janana Chautisa by Damodara Dasa.

References

{{Odia literature Odia literature Indian literature Poems in Odia Literary genres Medieval Indian literature Odissi music repertoire