Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today released the republished edition of Odia primer ‘Barnabodha’ written by ‘Bhaktakabi’ Madhusudan Rao.
Odia Bhasa Pratisthana, an autonomous institution functioning under the Odia Language Literature and Culture (OLLC) Department has republished the ‘Barnabodha’. The Chief Minister also launched the digital copy of ‘Barnabodha’ on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Majhi said, “Bhaktakabi Madhusudan Rao was born on the day of Saraswati Puja in 1853. We launched the reprinted edition of Barnabodha on the occasion of Saraswati Puja today to pay our homage to the great poet.” DCM Pravati Parida, Lawmaker, Babu Singh graced the occasion.
Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra, Principal Secretary Odia Language, Literature and Culture, Director Culture Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya was present on the occasion.
Shri Rao had published the book in 1895 when the Odia community and their language were struggling for survival and identity. The state government has decided to print 10,000 copies of the book this year for distribution, he said.
In the book, Shri Rao has wonderfully demonstrated how to teach letters, characters, consonants, words, word formation and sentence formation to toddlers in a simple way, Shri Majhi said.
He said the book became a part of every Odia family in a very short time. The ‘Barnabodh’ book was first published in 1895. Its popularity grew so much that eight editions of the book were published between 1895 and 1901.
The book is very necessary to learn the pure Odia language. Even after 130 years, there is no alternative to the book, he stated.
“Odia language is very rich and it has a glorious past. Bhaktakabi had compiled Barnabodha to make the learning of Odia language simple and easy. The primer has been a part of every Odia family since long. We have brought a reprinted edition of the Odia primer without tinkering with its originality,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, OLLC Joint Secretary Deba Prasad Dash said that Odia Bhasa Pratisthana had published a new edition of the book a few years ago.
However, Shri Rao’s family members and some other individuals had objected to the changes made in the book, and they had moved the Orissa High Court, he said.
While hearing the petition, the High Court had put a stay on the distribution and publication of the new edition of ‘Odia Barnabodha’, Shri Dash said.
“Even today, a book titled ‘Chabila Madhu Barnabodha’ is being sold in the market. A lot of changes have been made in the book. So, we have republished the 1901 edition of ‘Barnabodha’ without changing anything. We have just added colour,” the Joint Secretary added.
“The 1901 edition can be considered as the original edition as this was the last edition published by Shri Rao, who died in 1912. The previous seven editions from 1895 are not available,” he revealed.