Pandit Nilakantha Das (1884-1967) was one of Odisha’s most illustrious sons, appearing both in its political and literary arenas at the most critical period of its history, when Odisha had no political identity on the map of India and Odia as a language was on the verge of extinction. He worked tirelessly for Odisha’s recognition both politically and linguistically, and helped bring to fruition the dreams of Utkala Gaurab
Nilakantha was a colleague of Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad, among others, during the Indian Independence struggle. He was a polymath who was an outstanding teacher, outstanding leader, erudite scholar, recognised writer, excellent orator, and forceful legislator. Pandit Nilakantha was well-known as the headmaster of Utkalamani Gopabandhu’s Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya. He was a key architect in the creation of the autonomous Odisha Province in 1936, working tirelessly as Madhusudan Das’ right-hand man to attain this goal. Odisha became India’s first linguistically based province as a result of his legislative efforts in the Delhi Central Assembly.
His extensive research on the evolution of the Odia language uncovered a number of facts that aided in the recognition of Odia as the sixth Indian classical language. Odia is also the first language from the Indo-Aryan group to be classified as classical.Nilakantha Das is also known as Utkala Guru due to his unfathomable knowledge in many crucial subjects.
Book Info
| Book name | Nilakantha Granthabali / ନୀଳକଣ୍ଠ ଗ୍ରନ୍ଥାବଳୀ |
| Author | Pandita Nilakantha Das |
| No Of pages | 505 |
| Publisher | Cuttack Student’s Store |
| Publication | 1965 |
| Printed At | Prasada Press |
| Distributor | NA |