A PROJECT ON

JAYANT MAHAPATRA

SUBMITTED TO:

Mrs. Alka Mehta

(Faculty of English)

SUBMITTED BY:

Arun Karoriya

Section “c”

Sem.- II

Submitted on: 05-04-2014

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

RAIPUR

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The successful completion of any task would be, but incomplete, without the mention of people

who made it possible and whose constant guidance and encouragement crowned my effort with

success.

I would like to thank my course teacher Mrs. Alka Mehta for providing me the topic of my

interest.

Also I would like to thank our Vice Chancellor for providing the best possible facilities of I.T

and library in the university.

I would also like to extend my warm and sincere thanks to all my colleagues, who contributed in

innumerable ways in the accomplishment of this project.

Arun Karoriya

Roll No.40

Semester II

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CONTENTS:

1. Acknowledgements……………………………………………………......22. Introduction……………………………………………………………….43. Personal life………………………………………………………………..64. How many poems he write………………………………………………..75. Awards……………………………………………………………………...86. Books by jayanta mahapatra………………………………………………97. Subject matter…………………………………………………………….118. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….129. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………13

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INTRODUCTION

Jayanta mahapatra was a popular Indian English poet. He also wrote in oriya. The poet was

born in 1928 in cuttack and had spent most of his life time in the same city. During his lifetime

most of the time he was engaged in teaching physics at Ravenshaw college. All through his life

the great writer had authored 16 books on poems. Mahapatra was also part of the trio poets

who laid the foundations of Indian English poetry. The poet had not kept his talent limited to

poems but he also tried his hands with prose.

Jayanta is a fine craftsman with a superb control over his medium in a fair response to his poetry

though one is not sure of a significant and meaningful departure has been made; and a reflection

that is stuff of contemporary India, but “Jayanta’s sensibility is both Indian and modern; and his

response to Indian scene is authentic and credible”, says Vishawanathan. Panikar agree with

Vishawanathan and pointed out that Mahapatra’s concern of the vision of belief and loss;

dejection and rejection are typically Indian.

In Sahitya Akademi Award winner volume The Relationship, we experience Jayanta’s desire to

discover one’s root; and manifestation of this desire in a variety of ways in the strength of his

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poetry. There is evidence of a Hindu sensibility and all the poetic energy is spent in recognizing

the Hindu world.

Mahapatra`s style of obsessive writing and hopeless search in the meaning of human condition

is an important characteristic of post modernism. The basic problem that haunts the poems of

Mahapatra`s is the relationship of the self with the other, the distance felt by the consciousness

between being aware and what one is aware of. In Mahapatra`s poetry such feelings are

intensified as he questions the existence of the self, the other often takes the form of local

society and especially Hindu culture, ritual and spirituality, symbols and past from which he

had been alienated by his grandfathers conversion to Christianity and his own English

education.

Mahapatra observed his environment and listened quietly and sensitively to his inner feelings,

the sources of his poetry brought momentary perception of relationships and fleeting images of

contrast. It was difficult, obscure poetry of meditation recording reality as an unknowable flux. It

more often deconstructed what was perceived. It was poetry of inner spaces, of psychology, of

contradiction and renewed feelings of depression, guilt, desire, lust and attention. Many of his

poems seemed sealed against interpretation.

It seemed from his writings that he had evolved his poetic style largely on his own as an

intellectual act. The words which were used by Mahapatra became concepts and symbols. He

had used symbols from his environment to articulate an inner space of feelings.

In fact the titles of his poems are indicative of how the external world especially the Indian

landscape and seasons became the startingpoint of his imagination.

Mahapatra`s poems recorded a distance between himself and the customs of his surroundings. In

his poems there are the sounds of temple bells, the prayers of priests, the funeral pyres, the

uncomplaining acceptance of the past, representing a possible reality or a mentality to which he

did not belong. The listening and waiting were in fact result of consciousness of the rational

mind which is aware of its individualization and difference. His poems keep returning to the

desires to overcome such alienation through passive attention in the hope that some renewal will

definitely occur. One of Mahapatra`s poems, "Listening" concludes with the words: "You

merely wait, listening, pinned to the stone".

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It can be said that Jayanta Mahapatra`s world is filled with personal pain, guilt, remorse, hunger,

desire and moments of renewal, his environment is filled with symbols of beliefs by the ordinary

lives of the people of Cuttack, the temples, the Hindu festivals and the monuments. The poems

are varied attempts to bridge an epistemological, phenomenological gap to know, to be part of, to

enclose and to experience with the world and other whether it is a woman, temple stone or a

Hindu priest.

Some of the major literary works of Jayanta Mahapatra includes Close the Sky Ten by Ten, A

Father`s Hours, A Rain of Rites, Burden of Waves & Fruit and a lot more.

Personal life

Jayanta Mahapatra, born on 22 October 1928 in Cuttack (India), belongs to a lower middle

class family. He had his early education at Stewart school, Cuttack. After a first class Master's

Degree in Physics, he joined as a teacher in 1949 and served in different Government colleges

of Orissa.

All his working life, he taught physics at different colleges in Orissa. He retired in 1986.

Mahapatra has authored 18 books of poems. He started writing poetry at the age of thirty-eight,

quite late by normal standards. Mahapatra's tryst with the muse came rather late in life. He

published his first poems in his early 40s. The publication of his first book of poems,

Svayamvara and Other Poems, in 1971 was followed by the publication of Close the Sky, Ten

By Ten.

His collections of poems include A Rain of Rites, Life Signs and A Whiteness of Bone. One of

Mahapatra's better remembered works is the long poem Relationship, for which he won the

Sahitya Akademi award in 1981. He is the first Indian English Poet to receive the honor.

Besides being one of the most popular Indian poets of his generation, Mahapatra was also part

of the trio of poets who laid the foundations of modern Indian English Poetry. He shared a

special bond with A. K. Ramanujan, one the finest poets in the IEP tradition. Mahapatra is also

different in not being a product of the Bombay school of poets. Over time, he has managed to

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carve a quiet, tranquil poetic voice of his own--distinctly different from those of his

contemporaries. His wordy lyricism combined with authentic Indian themes puts him in a

league of his own.

His recent poetry volumes include Shadow Space, Bare Face and Random Descent. Besides

poetry, he has experimented widely with myriad forms of prose. His lone published book of

prose remains The Green Gardener, a collection of short stories. A distinguished editor, Jayanta

Mahapatra has been bringing out, for many years, a literary magazine, Chandrabhaga , from

Cuttack . The magazine is named after Chandrabhaga, a prominent but dried-up river in Orissa.

How many poems did jayant mahapatra write?

Jayanta mahapatra write many poems. These are the main poems.

1. A rain of rites

2. A Summer Poem

3. Ash

4. Dawn at puri

5. Dhauli

6. Freedom

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7. Grandfather

8. Her Hand

9. Hunger

10. Main temple street

11. Sanskrit

12. Summer

13. Taste for Tomorrow

14. The Captive Air of Chandipur-on-Sea

15. The Indian Way

16. The Moon Moments

17. The Vase

18. Twilight

AWARDS

The poet had also been honoured by a number of awards for his excellence in the field of

literatures. The awards which he had received include:

Second Prize – International Who’s Who in Poetry, London, 1970.

Jacob Glatstein Memorial Award – Poetry, Chicago, 1975.

Visiting Writer – International Writing Program, Iowa City 1976-77.

Cultural Award Visitor, Australia, 1978.

Japan Foundation – Visitor’s Award, Japan, 1980.

Sahitya Academy Award – National Academy of Letters, New Delhi, 1981.

Invited Poet – Asian Poets Conference, Tokyo, Japan, 1984.

Indo-Soviet Cultural Exchange Writer, USSR, 1985.

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Resident Writer – Centro Culturale della Fondazione Rockefeller, Bellagio, Italy, 1986.

Invited Poet – University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 1988.

Singapore Festival of Arts, Singapore. 1988.

New Literatures in English Conference, Justus-Liebig-Universitat, Giessen,

West Germany, 1989

ACLALS Silver Jubilee Conference, Canterbury, England, 1989.

First Prize – Scottish International Open Poetry Competition, 1990.

Invited Poet – Poetry International, The South Bank Centre, London, England, 1992.

Cuirt International Poetry Festival, Galway, Ireland, 1992.

EI Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y las Artes, Mexico. 1994

Mingei International Museum of World Folk Art, La Jolla, USA. 1994.

Gangadhar National Award – For Poetry, Sambalpur University, 1994

Ramakrishna Jaidayal – Harmony Award, 1994, New Delhi.

Vaikom Mohammad Basheer Chair – Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, 1996-97.

Invited Poet – ACLALS Conference, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1998.

Awarded Honorary Degree – Doctor of Literature, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 2006.

Invited Poet – Weltklang Poetry Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2006.

Bishuva Award – Prajatantra Prachara Samiti, Cuttack, 2007.

Padma Shree Award – India's Padma Shree Award, 2009.

SAARC Literary Award, New Delhi, 2010

BOOKS BY JAYANTA MAHAPATRA

Poetry

1971: Close the Sky Ten by TenCalcutta, Dialogue Publications

1971: Svayamvara and Other PoemsCalcutta, Writers Workshop

1976: A Father's Hours Delhi, United Writers

1976: A Rain of Rites Athens, Georgia, University of Georgia Press

1979: WaitingSamkaleen Prakashan

1980: The False Start, Bombay, Clearing House

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1980: Relationship Greenfield, New York, Greenfield Review Press

1983: Life Signs New Delhi, Oxford University Press

1986: Dispossessed Nests Delhi/Jaipur, Nirala Publications

1987: Selected Poems New Delhi, Oxford University Press

1988: Burden of Waves & Fruit Washington DC, Three Continents Press

1989: Temple Sydney/Mundelstrup/Coventry Dangaroo Press

1992: A Whiteness of Bone Viking Penguin

1995: The Best of Jayanta Mahapatra Kozhikode, Kerala, Bodhi Publications

1997: Shadow Space Kottayam, Kerala, DC Books

2000: Bare Face Kottayam, Kerala, DC Books

2006: Random Descent Bhubaneswar, Odisha, Third Eye Communications

2006: Samparka, Natuna Dilli: Sāhitya Akādemi

2009: The Lie of Dawns: Poems 1974-2008 New Delhi, Authorspress

2013: Land New Delhi, Authorspress

Prose

1997: The Green Gardener, short stories, Hyderabad, Orient Longman

2006: Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs New Delhi, Authrospress

2011: Bhor Moitra KanaphulaIn Oriya. Bhubaneswar,Paschima

Poetry in Oriya

1993: Bali (The Victim) Cutack, Vidyapuri

1995: Kahibe Gotiye Katha (I'll Tell A Story) Arya Prakashan

1997: Baya Raja(The Mad Emperor) Cuttack, Vidyapuri

2004: Tikie Chhayee (A Little Shadow) Cuttack, Vidyapuri

2006: Chali (Walking) Cuttack, Vidyapuri

2008: Jadiba Gapatie (Even If It's A Story) Cuttack, Friends Publishers

2011: Smruti Pari Kichhiti ( A Small Memory) Cuttack, Bijayini

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Subject matter

Mahapatra deeply rooted in the Orissan soil. Places like Puri, Konark, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar

from as it were a quadrangle in the landscape of his poetry. Legends, history and myths

associated with these places immensely interest Jayant Mahapatra and from the nerve centre of

his poetry. He love his place very much. He has written several poems focusing on Puri the great

sacred place of lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of Orissa. For the Hindus, Puri is one of the

four well-known places of pilgrimage. Mahapatra depicts with a touch of subtle irony and pathos

the incongruities in the religious landscape of India. The real landscape becomes a symbol, a

suggestive image in his poetry. He is writing on Indianess. Apart from Indianess, Jayanta is a

poet of human relationship and raises his situations from the regionalto universal. He has

employed imagery and epithets, symbols etc to present the human conditions, whichare not only

the conditions of India but of the whole world. In Mahapatra’s poetry the human relationship

centers round man-woman relationship. The portrait of woman reoccurs in his poetry and the

stress has been laid in presenting woman as the sufferer. In Indian Summer, he presents the

gloomy state of a woman:

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Conclusion

Mahapatra is a skilled and conscious craftsman who churns out his images and symbols

thoughtfully. In such poems he is an Oriyan poet first, but he is Indian too, because by a careful

selection of images and symbols, the local becomes symbolic of India as a whole. Mahapatra

occupies a prominent place in contemporary Indian English poetry. Artistically also,, he is a

highly talented poet who knows well how to handle his poetic tool. His use of images and

symbols in poetry speaks volumes of his trained mind and disciplined art. The images he uses

acquire the symbolic overtones. Mahapatra's enchanting expression of quite meditativeness,

slightly tinged with sorrow and nostalgia the ubiquitous religious and cultural ambience of

Orissa bestows a distinctive quality upon his verse. Among the poets of India very names are

quoted with a quality of expressing the social awareness in their poems. In this age he is active.

Hence his greatness as a poet is quite apt; everywhere he gives something new and original; he is

not like other poets but “Greater than the greatest in the modern Indian world”.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Best of Jayanta Mahapatra by P.P. Raveendran Review by: Rabindra K Swain Indian

Literature, Vol. 40, No. 3 (179), ACCENT ON MANIPURI POETRY (May - June

1997), pp. 191-193

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/literature4all/jayanta.html

http://www.jayantamahapatra.com/bio.asp

http://literarism.blogspot.in/2011/12/jayanta-mahapatra.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayanta_Mahapatra

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/23338309?

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Uri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Djayanta%2Bmahapatra%26amp

%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Best+of+Jayanta+Mahapatra.-a019450627

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