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Birth Anniversary of Adikabi Sarala Das
- 18 Jul 2025
- 2 min read
The President of India participated in the birth anniversary celebrations of Adikabi Sarala Das (15th July 2025).
Adikabi Sarala Das
- Adikabi Sarala Dasa, originator of Odia literature, was born around the 15th century A.D.
- He was the first scholar to write in Odia language.
- His early name was Siddheswara Parida and was a contemporary of Gajapati king Kapilendra Dev.
- He wrote his epic poems at a religious establishment known as Munigosain.
- Besides the three epics for which he is best known — the Mahabharata, Vilanka Ramayana, and Chandi Purana — he also wrote the Laxmi Narayana Vachanika.
Odia Language
- Oldest of the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan family, Odia is derived from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit.
- Odia has also been influenced by the Dravidian languages as well as Arabic, Persian, and English.
- In 2014, Odia became the 6th language of the country to get 'classical language' status, after Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
- In 2024, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali were included in the category of classical languages.
- Odia is one of the 22 official languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
| Read More: 5 New Classical Languages and Change in Criteria |
