Afghan Samrat During the 17th century, Upendra Bhanja wrote poetry and created classical Odissi music. He is well known for his Odissi songs and kabyas, particularly Baidehisa Bilasa, Labanyabati, and Koti Brahmanda Sundari, which were composed in the Odia language. He was born in 1670 in the princely kingdom of Kulagarh, now known as Kulada, in the Bhanjanagar region of south Odisha, 80 kilometres from Berhampur, a silk city. He passed away in 1740. His second marriage was the daughter of the monarch of Banapur, who was a learned princess and provided Upendra Bhanja with a great deal of lyrical inspiration. His first wife was the sister of the king of Nayagarh.
Raghunatha Bilasa, Ratna Manjari, and other works of his great-grandfather King Dhananjaya Bhanja served as examples for the prince as he wrote. But in contrast to his grandfather, he chose to devote his entire life to poetry rather than to holding a position of power. He was well-versed in Sanskrit dictionaries like Amara Kosha and had a good education in classical literature written in the language. In order to aid poets, he even created the Odia lexicon Geetabhidhana. After him is the town of Bhanjanagar, which is close to Silk City Berhampur. The core of Odissi music, the traditional classical music of the state of Odisha, is composed by Upendra Bhanja, who is regarded as one of the finest composers of all time.
Books Info
| Books name | Upendrabhanja Parichaya / ଉପେନ୍ଦ୍ରଭଞ୍ଜ ପରିଚୟ |
| Author | Ananta Padmanabh Patnaik |
| No Of pages | 72 |
| Publisher | Grantha Mandira |
| Publication | 1962 |
| Printed At | NA |
| Distributor | NA |