#odisha villagers

[ghostlytales]

Real Ghost Caught on Camera? Paranormal Encounter of Odisha Villagers With Eerie Figure in White Saree Is Giving Nightmares!

[asiaphotostudio]

India, 1990 Puri, Odisha, India. インド オリッサ州 プリー Photography by Michitaka Kurata

[viagginterstellari]

Village life - Orissa, 2023

[townpostin]

Highway Damage Disrupts Bus Services to Odisha Border

20 km detour affects 60 daily buses, causing passenger frustration A critical 3.8 km stretch of highway near Chakradharpur has deteriorated, halting direct bus routes to Odisha. JAMSHEDPUR – Bus operations between Chakradharpur and the Odisha border have been disrupted due to severe damage on a 3.8 km stretch of highway, forcing vehicles to take a 20 km detour. The affected road segment,…

[dulcimertours]

Unique tribal village tour in Odisha

http://bit.ly/3QMNku8

[adlertours]

Natural History Journeys

#NaturalHistoryJourneys #AbbotsfordHeritage #Nainital #Uttarakhand #NineFurlongs, #Binsar, Uttarakhand #TemiBungalow, #SouthSikkim, Near Namchi #TheWesternRamgangalodge, #Marchula, Uttarakhand #BanyanByTheGanges #Devprayag, Uttarakhand #SinginawaJungleLodge, #KanhaNationalPark, #MadhyaPradesh #CocoLagoon #Pollachi, #TamilNadu #Anantya Resorts #Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu #JavaRain…

[rebatiraman]

#village_life #village #village #struggle #morning #morningphotography #tribalhouse #triballife #nature #similipal #santuary #forestlife #odishaculture #odisha #baripada #tigerreserve #mayurbhanj #mobileclick #motog5splus #sonyimx #mobilephotographer #mobilephotography #likeforlikes #like #lightroom #snapseed #share #india #simplicity #emotions #ricefield (at Similipal Tiger Reserve) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnlPibYp4kN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[fatehbaz]

A devastating rail crash that left almost 300 people dead has refocused international attention on the importance of railways in the lives of Indians.

Indeed, to many Western observers, images of men and women crammed into overcrowded cars serve as a metaphor for modern India. Take, for example, a report by German newspaper Der Spiegel on India’s population surpassing China’s. Published just weeks before the accident in Odisha province on June 2, the now much-criticized cartoon depicted a shabby Indian train crammed with passengers rushing past a streamlined Chinese train with only two people in it.

Where does this enduring image in the West of Indian railways – and of India – come from? As a scholar of Indian history and author of 2015 book “Tracks of Change: Railways and Everyday Life in Colonial India,” I believe the answers lie in the gigantic infrastructure projects of the 19th century – forged at the intersection of colonial dictates and capitalist demands.

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A carrier of freight, not people

Railways remain the backbone of passenger traffic in India, transporting some 23 million people daily. In the pre-pandemic 2018-19 financial year, 7.7 billion passenger journeys in India. [...] Yet, when first planned in the 1840s, India’s railways were intended to primarily transport freight and livestock, not people. Indians were thought unlikely to become railway passengers by directors of the English East India Co., a merchant monopoly that gradually annexed and administered large parts of India under U.K. crown control. [...] However, early colonial railway policy was driven by pervasive Orientalist imaginings of a people rendered immobile by poverty, living in isolated villages [...]. The trope interlocked with colonial thinking that railways would foster greater industrialization which in turn would further a capitalist economy. They also aligned with the practical needs of a colonial trading monopoly which needed raw materials for English industries, such as cotton, to be moved swiftly and efficiently from India’s interiors to port towns [...].

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Despite the doubters, the new Indian railways attracted an increasing number of passengers. The half-million passengers recorded in 1854 when tracks became operational increased to 26 million in 1875. By 1900, annual passenger figures stood at 175 million and then almost trebled to 520 million by 1919-20. By the time of the partition of India in 1947 it had risen to more than 1 billion passenger journeys annually. Indeed, images of overcrowded trains came to epitomize the upheaval of partition, with the rail system used to carry swaths of uprooted peoples across the soon-to-be Pakistan-India border. Third-class passengers, overwhelmingly Indians, comprised almost 90% of this traffic. These escalating figures did not, however, generate a lowering of fares. Nor did they result in any substantial improvements in the conditions of [...] travel. [...]

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The generally British railway managers seemed disinclined to remedy systematic overcrowding, which included transporting passengers in wagons meant for livestock. Rather, they insisted that such overcrowding was caused by the peculiar habits and inclinations of Indian passengers: their alleged [...] inclination to follow one another “like sheep” into crowded carriages. These attributes were soon rendered into a more public narrative, especially among Western mindsets. Journalist H. Sutherland Stark, writing for the industry publication Indian State Railways Magazine in 1929, stated that though “unversed” in railway administration and traffic control, he knew railway facilities were not the problem. Rather, Indian passengers lacked the mental preparedness, “self-possession” and “method” necessary to travel like “sane human beings.” Stark suggested passenger education as a solution to the perceived problem, making railway travel a tool for “self-composure and mass orderliness.” [...]

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More than a century later, this depiction endures, though, ironically, it now serves as a foil to understanding contemporary India. In a piece published in The New York Times on March 12, 2005, the author lauded the then-new Delhi metro, emphasizing that it had “none of the chaotic squalor of hawkers and beggars that characterizes mainline railroads in India, nor do desperate travelers hang from the sides of the trains.” As the debate rages on whether safety has taken a back seat to “glossy modernization projects” in India – early analyses suggest signaling failure might have caused June 2, 2023, accident – railways continue to represent India’s history.

In the heyday of empire, they were deemed the technology through which Britain would drag India into capitalist modernity. In 1947, they became a leitmotif for the trauma of the partition that accompanied the independence of India and Pakistan. As the coverage of Odisha accident reminds us, it continues to be a metaphor in the West for evaluating contemporary India.

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Headline, image, caption, and all text above by: Ritika Prasa. “Overcrowded trains serve as metaphor for India in Western eyes -- but they are a relic of colonialism and capitalism.” The Conversation. 9 June 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[hindulivesmatter]

I'm from the USA and took a lot of Indian history courses at my university. You might already know this or have guessed it, but a lot of what we learned was taught from a leftist--and at times explicitly Marxist--perspective. This was even stronger in other (but thankfully not all!) social studies departments where there were classes focusing solely on various social ills of Hinduism with regard to caste and issues of feminism, yet almost nothing negative could be said if it might be critical of Islam or Muslim figures, (Mahmud of Ghazni being a notable exception for one of my professors.) There was a whole class on British colonialism; no details were spared. Horrible famines in the Deccan, Odisha, Bengal. The decimation of the textile industry. Banning bharatanatyam. The salt tax. Accounts of how a British man kicked one of his servants to death, and another of how the poor and sick congregated outside the gates of a hospital in the south that at the time would only help Europeans. Jallianwala Bagh. But Aurangzeb? Completely whitewashed. You would think Sikhs carry a kirpan for no reason. It was only through reading additional books and documents for my essays and projects that I learned about how he tore down temples, smashed murtis (and stole valuable ones,) levied a double tax on non-Muslims, etc. I remember reading an account of a traveler going through the south at the time of the Deccan wars, remarking on how you could find entire villages empty and deserted fields full of unharvested crops because the people had fled advancing armies. In one region his forces simply killed some Telugu-speaking Brahmins serving the local king rather than force them to convert, and in another his forces captured a royal scribe, forced him to convert to Islam, and forcibly circumcized him before the man killed himself. Obviously the history of all things under the umbrella of Hinduism or any other system is not perfect, but there was a huge difference in how critical you could be of Hinduism (and even western traditions/ideas) compared to Islam.

Sometimes I daydream about what it would have been like to study Sangam literature in India or to experience Andal without needing an English translation, or going to translate old Sanskrit copies of the Mahabharata whose telling is unique to a certain village or something. But ultimately I'm glad I chose to be a research scientist instead and have a career in that, because I don't think I would have been able to succeed in academia unless I were a leftist. :\ Honestly I feel like even going to hang out with ISKCON for a few days would be a better introduction to Hinduism for the average person abroad with zero knowledge than a class called "Intersections of Gender and Caste in Hinduism" or something.

Very telling how Hinduism, and even Christianity is ripped apart in academia, yet when it comes to Islam, it is a religion of "tolerance, and beauty that respects women."

Honestly, though, it's because of how severely they react when their religion is criticized or even inspected. Apostates are given death, women who do not obey are given death, anyone who utters a word against their precious prophets is given, you guessed it! Death.

No religion is perfect, humans can be horrific creatures, and even Hinduism cannot escape that. But Islam has committed far more war crimes than any other religion.

It absolutely boils my blood to see traces of colonizers in our cities. One side of my family hails from Aurangabad, named aftre Aurangzeb, and you already know the atrocities he committed.

It's so fucking insidious to see how the youth have been told what to think. My own friend claimed to me, verbatim: "You cannot be neutral in the Israel-Palestine war. Either you support Palestine, or you support genocide."

Support Hamas? Support terrorism? The same terrorism that affects us? Has everyone forgotten 26/11?

It makes me so sad to think of the future we could have had. Sanskrit would be the most spoken language, instead of English. Gurukuls would exist, and India would still have all of its wealth.

You're right, even ISKCON is better than the propaganda they feed people about our religion.

[anviksha]

Odisha's Tableau at 75th Republic Day parade, New Delhi!

The theme of the tableau was 'women empowerment in Viksit Bharat'.

The tableau showcased the rich handicraft and handloom sector of the State, especially the village 'Raghurajpur' and how women play a pivotal role in the sector.

Odisha got a chance of sending a tableau to the Republic Day parade after a gap of 3 years.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Revelator:

Saudamini Mohakud, the 65-year-old elder of her village, proudly calls herself the daughter and bride of the Eastern Ghats, the range of mountains that borders the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The mountains’ undulating wooded hills cradle her native village, Punasia, where she was born and wed. Saudamini says she could not have been happier growing up in its lap of lush greenery, which included about 50 acres of the community forests near her village.

“The forests were then a treasure trove of nature’s bounties, providing us with fruits, vegetables, tubers, medicines, and numerous other resources that sustained our households,” says Saudamini, now a grandmother to four children. “Our sacred grove, dedicated to our village deities, also flourished within these community forests.” The village cattle, too, grazed at the edge of the forest and community pastures.

But in the 1980s the forests began to disappear. The hills turned bare. According to villagers, loggers rampantly smuggled timber. Summers became hotter; dusty winds from the nearby hills hit the village. Rainfall became scarce and erratic. Agriculture, their primary means of livelihood, became uncertain. Depleted forest resources also hit their secondary source of income: collecting seeds, mushrooms, flowers, and other wild plants.

By the 1990s Punasia’s economy was as bare as the nearby hills. “This resulted in migration of men and youths from our village to find work outside,” rues Saudamini.

But over the past two decades, Punasia village has turned that around. A dedicated band of women led by Saudamini have nurtured nearly 50 acres of degraded forest patches and restored them to their former glory.

The formerly depleted forests have regrown with native trees such as sal, siali, mahua, tamarind, mango, and bamboo. Natural water bodies have also been revived with regular rainfall and rising water tables.

“It was hard work” that relied upon their traditional knowledge, recalls Mami Mohakud, now 35 and a member of Saudamini’s team. “We reared the reappearing saplings in the forests, created fences around them, and saved them from grazing cattle.”

Saudamini’s 20-year-old granddaughter, Nirupama, says these protected and restored community commons are an intrinsic part of Punasia’s existence, spiritual, cultural, and ecological heritage, as they are for other Indigenous communities. “They are not just forests or grazing land for us, but deeply connected with our feelings, sustenance, and day-to-day life,” she says.

Community commons also provide many ecosystem services that regulate the local climate, a process seen around the world, according to Sharat Kumar Palita, a professor in the department of biodiversity and conservation of natural resources at Central University of Odisha, Koraput.

“Different kinds of commons — including forest patches, water bodies, and grazing lands — play their respective roles in maintaining favorable microclimatic conditions,” says Palita.

[theverumproject]

Story/WIP Tour Tag!

Thanks for the tag @topazadine

Luce, Dethra, Bluctro, Arushi and Zri’Kla shall guide us through this tour of their worlds!

This will be a longer post, so I'll put the tour below the cut. But to perhaps to gain some interest, here's the contents:

Verum I: The Awakening: Redville (Australia), The Basement, The secret government facility, Uncle Martin's Villa

Verum II: The Robotic Era (wip): The old farm, The Death Rings / The tunnels of Glasgow (Scotland), Arushi's home village, Deogarh (India), Jungles of Eastern India, Arushi's Camp, The Death Camps, Kotrul, Ke;Sanra, The Milkyway, The Solar System, Space stations, Cargo space ships, The Galactic Confederation / The Galactic Core

Tags: @creative-author @rivenantiqnerd @teamarine777

Verum I: The Awakening 

Redville, Australia

Luce: Redville was the town I spent my childhood in. It is somewhere north of Kalgoorlie, which is the closest bigger town, though there still are some quite many kilometers between the two. There's a forest next to our town, somebody planted it there once many many decades ago. I spent a lot of time there back when I still lived in Redville. My mom was good friends with the local veterinarian, sometimes I was allowed to help at the clinic a little. Funny thing, despite being a human, I myself was operated on in there once.

(Redville and it's forest are both fictional)

The Basement

Luce: Hidden inside the forest, there's a bunker that my father and I called the basement. It's where he taught me all about robotics and AI. We tried to create sentient life, but when we finally succeeded, he was already dead… Bluctro was the one that was born in there.

The secret government facility

Dethra: It was hidden somewhere deep within the Australian outback. It was Michael's, the father of Luce, workplace and where I was created. More specifically, it was one of many military bases, this one focused on creating a new weapon of war, me. Mike and I were a team for years, he eventually helped me out of there, but it cost him his own life. I killed everyone in there and burned the whole place down. Everybody eventually died, even if they weren't there at the moment. All the information that it held is gone. It and the place should never be rediscovered.

Uncle Martin's villa

Luce: Martin was the brother of my father. He was a rich business man, living somewhere near the northern, western coast of Australia. He helped us flee back when the government was still after us.

Verum II: The Robotic Era

The old farm

Bluctro: After we fled to Scotland, we made a little farm in the Highlands our new home. It was a good place to hide, we could sustain ourselves, grow food for Luce and even sell the food we grew to the nearest towns. The house wasn't a big one by any means, we also didn't use that much farm land, only for how much we needed for ourselves, which wasn't a lot, and to earn our money. We lived there for many years.

The Death Rings / The tunnels of Glasgow, Scotland

Bluctro: Hidden inside the tunnels of Glasgow reside some of the Death Rings that we seek out and destroy. Their purpose is to entertain cruel rich people and to kill members of the robotic population.

Arushi's home village

Arushi: I grew up in a small village of Odisha, an Indian state. I spent my childhood on my parents farm, where I, if I wasn't at school, usually spent my time looking after the sheep herd with our family dog, Chandra. Another place I liked was the cemetery where I used to look for human bones. It might sound weird, but it was what I was obsessed with as a child. I only got caught once!

Deogarh, India

Arushi: I moved to Deogarh to study anthropology. I started my studies young and also became a professor at a young age. Gods, I loved to teach at the University of Deogarh. Though there was an ugly side to the city. The hate against robots was especially strong there. You could see vandalization and hate speech on posters that were advertising bots everywhere. It made me sick. 

(The University is fictional)

Jungles of Eastern India

Arushi: The jungle was my home for the last two years. After me and O-5 had been kidnapped, tortured and with them being killed… with me committing mass murder as revenge, I couldn't return… I became a nomad, slowly traveling through Odisha's jungles, looking for the next camp to destroy.

Arushi's Camp

Arushi: I usually stay at one place for a while, until every last camp more or less near it has been destroyed. My current camp is inside a little cave behind a waterfall. You have to climb a little to reach it. There's a big hole on the ceiling, it reaches up quite a few meters. On a clear night, I can watch the stars. When it rains, I have a roof that I can set up quickly. The water drains into the little stream that exits the cave. I sleep and eat in the middle, below the hole. In front of my makeshift bed is the campfire, set up with a grill and pots whenever I need them. Further back in the cave, there are little pools of cool water, the water comes out from between the cracks in the stone, it even is cold on the hottest days, since it doesn't touch the surface. I use one of them as a fridge, where I keep my food inside little containers. The other one is my bath and source of water.

The Death Camps

Arushi: Death camps, like the one me and O-5 got taken to, are hidden within the jungles of Asia. Ever since O-5 got murdered by these people, I've been seeking them out. To save the ones that have been captured there and to kill the ones that took them.

Kotrul

Zri’Kla: Kotrul is the name of my home planet. It's one of the most beautiful planets known to the Galactic Confederation. The Planet is covered in giant trees, there's almost no area on the surface that isn't jungle. We don't have any seas like other planets, but we have many rivers and smaller lakes. Us Kotrulians have adapted to live in the trees, they are our homes. Our houses are built into them. We hollow the outer layers of the trees out while leaving the inner layers untouched, this way the trees can keep on living without any problems for millenia. Unlike most housings on other planets, our walls don't have any corners, they are round. At least the outer walls are. While the highway is on the ground, between trees, smaller and main roads are on the branches of the trees, connected by bridges.

Ke;Sanra

Zri’Kla: Ke;Sanra was the city I studied ship engineering in, at the university for robotics, engineering and programming. The entry lounge and secretary are on the lowest floor, then comes the many schooling rooms reaching a few stories high. At the very top are the living quarters of the students, also reaching a few stories high. There are exits and entries for the students and teachers on many floors, connecting to the roads. It would be impractical to only have one at the very bottom.

The Milkyway

Zri’Kla: The milkyway, as the humans call our galaxy, is the home of many different species. Most of them are either microbial, plant- and animal-like, but some of them are sapient, like us. Advanced sapient species are all part of the so-called Galactic Confederation. Except one, the Tapzians.

The Solar System

Zri’Kla: This particular star system is the home of the humans and many other species. It is one of many systems that we, as the Galactic confederation, hide and protect from the Tapzians. If we didn't, they would have long been destroyed. We hope to introduce the homo sapiens to the Galactic Confederation one day.

Space stations

Zri’Kla: There are many space stations throughout the galaxy, most of them belong to the GC. They are the work place of many people from all kinds of planets. After I finished my studies, I worked at one too. Until it got attacked by Tapzians. My will to become a soldier reached one hundred percent that day.

Cargo space ships

Zri’Kla: Like stations, most cargo ships also belong to the GC, with all kinds of people working there. Either temporarily, like I did as a soldier, or permanently. Ships are always the most likely to be attacked by Tapzians, since they carry important technology that they want.

The Galactic Confederation / The Galactic Core

Zri’Kla: The main HQ of the GC lies within the Galactic core. From the view of an earthling, it would probably appear like a palast. Vegetation, rivers and waterfalls surround it. The colors of the outer walls are white in the light spectrum. It is a majestic place, I had the honor to visit it a few times in my life.

[asiaphotostudio]

India, 1990 Puri, Odisha, India. インド オリッサ州 プリー Photography by Michitaka Kurata

[deba-965-babu]

Best hospital in Bhubaneswar-health village hospital

Best hospital in  bhubaneswar-health village hospital

In Bhubaneswar, there's a really good hospital called Health Village Hospital. It's known as the best hospital in Bhubaneswar, especially for orthopedic surgery and hip replacement surgery. They're famous for helping people who need surgery on their knees, hips, and other joints. The doctors and staff at Health Village Hospital are very good at what they do, and they make sure patients feel taken care of.

Why Choose Health Village Hospital?

If you need orthopedic surgery and hip replacement  surgery in Bhubaneswar, Health Village Hospital is the best hospital in Bhubaneswar. They're really good at what they do, and they care about making you feel better. So, if you're thinking about getting surgery to fix your joints, consider going to Health Village Hospital. They'll help you get back to moving and feeling good in no time.

If you plan for surgery contact us

Address: 15/1, Indradhanu Market, civic center, Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751015

Phone: 06746662555

You can check our website also-health village hospital

#health tips

#health care

#health information

#Bhubaneswar

#hospital

[meluhha]

MELUHHA. MELAKA. MELA. MEL. TA-MIL.

Meluhha/Melukhkha - This term appears in several ancient texts, including the Sumerian and Akkadian texts, and is thought to refer to the Indus Valley Civilization. Some scholars believe that the word has Dravidian origins.

Melaka - assemblage; “visionary encounters (with the Goddesses)”; the “union” (of Śiva and Śakti); Yoginīmelaka, “a meeting with Yoginīs”

Meru - This is a mountain that is considered sacred in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. The word is believed to have Dravidian roots.

Mela - This is a Sanskrit word that means "gathering" or "assembly". It is commonly used to refer to large festivals and gatherings in India.

Melammu - This is a Sumerian word that means "divine radiance" or "divine glory". It is believed to have Dravidian roots.

Melakadambur - This is a village in Tamil Nadu, India, that is known for its ancient Hindu temple. The name of the village is believed to have originated from a combination of two words - "melai" (Tamil for high) and "kadambu" (Tamil for tree).

Melakarta - This is a system of organizing and classifying musical scales in Carnatic music, a classical music tradition from South India. The term "melakarta" literally means "primary scales" in Sanskrit, but its exact origins are unclear and it may have Dravidian roots.

Melaka - This is a city in Malaysia that was an important trading port in ancient times. The name is thought to have originated from a combination of two words - "mele" (Tamil for hill) and "ka" (Sanskrit for foot), referring to the city's location at the foot of a hill. 

Melana - a form of dance in Odisha

Melap - a traditional musical instrument in Rajasthan

Melchham - a folk dance form in Himachal Pradesh

Mel - a festival celebrated in Assam

Melana - a religious festival celebrated by the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya

Mel - a community gathering in Punjab

Melo - a type of folk song in West Bengal

Melava - a gathering of people for a social or religious occasion in Maharashtra

Meluha - an ancient civilization in the Indus Valley

Mel - a gathering of people for social and cultural events in Kerala

Mela - a festival or fair held in various parts of India

Melat - a type of song in the Maldives

Melan - a traditional wrestling competition in Uttarakhand

Mela-kacheri - a type of music concert in Tamil Nadu

Melattur style - a style of Bharatanatyam dance in Tamil Nadu

Melodious - having a pleasant tune or melody in music

Melam - a type of percussion music in Kerala

Melapadam - a musical composition in the Indian classical tradition

Melakarta - a system of classification of ragas in Carnatic music

Melavu - a traditional folk dance in Andhra Pradesh

Melghat - a mountain range in Maharashtra

Melkote - a town in Karnataka known for its temples

Melnattu - a term used to describe the western region of Tamil Nadu

Melukote - a town in Karnataka known for its temples

Meliaputti - a town in Andhra Pradesh

Melavasal - a place in Tamil Nadu known for its silk production

Melachirappalli - a town in Tamil Nadu

Melur - a town in Tamil Nadu

Melathiruppanthuruthi - a village in Tamil Nadu

Melmaruvathur - a town in Tamil Nadu known for its temple

Melanam - a type of ceremonial procession in Kerala

Melapalayam - a town in Tamil Nadu

Melmuri - a village in Kerala

Melparamba - a village in Kerala

Melkam - a traditional dance in Assam

Melamchi - a river in Nepal

Melukavu - a village in Kerala

Melmadoor - a village in Telangana

Melukote Narasimha - a form of Lord Vishnu worshipped in Karnataka

Melkallur - a village in Tamil Nadu

Melasani - a village in Karnataka

Melkamane - a village in Karnataka

Melvettoor - a village in Kerala

Melthonnakkal - a village in Kerala

Melukote Vyasaraya - a prominent philosopher and saint in the Madhva tradition

Meloor - a village in Kerala

Melkavattur - a village in Tamil Nadu

Meladi - a village in Rajasthan.

SIDENOTE

"mel-" or "meldh-" which means "dark," "black," or "soil” is found in various Indo-European languages, such as the Latin word "melas," the Greek word "mélās," the Old English word "melan," and the Sanskrit word "mālā."

[odishadetails]

Adi Kabi Sarala Das

Adi Kabi Sarala Dasa

Sarala Dasa (born as Siddheswara Parida) was a 15th-century poet and scholar of Odia literature. Best known for three Odia books — Mahabharata, Vilanka Ramayana and Chandi Purana — he was the first scholar to write in Odia and his revered as the Adi Kabi (First Poet) of Odia literature. As an originator of Odia literature, his work has formed an enduring source of information for succeeding generations.

HERE SARALADAS BOOK AVAILABLE

Life-- The early life of Sarala Dasa is not accurately known. He was a contemporary of the Gajapati King Kapilendra Dev. Though the date of his birth cannot be accurately determined, he can safely be placed to the 15th century AD. He was born at a village called kanakavati patana known as Kanakapura at the Tentuliapada, Jagatsinghpur district.Sarala Dasa had no organized early education, and what he achieved through self-education was attributed to the grace of Sarala, goddess of devotion and inspiration. Though his early name was Siddheswara Parida, he was later known as Sarala Dasa, or 'by the boon of Sarala'. (The title Dasa means a slave or a servant of a particular god or goddess. A long list of poets, preceding and succeeding Sarala Dasa, have names ending this way. For example: Vatra Dasa, Markanda Dasa, Sarala Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Balarama Dasa, and Yasovanta Dasa.) A story – similar to those told of other Indian poets, . such as Kalidasa, supposedly illiterate in early life until helped by the goddess Saraswati – tells that Siddheswara as a boy was once ploughing his father's field and singing so melodiously that the goddess Sarala stopped and listened to his song and endowed him with her power of composing beautiful poems.

There are several indications in his Mahabharata that he served as a soldier in the army of the Gajapati King of Odisha.

Works--

As well as the three books for which he is best known – Mahabharata, Vilanka Ramayana and Chandi Purana - Sarala Dasa also wrote the book Laxmi Narayana Vachanika. The Adi Parva Mahabharata opens with a long invocation addressed to the Lord Jagannatha of Puri, from which it is known that Sarala Dasa started writing his Mahabharata in the reign of Kapileswar, otherwise known as Kapilendra Deva, the famous Gajapati king of Odisha (AD 1435–67). He tells us that Maharaja Kapilesvara with innumerable offerings and many a salute was serving this great deity and hereby destroying the sins of the Kali age.

Though Sarala Dasa followed the main outline of the Sanskrit Mahabharata in writing the Odia Mahabharata, he made numerous deviations and added to it copiously the stories of his own creation and various other matters known to him. In the final form Sarala Dasa's Mahabharata is a new creation analogous to Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa based on the Ramayana.

Mahabharata brought to light about the 18 parvas. The Chandi Purana was based on the well-known story of Goddess Durga killing Mahishasura (the buffalo headed demon) given in Sanskrit literature but here also the Odia poet chose to deviate from the original at several points. His earliest work, Vilanka Ramayana, was a story of the fight between Rama and Shahasrasira Ravana (thousand headed Ravana).

He wrote the poems in Dandi chand (in which chand the number of letters in the verses is not fixed is called as dandi chand). The verse of Sarala Dasa is simple, forceful and musical, without artificiality. Applying colloquial words for his poetical purpose, his writing was free from Sanskritisation. His work can be seen as adapting the popular oral conventions of earlier Odia folk songs which were used in folk dances such as the Ghoda-nacha (Horse Dance), Dandanacha and Sakhinacha (Puppet Dance). One metrical peculiarity of these songs is that both the lines of a verse do not contain an equal number of letters though the last letters of both the lines produce the same sound. All Sarala Dasa's wors were composed with this metrical peculiarity, and so the metre used by him can be regarded as a direct descendant of that used in the folk songs. By the fifteenth century the Odia language had assumed almost its modern form and had become ripe for literary compositions.

The predominant sentiment in Sarala Dasa's poem is not love but war. He was also motivated by a strong religious zeal to compose religious books in a language intelligible to all and to make them available to the general public in Odisha. He tells in no uncertain words that he composed his poems for the benefit of "human beings". There are several indications in his Mahabharata that he served as a soldier in the army of the Gajapati King of Odisha and his association with the army brought to him a variety of experiences. The stories he heard the battle scenes which he witnessed, the places that he visited with the company of the army the historical incidents and names that he could know all remained stored up in his mind to be utilized in his writings.