Poetry and Social Transformation: The Legacy of Sachi Routray

Abstract

This essay on Sachidananda Routray, the famous poet and radical intellectual activist of modern Odisha, is based on an interpretation of his literary works as well as archival documents. It profiles and analyses his leading role as a harbinger of progressive and marxist ideas in Odisha, as can be seen in the reports written on him by the colonial administration and from his articles and poetry that appeared in the 1930s in Nabeen, a weekly Odia newspaper, and Krushak, a prominent progressive Odia monthly magazine. He combined his considerable literary talents with his organisational abilities which could be seen in his mobilisation of students, peasants and other marginalised sections all of which established him as a front-ranking figure in the history of modern Odisha.