Kabichandra Kali Charana Compilation

In the world of Odia Drama Kabichandra Kali Charana is a well known name. He had expertise in different fields of Odia art like drama, dance and music.

Kali Charan was born at Badamba garh on 1897, December 23, 1897. His family was from Banki originally, but were staying at Badamba. His father Durga Charana was an employing at the royal court. He first studied at Charchika school of Banki, then at Khurda high school and finally at Ravenshaw college, Cuttack. He was a talented student and passed matriculation in first division. However, he had to discontinue his studies due to the untimely death of his father.

His childhood was spent in a musical atmosphere. As a result he was dreaming of becoming an artist since then. While studying at Banki he used to write small poems and his teacher helped in correcting these. At the age when other children spent their time in play, Kali Charana was engaged in reading literary works and writing poems. His composed his first short kabya ‘Mahaparbat’ while a student of class seven at Banki. However, it has remained unpublished. This was followed by a farce titled ‘Kalanka Bhanjana Lila’.

Writing was his main profession and passion which he continued till his death. Drama, story, novel, music, children’s literature – in every field of literature he has made his contribution. At Khurda High school, his first writing ‘Uduruduma’ was published in the school magazine. This is his first published writing.

Odisha knows Kali Charana best as a dramatist. He had developed this interest from his childhood. In next phase of his life, he adopted acting and drama writing as his main profession. In 1929 he started Sakhigopal Natya Samstha. After ten years he started Odisha Theaters in 1939. He did not start any other group after the latter closed in 1949.

Utkal Sahitya Samaj bestowedon him the title Natyacharya in 1944 in recognition of his excellence in the fields of theatre and music. In 1974, he was honoured with padmasree from Govt. of India. He received many other awards and honours in his lifetime. Last award was for his autobiography ‘Kumbhara Chaka’ from Kendra Sahitya Academy.

The last part of his life was very painful as he suffered from many ailments. Since Long his near and dear people had left him and he remained alone with his longtime caretaker only. He finally breathed his last on July 24, 1978 thus ending an era in the field of Odia drama.

Digital versions of Kabichandra Kali Charana’s writings can be accessed via the table below which provides links for downloading these. Clicking on any image below will open a preview of the title and the full title can be downloaded if desired by clicking on the Download link.