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CHAPTER- 1- Introduction:-
Gopala Chandra Praharaj is is born on 27 September 1874 in Siddheswarpur of Cuttack district.
He is a famous Odia writer and linguist. He is well known for the compilation of the
Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha. He also contributed significantly to Odia literature by his
works in prose. After completing his matriculation from Ravenshaw Collegiate School, he
studied FA from Revenshaw College and then went to Calcutta University to study law. He is
lawyer by profession, who had written several satirical and insightful essays, in famous Odia
magazines like Nababharata, Rasachakra, Utkal Sahitya and Satya Samachar on various issues of
contemporary Odisha in early 20th century.

The first published work by the author is "Bhagabata Tungire Sandhya" which is published in the
Magazine Utkal Sahitya in 1901. It is followed by Bai Mohanty Panji and many other writings
on socio-cultural and political issues. He followed the footsteps of Fakir Mohan Senapati and
made a remarkable development in Odia satirical literature. Praharaj used the colloquial speech
of Odisha along with Hindustani, Parsi, English, Sanskrit and folk language in his prose works.
He wrote several critical essays with different pen names in many magazines up to his old age.
However, he dedicated around three decades of his life to the compilation of Purnachandra Odia
Bhashakosha which is his Magnum Opus.

Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha which is the most comprehensive lexicon in Odia language till
date, gives the meaning of words in four languages—Odia,Hindi, English and Bengali. It throws
light on the origin, development and use of the words. It is around 9,500 pages long which
contains 185 thousand words in 7 volumes. Praharaj not only did the work of compiling the
lexicon, but also raised funds for its publication and supervised its printing and sale. He included
in this lexicon not only the words which were used in literature, but also the words of common
speech. The publication of the lexicon is patronised by the kings/princes of several princely
states of Odisha. It is still recognised as the biggest dictionary in Odia language, although few
copies of the original printed version survive. An electronic version hadbeen published by
Srujanika.

Praharaj while compiling the Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha, also introduced a new letter- ୱ to
the Odia script inventory to represent the phonetic sound of (Wa) in order to distinguish it from
ବ (Ba), with which it shwered the same consonant ligature form/conjunct form(୍ୱ)
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Works of Gopal Chandra Praharaj:

Praharaj is one of the satirists of early 20th century. His writings were published in many
magazines of that period; Utkal Sahitya, Rasachakra, Nababharata, Satya Samachar and many
others. Dealing with social issues, political condition of Orissa and India, and socio-cultural
mentality of contemporary people these essays were written in humorous style and critical
manner. Some of his essays were published in shape of books during his life. His notable works
were Bhagabata Tungire Sandhya, Bai Mohanty Panji, Dunia ra Halchal, Nananka Bastani. Some
of his writings were now difficult to obtain. Praharaj had also published a book called Utkalara
Kahani dealing with the folk stories of Odisha. Among the remarkable works of Praharaj is
"Dhaga Dhamali Rachana" containing the idioms of Odia language. His other works include his
autobiography, many poems and stories written for children, a book namely Bhasakosha Safar.

About His Magnum Opus Purnachandra Odia Bhasakosha:

As known in France, Histoire du Livre or the History of Books which is known to be a new
discipline, helped providing a new perspective to the history of literature by making
people realise the importance of books. This is possible because the purpose of Histoire du
Livre is studying the history of production of books and „the social and cultural history of
communication by print‟ as Robert Darnton, a pioneer in History of the Book states in his
essay “What is the history of books?” which is published in 1982. The main focus of studying
the history of a book is to figure out the important work done by books which is transmission of
ideas which is possible through the introduction of print. For studying the history Darnton speaks
of a "communication circuit" in his essay which includes the relationship between all the entities
that help a book come into being, starting from the author to the reader. This present work
Making Of A Magnum Opus: The Creation Story Of Purnachandra Odia Bhasakosha can be said
to be a part of such kind of studies. In this work there wouldbe focus on the making of the
Dictionary, compiled by a renowned Odia writer Gopal Chandra Praharaj, by analysis of some
paratextual materials provided by the author and contributors of this text which includes the title
pages, pictures, prefaces, illustrations etc. This work is divided into seven chapters which try to
show the different factors involved in bringing the seven volumes into the readers' hand.
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CHAPTER- 2 – VOLUME- 1
Praharaj had made it a point to avoid utilising the polished and Sanskritized style in his writing
from the start of his literary cwereer. He had a rule: "Write as you speak." In addition to being
adored and admired by the general public, his straightforward writing style is also well-liked by
school and university administrators in Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Madras. His writings had
been incorporated into the curricula for the Indian Civil Service Departmental Odia examination
as well as for lower primary levels up to the highest standard. When Mr. W. W. Henderson, M.
A., the former principal of Cuttack Training College, requested that Praharaj create an Odia
dictionary, Praharaj began gathering Odia words and idioms from the feudal states of Ganjam,
Sambalpur and Singbhum and from classical and modern writings in 1913–1914.The words
collected between 1917 and 1918 were put in notebooks and memo slips in alphabetical order.
The manuscripts were first assembled and written in 1919. Sm. Pitambari Devi, Praharaj's sister-
in-law, assisted Praharaj by compiling proverbs, catchphrases, songs, female songs, songs sung
by cowherds, fishermen, and ploughmen, as well as folktales. Praharaj is able to expand his
vocabulary by at least a thousand popular and dialectical Odia words because of her collection.

His initial intention is to fill the gap in an Odia-to-Odia lexicon by including Odia terms
borrowed from other languages, along with their origins, roots, original sources, and Odia
meanings; however, over time, the scope had continued to expand by,

(1) Providing each word's definition in English.

(2) Providing Bengali equivalents for the Odia words.

(3) Citing references and authorities to back up the definitions of Odia words.

(4) Including notes on philology, mythology, history, geography, biography, astronomy,

medicine, science, and other topics along the lines of contemporary encyclopaedias.

(5) Whenever possible, replacing the Odia terms with their Hindi equivalents.

(6) Each word is transliterated into English.

In August 1927, the text is completed. He hadbeen busy since then editing the manuscripts. He
discovered that if he had to complete the rewrite on his own, it would had taken another ten
years. He therefore contacted the patrons of scholarship and literature of the era for assistance,
and they responded by assigning him certain helpers to aid in the revision.
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The revision included:

(1) He included a large number of "dialectical and provincial words used in the remote Odia-
speaking regions of the tour provinces, gratefully supplied to him by his personal acquaintances,
residents of these localities.

(2) Copying out hundreds of excerpts from ancient and modern texts that he had already read and
underlined over the previous 15 years, under the appropriate terms.

(3) Adding to, amending, and expanding the scientific and other remarks in light of the most
recent knowledge.

(4) Comparing his English translations to those of Rev. Mr. Howells in a 1500-page manuscript
Odia to English Dictionary that he had written over the course of eight years with the help of
several Odia graduates and Pandits but that is never published. The Cuttack Baptist Mission
officials had graciously donated this extremely priceless text to him at the request of Rev. Mr.
Guest and Rev. Mr. Benjamin Pradhan.

(5) Recasting, comparing, and adding Bengali synonyms with the assistance of his friend Mr. S.
N. Roy, an attorney in Cuttack, and after reading several authoritative Bengali dictionaries (such
as those by Subalchandra, Jnanendranath, Jogeschandra, and the Prakrutibada).

(6) After checking a number of standard Hindustani dictionaries (such as those by Dr. Fallon,
Rev. Mr. Graven, and Ramnarayan Lal of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha of Benweres) and a large
number of standard Hindi texts that he had read and underlined, he added Hindi synonyms.

(7) Listing each word's English transliteration beneath it. He decided to provide English
transliteration under every word after numerous prominent European scholars suggested it after
studying the text, so that a person who is not Odia can determine the meaning of a word he hears
in the street or during conversation: He transliterated the Odia language using the system
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recommended by Mr. John Beams, Sir William Hunter, Sir George Greierson, Rev. Mr. Wilkins,
the Royal Asiatic Society, and the Bihar and Orissa Research Society in order to make it more
accessible to foreigners and philologists.

The manuscripts were occasionally scrutinised and examined by numerous esteemed scholars,
both Indian and European, both official and non-official. Once these processes were complete,
the manuscripts were fairly duplicated and made ready for the press.The manuscripts were
examined by Mahatma Gandhi on his visit to Cuttack in 1927, and he provided some insightful
suggestions that were implemented throughout the revision. One of his many enthusiastic
admirers is Pandit Gopabandhu Das, who followed his work with affection for several years
before finally declaring in his article in 1927 that the draught structure is finished. Almost all of
the editors of the top Odia-language newspapers visited the manuscripts and again praised the
publication's generosity and support for the endeavour.

When he had completed his manuscripts up to the letter "ସ (s)" the governments of Bihar and
Orissa established the Vernacular Development Committee, which is headed by Sir Ali Imam, to
make recommendations for ways to advance the vernacular languages of the region, including
Odia. Many Odia academics from the region, as well as those from Madras and Bengal, were
called to this committee's special meeting in February 1927, where the following resolution is
unanimously approved:

"That a separate Odia lexicon of the Odia language should be compiled, setting forth all words in
use in common parlance in all the Odia speaking tracts." Government Resolution No. 4913 E,
dated October 27, is published along with this resolution. After finishing the draught framework,
he requested financial support from the governments of Bihar and Orissa so that it could be
revised and published. Rev. H. W. Pike, a modern Odia translator of the New Testament,
examined the unrevised manuscripts in August 1928 at the request of the Director of Public
Instruction for Bihar and Orissa. He recommended that the Government provide financial
support to the Undertaking. At the time, it is not planned to incorporate Hindi synonyms or
English transliterations. Rev. Mr. Pike provided the following report:

"It is a monumental work partaking of the nature of an encyclopedia, built on the line of some of
our larger English Dictionaries. It aims at being exhaustive, including words in use in all parts of
Orissa as well as words incorporated in the language from other languages (English included). It
includes proper names and gives brief summaries of the history of the more interesting ones in
 PANDA -6

Indian History. It gives a vast number of references to Odia literature by way of illustrating the
usages (particularly unusual usages) of words, and finally it explains the meanings in three
languages. In my opinion the work would be a great advance on anything now in existence and
would prove of the greatest value to scholars and students and for the comparative study of
Bengali and Odia. There is at present no Odia dictionary which remotely attempts at what this
work does. As a monument of the Odia language and a standard work of reference on that
subject, I believe, the dictionary is well worth printing."

One of India's oldest regional tongues is Odia, yet the outside world is unawwere of how
vocabularily and classically rich it is.

Every true patriot should encourage and support his modest efforts to popularise the Odia
language and gain its respect not only among the sister nations of India but also throughout the
civilised world of letters by connecting it to the English language, India's national tongue, the
Hindi language, and one of Bengali's most developed relatives. This modest endeavour, pursued
over the course of 17 years, hadreceived praise and blessing from prominent scholars, both
Indian and European, funding from the governments of Bihar and Orissa, and is frequently
mentioned in nearly all national newspapers and magazines. The notion that this modest work
would serve as the starting point for many research scholars in grammar, philology, history,
religion, and even astronomy, botany, and medicine hadguided him throughout this lengthy
period of compilation.
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CHAPTER -3 -VOLUME -2
The first volume dealt with 13 vowels; the second volume deals with 5 consonants and the
diphthong 'Ksha'(କ୍ଷ) Still, there remain 28 letters to be faircopied and printed in the succeeding
three volumes. When the first volume is published inSeptember 1931, it is calculated that the
second volume would be out by March 1932; but on account of paucity of financial support from
the generous donors and subscribers, by counting on whose liberality this gigantic
compilationhad been undertaken the printing of the second volume had been unavoidabl delayed
by about 4 months. The financial deadlock, through which the world had been passing, had
affected the government, and the rich people, more than the poor. Naturally the Maharajas, Rajas
and other patrons of literature and learning, the sons of mother Lakshmi (the Goddess of riches ),
were not able to respond as generously as some of them had done before. That flowing spring of
liberalityhaving dried up, it would had been impossible to bring out the second volume even
then, had not somewell disposed creditors readily lent the sum of seven thousand rupees on the
security of Praharaj's residential house, and thus enabled him to push on the revision and printing
of the second volume. Matters had come to such a pass that many of the generous subscribers
who had promised to purchase more than one copy of the work, when published, had been
obliged to curtail their orders and purchase less number ofcopies; and some, even, had not
purchased any copy. The Government of Madras, who had promised topurchase 50 copies, and
the Government of Bengal,who had promised to purchase 10 copies, had, onaccount of the
present financial stringency, rescinded their orders. At this time of financial distress he had
hesitated to approach generous personages, to save them from the mortification of returning him
from their doors empty-handed. It is hoped thatbetter days would soon dawn and the undertaking
would be pushed on with speed and vigour, with generous help received from the patrons of
learning in Odisha and abroad.

It is hoped that the construction and completion of this national monument of Odia languag and
literature, of which the foundation-stone had been laid by the Government of Bihar and Orissa
with two such distinguished and august heads, which had been associated with the hallowed
name of the late Maharaja Purna Chandra, son of the illustrious pole-star of Utkal, viz. Sreeram
Chandra Bhanj Deb, which is guarded and fondly watched by four stalwarts on the 4 quarters of
Orissa, viz.the Maharaja and Ruler of Mayurbhanj on the north, the Maharaja and Ruling Chief
of Kalahandi on the west, the Maharaja of Jeypur on the south and theHon'ble Raja Saheb of
Kanika on the east and which hadsuch a brilliant galaxy of present and prospective supporters, as
above set forth, to light it, would not be left incomplete for want of proper encouragement and
support. The Government of Bihar and Orissa had already purchased, at half price, 125 copies,
which they had supplied to the Colleges, High and Middle Schools of Orissa. The following
subscribers had purchased more than one copy:-
 PANDA -8

Maharaja and Ruling Chief, Kalahandi State}

Orissa, 25.

Raja and Ruling Chief, Keonjhar State, 10.

Raja and Ruling Chief, Baud State, 8.

Maharaja and Ruling Chief, Sonepur State, 6.

Raja Bahadur of Dharakota, Ganjam, 6.

Raja Saheb of Madhupur, Cuttack, 6.

Mahant Maharaj of Radhakanta Math, Puri, 3.

Seven States which were under Government

administration in 1930, under directions of the Political Agent and Commissioner Mr Scott, 14.

Mr, M. S. Das, C. I. E Cuttack, 2.

Raja Saheb of Surangi, Ganjam, 2.

Prof. Dr. Sten Konow, Librarian, Ethnographic

Museum, Oslo, Korway, 2.

 PANDA -9

27 copies had been subscribed for by Europeans, Christian missionaries and subscribers outside
the Oria-speaking tracts, including Bihar, Bengal, Madras, France, Germany and England.30
copies only had been subscribed by persons of the Odia-speaking tracts and the District Board of
Puri and Ganjam. Altogether 266 copies had been sold and 24 copies had been presented to
distinguished patrons, well-wishers and associations.

When the prospectus is issued in 1929 it had been estimated that the whole work, when printed,
would cover 3600 pages, bound in 2 volumes, and would cost Rs 28400/- ( Twenty eight
thousand four hundred ) for printing and binding. So, the pre-publication price had been
announced as Rs 30/- per set of 2 volumes; but when the 1st volume is printed it is found that the
whole work would extend to 6000 pages, bound in 5 volumes, and the cost of publication would
come to Rs 60000/- ("Sixty thousand); so,the price had to be enhanced. 1250 copies were struck
for the 1st edition. The pre-publication price of a set of 5 bound volumes had then is fixed at Rs
50/- and of the unbound volume at Rs. 40/-, payable in advance. For subscribers who prefer to
purchase each volume, as it came out the price had been fixed at Rs, 15/- for each bound volume
and Rs. 13/-for each unbound volume. The subscribers would had to meet the postal, railway or
other transit charges for sending the books to them.
For subscribers who had remitted Rs. 30/- in response to the announcement in the prospectus, the
price had not been increased; and they had been supplied with the 1st volume and would be
supplied with the subsequent volumes without further demand.

The printing and binding charges for the five volumes of the 1st edition would amount to Rs
60000/- as stated above. Out of this amount a sum of Rs 30000/- had been provided for in the
shape of donations and subscriptions already received and promised. So, a further sum of Rs.
30000/- had still to be found out, besides a monthly recurringexpense of Rs. 200/-, being the
allowance of his sixassistants and his bwere sustenance, for 2 years more. The subsequent 3
volumes woule be out at intervalsof about 9 months each. So, the whole work of5 volumes
would take about 2 years more to be completed.

This work of national importance had naturally its claim on the bounty of every enlightened and
well-to-do son of Mother Utkal. As it aims at establishing connection, between the Odia
language {the mother tongue of 10 millions of people ) and the Hindi language ( which is
intended to be thevernacular medium of exchange of thought throughout India ), this undertaking
had it claim on the liberality of Hindi-speaking persons, the Nagari Pracharini Sabha and lovers
of Hindi literature. TheOdia nation had been in intimate contact with the Bengali nation in the
 PANDA -10

fields of religion, literature, social communion, commerce and politics; and there had been
exchange of thought and culture between the two nations for the last 6centuries. Odisha had
given some of its best to Bengal and vice versa. This work is a sustained and systematic
endeavour at linking the Odia language to the Bengali, and as such, it had its claim on the
generosity of every son and patriot Mother of Bengal.
As an humbly return for patronage bestowed on, services and help rendered and encouragement
given to this undertaking in various shapes, Praharaj decided to append the half-tone pictures of
its patrons, supporters, and helpers and acknowledge their services in the introduction.
In the 1st volume were reproduced the photos which were available at the time. In the 2nd
volume the photos of the following supporters had been reproduced.

1. H. E. Sir J. D. Sifton, K.C.S I, K. C. I. E.

2. I. 0. S , G-overner of Bihar and Orissa.

3. J. A. Hubback, Esq. M. A., I. C. S.

Member, Board of Revenue, Bihar and Orissa.

4. K. E. Peck Esq, LC.S , C. BE., Inspector

General of Registration and Commissioner of Excise and Salt, Bihar and Orissa.

5. G. E. Fawcus Esq.M. A.,C. I. E.,I. E. S.

Director of Public Instruction, Bihar and Orissa.

6. Maharaja and Ruling Chief of Kalahandi

State, Orissa.

7. S. L. Marwood Esq I, C. S. late DistrictMagistrate and Collector of Cuttack.

8. Revd. H, W. Pike, B. A., B. D , sometime

Baptist Missionary, Cuttack.

9. Raja Saheb and Ruling Chief of Athmallik

State Orissa.

10. Rai Bahadur Loknath Misra B. L.M. L.C, Advocate, Puri.

 PANDA -11

It is intended that the other photos of its present and prospective patrons and supporters would
when availablle, be appended to subsequent volumes . At that time the compiler's chief aim is to
provide the wherewithal to get the work published by means of donations, grants and
subscriptions received with advance-orders. So, the pre-publication price is fixed to cover the
publication-charges only without bearing any margin. The price of the whole set may be
increased, So as to leave a margin of profit for the compiler and the book-sellers when the
complete work would be published.

Seeing the expansion of the size of the work in comparision with the first estimate, many of his
well-meaning friends had been suggesting to him the desirability of curtailing the number of
words by giving one form only a word which is used in more than one form, and by leaving out
most of the compound words. The utility of a dictionary, as a book of reference, lied in a
stranger or learner readily finding out the meaning of a word which he would come across in a
book or in the mouth of a speaker. By following the advice of his friends, the size, and
necessarily, the cost would be much lightened; but from a philological and practical point of
view, the primary aim and utility of such a compilation would be frustrated. His only reply to
these well-meaning friends had been the same as would be givenby a mother of many children,
whom she feels it very difficult to maintain, when asked to do away with some of them to lighten
her burden, and to retain as many of them as she can maintain without straining her nerves and
resources.

The courts of the Rajas of ancient Orissa were reverberating with music, with art and literature,
and were the asylum of men of letters, research-scholars, philologists and philosphers. Let their
descendants, some of whom were still burning with patriotism and genuine love for the mother-
tongue, take up the subject of word-collection and philological and archaeological research in
right earnest on the lines adopted by the successive rulers of Mayurbhanj State,
includingMaharaja Pratapchandra, and thus save thousands of Odia words from oblivion and
extinction.

Thus and thus only they would contribute to therenaissance of the Odia culture, which had one
day, emerging from Kalinga, carried the message of civilisation, of religion and art and of
universal love to the farthest corners of the eastern hemisphere, to Nepal, to China, to Burma, to
Siam and the islandsof Java, Bali and Ceylon and the East Indies. He prayed for that day to ome,
when the civilised world would realise how rich, phonetic and ancient the, Odia
language is and when the Odia language would be given its legitimate place of honour among
the cultured modern languages.
 PANDA -12

The humble compiler, while drawing this hopeful picture of a glorious future, felt happy at the
thought that though he may not be spwered to see the glorious day, it had fallen to his lot to now
sow the tiny seeds which would one day germinate and spread branches and bear fruits, to the
aggrandisement of the Odia nation. The 'Prachi' Sun is rising in the Orient and he prayed for the
full flood of light to illuminate the ace of the earth.

The modest compiler felt content as he drew this picture of a bright future because, even though
he might not live to see it, it had fallen to his lot to plant the tiny seeds that would one day
sprout, spread branches, and bear fruit for the advancement of the Odia nation. He prayed for the
whole flood of light to illuminate the surface of the world as the Sun rose in the east.
 PANDA -13

CHAPTER -4 -VOLUME -3
It covers 12 consonants, which were represented by the letters ଚ (cha) through ଥ(tha). The Oria
language includes 34 consonants, including the composite letter କ୍ଷ (ksha), and 13 vowels. 13
vowels were covered in the first book, followed by the first five consonants and the compound
letter କ୍ଷ (ksha) in the second, and 12 consonants in the third. As a result, 31 letters would had
been covered up until the third volume's conclusion, leaving 16 letters from ଦ (da) to (ha), which
were expected to take up the next two volumes.

SPACE SAVING DEVICE:

In the third book, the author used certain space-saving techniques. The usage of brackets had
been used to treat two words that were phonetically similar and shwere a large number of letters
while only differing by one or two letters from each other as a single word. For instance, the
terms ଯୋଖାଇ‌‌ବା (Jokhaiba) and ଯୋଖାଇ‌‌ବ (Jokheiba) had been written as one word,
[Jokha(khe)iba], rather than as two independent words. Refer to the first column on page 3040.

NUMBER OF WORDS:
He had the words in the first three volumes treated in order to quench the authors curiosity. It
had been determined that 62 thousand words were included in these volumes. The next volumes
were "anticipated to include a further sixty thousand words, increasing the total number of Oria
words to one hundred and twenty thousand, or at least one hundred thousand. There were 93
thousand words in the Hindi Sabdasagara, according to the Nagari Pracharim Sabha of
Benweres; Babu Jnyanendra Mohan Das' Bengalee lexicon had75 thousand words, while the
1847 version of Webster's English dictionary had80 thousand words.

Co-workers and assiastants contributed to this volume:

1- The Odisha Division Commiassioner, C. L. Philip Esq., M. A., L 0., S, C.:I, E., had gone
very cautiously.through the majority of the proofsheets for both the second and third
volumes' English sections. Coworkers and assistants contributed to this volume.

2- The author hadbeen able to endure the exhaustion and strain of relentless daily labour for
12 to 15 hours thanks to Sreemati Pitambari Devi's constant and vivacious cooperation
and sympathy. She hadassisted him intermittently over the past 15 years with his many
tasks as a lexicographer, revisionist, fair-copyist, proofreader, compiler of quotations and
dialectical words, and searcher in hundreds of reference volumes in English, Hindi,
Bengali, and Oria. She encouraged the author whenever he had lost hope. In other words,
she had been an inspiration during the author's 15-year labour.
 PANDA -14

3- Even though he is too unwell to perform other duties, Srijukta Viswanath Kar, a
preceptor in the field of literature, the editor of the Utkal Sahitya magazine, and the
owner of the press where the work is printed, he personally oversaw the printing and
proofreading of the forms.

4- Pandit Kulamani Das, Head Pandit, Bavenshaw Collegiate School, Cuttack, who had
been kindly given permission by the authorities to work with the author for one hour each
day, had not only critically examined and revised the fair copies, but had also
incorporated many valuable notes and additions in the book's main body after consulting
many reputable works of reference.

5- Babu Krushna Chandra Recently, M. A. B. L of Cattack offered he is assistance to

review the proof-sheets and press-copies to lessen the workload. As the third volume's
printing came to a conclusion, Mr. Philip approached the author with an offer of his daily
assistance for two or three hours, fearing that the author would lose his valued
cooperation.

6- Every time he hadsome downtime from his work-related obligations, Babu Satindra
Narayan Ray Mahasaya, M. A., B. L., Advocate, Cuttack, collects the colloqual Bengalee
equivalents for various Odia words. His entire effort hadbeen a work of passion.

7- Many Oria words' colloquial Hindi equivalents were kindly provided by Pandit
Ramlochan Saran, a publisher and bookseller in Patna and Laheriaserai.

8- Charan Das, an assistant at the Utkal Sahitya Press in Outtack, is exceptionally keen,
which aided in identifying errors in the proof-sheets.During the publication of the three
volumes, he took great pains to cwerefully review the proof-sheets and observe the
printing of the forms with zealous eyes.

9- Pandit Narsing Mahapatra, Assistant teacher, P. M. Academy,Outtack, worked

in the staff,
10- Babu Bhubaneswar Mishsra had been a staff for the last 2 years
 PANDA -15

11- For the past four years, Babu Golak Chandra Pradhan, an Oria classical scholar and
gifted poet, hadworked intermittently in my staff. He haddedicated his time to writing
Oria poems in the manner of our ancient poets but in simpler language.

Fawcus, G. E. Director of Public Instruction for Bihar and Orissa, Esq. M. A., L E, S.,
OJ„E.;V.J, had displayed more than paternal concern. When he initially pledged to buy 114
copies for his Department in 1929, it was like a fantasy that the work would be published. He
suggested to the Patna University Syndicate and Senate the suggestion of a University grant of
Rs. 5000 for the publication; his initiative is responsible for the proposal's swift and unanimous
passage through the Syndicate and Senate. With the help of this donation, he would be able to
begin publishing the fourth volume as soon as the third volume is published. 1250 copies of this
edition were struck off.

Each volume, which had roughly 1200 pages, costs about Rs. 12000 (twelve thousand), without
considering the cost of binding. In addition, a recurrent monthly price of Rs. 200/- is expended
for the assistants who helped get the fair copies ready for the press. A total of Rs. 60,000/- (sixty
thousand) is needed in addition to this monthly fee for five years (which equates to Rs. 12000/-),
in order to publish the entire set of five volumes by the end of 1934. Due to the recent financial
constraints that had afflicted both the Government and individual citizens, donations and
advance subscriptions came in so slowly and dishearteningly that the author had to.

The financial outlook had been so dire that the Government of Bengal, which had agreed to buy
ten copies in 1029, and the Government of Madras, which had promised to buy fifty copies when
it is published, both withdrew their commitments when they learned that the first volume is
ready.

The 8 sets of the work were subscribed for by Raja Saheb of Boudh State in Orissa. He is so
happy with the outcome that he gave a grant of 5,000 rupees for the moment and made a
commitment to think about making more contributions for the release of the third volume. His
donation is promptly received, which accelerated the publication of the third volume. This had
been increased by the Maharaja of Mayurbhanj paying the remaining donation of Rs. 4000/-, the
Raja Saheb of Chikati paying Rs. 200/- towards his promised donation, and new donations of Rs.
300/- from the Raja Saheb of Keonjhar State, Rs. 300/- from the Raja Saheb of Athmalik State,
and an additional donation from the Raja Saheb of Boudh. The Raja Saheb of Khallikota,
Ganjam District, whose name would forever be associated with the Secretary of State's
announcement of the creation of the new Orissa Province, had in the interim promised a donation
of Rs. 1,000 in addition to the sums received from various patrons for the revision and
publication of the work, which were acknowledged in the previous volumes, hadalso promised a
donation of Rs. 1000.

With his kind permission, this volume is dedicated to the Raja Saheb of Boudh State, who also
serves as its sponsor, as a merge thanks to for the significant encouragement he provided.
 PANDA -16

Number of Copies sold and presented to subscribers and patrons in and outside Orissa and in
Europe. 266 copies of the book had been sold by the time the second volume is published in
August 1932. Since then, a total of 50 more copies had been sold, bringing the total to 316.

30 copies had so far been given to notable patrons, well-wishers, assistants, and potential
sponsors. Learned individuals and organisations in Norway, France, England, and Germany were
among the subscribers to this book, and bookshops in London, Germany, Russia, and France had
been receiving orders for it from other countries.

When the first and second volumes were published, the advance-price is increased to Rs. 50/-
when it is discovered that the work would require 5 volumes. The cash price of each volume is
then set at Rs. 15/-. The advance-price is initially advertised in the 1929 prospectus to be Rs. 30/-
per set of 2 volumes.

The advance price for a complete set of five volumes, payable in cash, is now set at Rs. 60/-, and
the cash price for each volume is set at Rs. 16/-, taking into account the increase in size and cost.
As the release of the subsequent volumes approaches, the price could need to be further
increased. However, those who had already paid the full advance fee in accordance with the
prices that were at the time announced would receive the entire set without any further charge.
The unanticipated growth in the publication's size, and subsequently its expense, hadmade the
price hike necessary.

The compiler, on his humble part, aspires to dedicate the final volume of this work to his Most
Gracious Majesty, the King Emperor of India, in remembrance of the establishment of the
separate Orissa Province. This work is the product of a lifetime of work and application, and it
serves as a symbol of the steadfast loyalty of 12 million of His Majesty's Orica subjects, who had
been praying and dreaming of being brought under one administration for the previous fifty
years.
 PANDA -17

CHAPTER -5 -VOLUME -4
Even though it had been planned that the fourth volume would finish the word collection with
the letter ଫ (pha) and be published by March 1934, this volume is only able to get to the letter
ପ (pa), so its release is delayed by about three months. The average number of pages in the
previous volumes is 1200, but the fourth volume's completion of the letter took place over 1600
pages. Therefore, printing the extra pages took longer. The fourth volume covers four
consonants, bringing the word collection to the 35th letter. There were still 12 letters left, which
would probably take up another two volumes.

This volume had hered strictly to the space-saving techniques used in the third volume. In
addition, the book no longer includes the explanatory head-lines that were at the top of every
page in the previous volumes, with the exception of pages where new letters had begun and
every 100 pages apart. A lot of time would be spent on the dictionary issue. It had been
suggested to conserve space by printing the subsequent meanings of words in continuous lines
rather than printing the many meanings of words one underneath the other. Sixty two thousand
words were contained in the first three volumes. There were 34000 words in the fourth book. As
a result, the 4 volumes total 96,000 words up to the letter's end ପ (pa).

Baree Debee, Sreejukta Viswanath Kar, Pandit Kulamani Das Kabyatirtha, and Babu Krushna
Chandra Misra comprise Sreematee Peetam. M. A., B. L., Babu Satindranarayan Ray M. A., B.
L., Babu Golokachandra Pradhan, Babu Padmacharan Das, Pandit Narsing Mahapatra Samant,
Babu Bhubaneswar Misra, and Babu Padmacharan Das all contributed to this volume in their
various roles.

The Fawcus Yaisya Yidyalaya M. E. School, founded by the Marwari brethren in Cuttack, he
received its Hindi synonyms from Babu Rameawar Jha of Darbhanga, Headmaster, and Babu
Truptinarayan Thakur of Mozaffurpur, Head Pandit.

Samrat Sahitya This book is dedicated to Raja Yikram Dev Varma, Raja Saheb Jeypore Estate,
Yizag, whose name had become well-known throughout Utkal and who is widely admired and
revered for his unrivalled liberality, erudition, and creativity.

350 copies of the book had been pre-ordered as of this writing, and 50 copies had been given to
notable patrons, well-wishers, assistants, and potential backers. Each of the six volumes would
cost Rs. 12000/- for printing. 3000/- for fair-copying and revision. The total cost of the sixth
volumes is therefore expected to be Rs. 90000/-.

In addition to the money paid by the government and Patna University, Rs. 41800/- towards the
necessary cost of publication had been secured in cash and promises, and Rs. 7200/- had been
contributed towards the cost of revision. 8000/- rupees had been raised through advance
subscriptions, and 10,000/- rupees had been borrowed. In other words, up to this point, Rs.
 PANDA -18

67000/- worth of provision had been made, and before the final volume is published, Rs. 23000/-
worth of provision still needs to be made.

In consultation with three specialists, it is determined that the entire work would require 3600
pages to be bound into two volumes before the manuscripts were printed. The advance
subscription is set at Rs. 30 each set.

The full text of the work would now take up 8000 pages and be bound in 6 volumes, it had been
discovered as printing of the subsequent volumes had advanced.

The price had therefore steadily increased to account for the growth in the publication fee. The
current fixed pricing for each set of six volumes is Rs. 50, and the cash price for each volume is
set at Rs. 18 for the time being.

When the cost of the six volumes was taken into account, each set costs Rs. 90. After allowing a
tiny profit for the book seller and compiler, the six volumes' advertised cash price would never
be less than Rs. 100. It should be noted that no additional money is charged to advance
subscribers who signed up for the service by paying the advertised advance pricing in full for the
entire job during the time the offer is open for the lower price.

The compiler's heartfelt wish to dedicate this work to His Most August Majesty, the King
Emperor of India, had to be abandoned because some of the distinguished patrons felt that
because the previous volumes' patrons and dedicatees were figures who held lesser positions than
His Majesty, it would not be appropriate to do the same for the final volume
 PANDA -19

CHAPTER -6 -VOLUME -5
While the fourth book is being published in June 1934, this volume is being thought about. The
fifth and sixth books would be released 10 months apart.The fifth book had been delayed by 11
months longer than expected , and only 4 of the 12 remaining letters— ଫ (pha), ବ (ba), ଭ
(bha), and ମ (ma)—could be included in this volume without stretching it to even 1600
pages.The alphabet still had more letters that need to be addressed. It would had been able to
deal with the fifth book had continued on to the letter ଲ (la) the final six letters of the alphabet
in volume six.

However, because the fifth volume could not be expanded past the letter ମ (ma,)the sixth and
seventh volumes would be needed to accommodate the final eight letters .A terrible tragedy
struck us shortly after the 4th volume's release when its publisher, Sree Visvanath Kar, passed
away suddenly in October 1934.His passing caused the press's operation to become chaotic, and
it required some time to restore order before this volume could be printed.

Each book had typically cost Rs. 16000/- (sixteen thousand rupees; for the press, paper, and fair-
copying of the manuscripts) printing, proofreading, half-tone block preparation and printing, and
binding .With the help of a grant of Rs. 10,000 from the volume's sponsor, Sahitya Samrat
Maharaja Vikram Dev Varma, D. Litt, of Jeypore, Vizag, the author is able to start printing this
book. Financial difficulty is brought to the attention of Captain Maharaja Sree Krushna Chandra
Gajapati Narayan Dev of Parlakimedi, through his Dewan Sreejkut L. Patnaik, who paid a visit
to the Bhashakosha office on and made a donation of Rs. 5000/- .

The following gentlemen's donations covered the remaining incidental costs: The Raja Saheb and
ruling chief of Athmallik State gave 500 rupees (in addition to his earlier donation of 1500
rupees).

M. Rahim Khan, a merchant from Cuttack, received Rs. 200; Rai Saheb Nrusinga Charan
Chowdhury from Jajpur, Rs. 100; Raja Saheb of Dharakota, Rs. 100; Lal Sibnarayan Deb of
Kharial, Rs. 100; Raja Saheb and the ruling chief of Khandapara, State, Rs. 40; S. N. Suthoo, an
attorney and proprietor of Darpan Estate.

13 vowels were covered in the first volume. Six consonants were covered in the second volume,
twelve in the third, four in the fourth, and four more in this volume. The word collection now
totals 135,000 in these five volumes thanks to the 39,000 words and phrases in this volume.In
comparison to the number of Hindi words (93,000) collected by the Hindi Sabda Sagars lexicon,
in 8 volumes, published by the Nagari Pracharini Sabha of Benweres and 75,000 words collected
in Jnanendra Mohan's Bengalee dictionary, the remaining 8 letters would bring the total word
collection to 200,000 (two hundred thousands).
 PANDA -20

Books reference -
In addition to the reference books used in earlier volumes, the two works below had also been
used:

1. Bangiya Bijnana's Scientific Terminology or Baijnanik Paribhasha, in Bengali and English

published by Calcutta Engineering and Parishad.

2. the convenient "Chalantika" Bengali dictionary by Sreejkut Rajsekhar Basu.

The two books' titles were included in the volume's prefixed bibliography.

Abadhuta Biswanath Baba contributed the papers in this volume on Mahima Gosain and Mahima
Dharma. For the upcoming volumes, special articles wouldbe contributed by Maharaj Vikram
Dev Varma, D. Litt, Babu Jagabandhu Sinha, Dr. Radha Cham Panda L. M. P., Patayet
Balabhadra Dhir, Babu Manmohan Ghosh, Babu Lakshmi Narayan Sahu M. A, Professor Bepin
Binary Roy, and a few other friends.

The 4th book is dedicated to the patron of this volume, Sahitya Samrat Maharaja Vikram Dev
Varma, D. Litt, of Jeypore, Vizag, who contributed the following contributions: 10,000 rupees in
donations allowed the author to start printing this book.

When the printing was nearly two-thirds complete, it is discovered that this volume needed to be
expanded to 1600 pages to finish the letter (ma).This increase in size required an additional
expense. Financial issues were brought to Captain's attention. The Parlakimedi Maharaja, Sree
Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Dev, through his Dewan Sreejut L. Patnaik, B. L.t, M. B. B.
A Rs. 5000 contribution from the Maharaja Saheb allowed the author to forward the printing.The
Patna High Court's Chief Justice, the Hon. Sir Courtney Terrell, hadbeen fervently following the
development of the project.

His Lordship is happy to pay visits to the Bhashakosha office on 9/13/35 and 17/13/36 as well as
the Utkal Sahitya Press on 17/13/36 to check on the progress of this volume through the press.
By allowing His Lordship's image to be duplicated in this book as a distinguished patron of the
lexicon, His Lordship hadplaced a heavy burden on the author.

Number of copies sold and presented -

Up to this point, 363 sets had been pre-ordered, and 4 sets had been given to customers, well-
wishers, and assistance. Since the release of the fourth volume,16 sets were subscribed for and
14 sets were given in June 1934. Out of the 360 sets that had been sold, approximately 300 sets
had been sold for between Rs. 20 and Rs. 30 per set before publishing.
 PANDA -21

Financial outlook -
Every book is priced at Rs. 16,000.The cost to publish all 7 volumes, which total more than 9000
pages, is currently anticipated to be Rs. 110,000 ($1,110).To meet this need, funds totaling Rs.
24,000 were given by the governments of Bihar, Orissa, and the Patna University, together with
Rs. 39,000 from kind donors, Rs. 10,000 from advance subscribers in and outside of India, and
Rs. 10,000 in the form of a loan secured by my home. Therefore, a provision of Rs. 83,000 had
been made, and an additional amount of Rs. 27,000 would allow the author to publish the final
two volumes, the 6th and the 7th.

Price of the work-

Before printing started, it is estimated that the complete work would take up 2 volumes, each
with 3600 pages, costing Rs. 40,000.The price is subsequently increased to Rs. 40/-, Rs. 50/-, Rs.
60/-, and Rs. 80/- each set as printing progressed and it is discovered that the size and cost of the
job constantly increased.Government of Bihar and Orissa had subscribed in advance for 130
copies, Maharaja Brajamohan Dev ,O. B, E ,Ruler, Kalahandi state, had subscribed for 26 sets,

England and Europe for 20 sets

The Ruler of Keonjhar, for 10 sets

The Ruler of Baudh, for 8 sets

Maharaja of Sonepur. for 6 sets

The Raja Saheb of Dharakote for 6 sets

The Raja Saheb of Madhupur for 6 sets

and The Ruling Chief of Athmallik for 5sets

The 6th and 7th volumes would have released at intervals of 10 months each, unless there were
unavoidable financial or other difficulties, as there were with the publication of this book;
therefore it is intended, all of the works would had been finished by the end of 1937.
 PANDA -22

CHAPTER -7 -VOLUME -6
The word collection had reached the letter ଷ (Sha) with the help of this book. The alphabet's
final two letters (ସ and ହ) were left for the seventh and final volume because the first five
volumes covered forty-six of the alphabet's letters.This volume contains 24 thousand words and
phrases, increasing the total amount of words and phrases in the 6 volumes to 1 lakh and 59,000.
The Odia Lexicon is intended to had dealt with 1 lakh and 84,000 words when it is finished, with
the final volume including approximately 25 thousand words.

The ruler of Patna State in the Eastern States Agency, Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Sing Deo,
graciously agreed to cover the costs of publication of this volume. In support of it, he had
generously donated 10,000 Rupees. The names of the gentlemen who provided special articles to
this volume were included below each contribution in the main body of the works:--

(1) Sahitya Samrat, Maharaja Vikrama Dev Varma, D. Litt, of Jeypore,

(2) Babu Jagabandhu Singh of Puri,

(3) Babu Kedarnath Mahapatra B. A,, D. Bdr of Bhubaneswar,

(4)Pandit Baikoli Jyotisha Bisarada of kote

(5)KhalliBabu Chandra Sekhar Das of Jajpur,

(6)The late Pandit Nilamani Misra of Jajpur,

(7)Dr. Radha Charan Panda L. M. P„

(8)Dr. Kailas Chandra Rao L, M. P.,

(9)Babu Narayan Prasad Sathia, B. A. of Cuttack

(10) Babu Manmohan Ghosh B. I. of Cuttack,

(11) Mahamahopadeshak sundarananda Bidya Binode B. A. of Sachchidananda Math, Cuttack,

(12) Kumar Bidyadhar Singa Deo B. L„ Advocate, Jeypore,

(13) Mr. N. Gantayet B. E. Apprentice Engineer,

(14) Babu Apurba Krushna Sarkar B. A. Cuttack,

(15) Research Pandit Biswnath Rath Kabyatirtha of Puri,

(16) Professor Bipin Behari Ray M. A., Cuttack.

 PANDA -23

Book reference -
Aside from the reference books and authorities already listed in the preceding volumes, excerpts
from the following writers' books and works had also been used:--

The Bengalee Visvakosha ( Encyclopedia ) by Prachyavidyamaharnnaba Rai Saheb N. Vasu—

(1st Edition,)

History of Odisha in Odia by the late Krupasindhu Misra M. A„

Arunodaya Press Odia Almanac, Odia Translation of Sankar Digbijaya by Reverend

Swami Sachchidananda Saraswati of the Sankarananda Math, Puri,

Konark by Sj. Nilakantha Das M. A„

Dharmapada by the late Gopabandhu Das,

The Daily Asha of Berhampur,

The Statesman of Calcutta,

The Nabeen of Berbampur,

Prothero*s students' History of India,

Babu Bhagabat Chandra Das Bidyabausan, B. A. of Midnapore,

The late Pandit Rudranarayan Sarangi of Balasore,

Babu Prankrisbna Das B, L. of Balasore.

Number of pages-
Due to a printing mistake The words numbered 7625 ka(କ), kha(ଖ), ga(ଗ), gha(ଘ), na(ନ),
cha(ଚ), chha,( ଛ) ja(ଜ), jha(ଝ), na(ନ), ta(ତ), tha(ଥ), and dha(ଧ) had to be inserted between
pages 7624 and 7625 of this volume because they were missing from the original copy between
those two pages. It contains 1174 pages in total.
 PANDA -24

Colleagues and assistants helped in this volume--

Co-workers and helpers described in the earlier books, Proofreading and review were done by
Sreemati Pitarabari Debi, Pandit Kujamani Das Kabyatirtha, Babu Krushna Chandra Misra M.
A., B. L., Pandit Narasingha Mahapatra, Babu Bhubaneswar Misra, and Babu Bichhanda Charan.
In addition to the author, Patnaik B. A., Babu Narasingha Samanta Sinhar, Babu Surjyamoni
Kar, Pandit Bhagaban Pati, Babu Krushna Chandra Kar, Babu Satindra Narayan Ray, Vyakaran
Sastri, Kabya Smrutitirtha, and Babu Satindra Narayan Ray contributed to this volume.

Babu Mahananda Kart, publisher and owner of the Utkal Sabitya Press, continued to pay close
attention to how this volume is progressing in the press. The head compositor of the press,
Shaikh Manir Khan, had given unreserved dedication to the task, as evidenced by the persistent
sinking and falling down of letters and niatras from the forms during printing. The last three
volumes, as well as this one, were bound by M. Azam AH Khan of Cuttack.

Supply for dialectical and provisional words--

Babu Durgacharan Rai, Sadar Sub Divisional

Officer of Patna state, and his wife Srimati Stunati

Debi, Babu Ad wait Prasad Das M. A„ Education

Officer, Patna state, Pandit Gobinda Chandra

Patnaik, Teacher, Training School, patna State,

Babu Dibyasingha Naik, Stenographer, Patna State,

Babu Natbar Gartia B, L., Second Officer, Titlagarh,

Patna State, Babu Trilochan Patnayak, News Agent

Patna State, Lai Sahib Sibnarayan Deb of Khariar,

Pandit Binayak Das U. B. P., Personal Clerk to the

Ruling Chief, Bonai State, Babu Achyutananda

Purohit, B. L. GW t. Pleader, Sambalpur, Ashukabi

Bishnu Prasad Das of Atabira, Sambalpur, Babu

Biswaksen Bahidar of Sambalpur, Srimati Aparnna

 PANDA -25

Debi, Poetess of Puri, ~ Swami Sacbchidananda Saraswati, Head of the Sankarananda Math,
Puri, Babu

Bansidhar Mahanti, Office Superintendent, Keonjhar

State, Dr. Kailas Chandra Rao of Cuttack, Raja, Babu Barcdeb Misra B. A. and Durgamadhab
Prasad Sinha Deo of IdadanpurRampur, Kalahandi State, had given the author numerous
hundreds of dialectical and regional phrases specific to their own regions.

Up-to-date Since the release of the fifth volume, 15 sets had been added to the 880 sets that had
been pre-subscribed.Among the most recent subscribers, the Rangoon University Library and the
Royal Asiatic Society should be mentioned.

Bengal University, Benweres Hindu University, Nagpar University, The Ramkrishna Math in
Bhubaneswar, Sreemati PrabhadKumari Debi minor Proprietress of Barapalli Wards Estate in
Sambalpur (for whom the Deputy Commissioner of Sambalpur issued a remittance of Rupees
150, instead of 5ts 115/-), and Patna State, Secretary, George Club Patna State, Professor B. V.
Roy M. A., Superintendent, Mission Press, Cuttack, Babu D. C. Ray, Sadar S. D. 0, and
Education Officer, Patna State; Dewan, Keonjhar State; Headmasters of the Titlagarh and
Patnagarh M. E. Schools, Patna State (in addition to the 10 sets already subscribed for by the
Ruler).

Up-to-date Since the release of the last volume, 6 sets had been handed to patrons, both current
and prospective, notable individuals, and employees.

One volume's production cost, including binding, had typically been around 16,000 Rupees. The
cost to publish the entire work in its seven volumes would therefore be around Rs. 115000 (one
lakh and fifteen thousand rupees).Until then, a lakh rupees had been set aside by advance
subscribers, loans, and gifts from theThe Rajas of Bond, Athmallik, Khallikote, Keonjhar,
Chikati, the Government of Bihar and Orissa, the Patna University, the Maharajas of
Mayurbhanja, Jeypore, Patna, Parlakimedi, and Kalahandi, and the Mahant of Emar math.

Financial outlook --
The advance price for a full set had been adjusted from Rs 30 to Rs 115 after it is discovered that
the whole set had grown from 2 volumes to 7 volumes.The entire set of 7 volumes is sent to
customers who pay the then-fixed advance payment without any additional fees.Whether they
can justly pay more than what they had already paid is up to them, not the compiler.

For the entire set, the pre-fixed price is Rs. 1151. Following the release of the sixth book, the
final price for the entire set of seven volumes is set at Rs 150/- (one hundred fifty rupees),
subject to subscribers submitting their payment information and registering their identities.
Subscribers purchasing any volume separately must pay Rs 25/- per volume. With subscribers of
slender income, for example, monthly instalments may be arranged, as hadalready been done in
 PANDA -26

some cases. They would had to pay Rs 132/- (one hundred and thirty two rupees only) before the
seventh volume is released
 PANDA -27

CHAPTER -8 -VOLUME -7
Language spoken by no less than 15 million people in five Provinces (Orissa, Bihar, Bengal,
Central Provinces, and Madras) and the Eastern States Agency and known for its ancient history,
rich vocabulary, priceless works of classical literature, melodious metres, and correct
pronunciation inspired Praharaj to dream of creating an encyclopaedic dictionary. Which, in his
opinion, did not constitute a small criticism of it by its absence. In 1913, after deciding to satisfy
the need, he started gathering documents from various locations and sources. In 1917, he
arranged them alphabetically, and in 1919, he finished assembling the manuscripts. He had
gained an enthusiastic and committed companion in my sister-in-law Srimati Pitambari Debi,
without whom he could not had been successful in his undertakings. In 1927, with her assistance
he completed the manuscripts.

The seven volumes of the quadrilingual Odia lexicon contain 9,250 (nine thousand two hundred
and fifty) pages of dictionary content in Royal Quarto*, covering 1,85,OOO (one lakh and eighty
five thousand) words and phrases used in the Odia language in the Odia speaking regions of
India. Each word is transliterated into English along with its origin or root, its meaning in both
Odia and English, and its equivalents in Bengali and Hindi.

The Director of Public Instruction and experts looked over the manuscripts at the Government of
Bihar and Orissa's request, and they determined that when printed, they would take up 3600
pages in 2 volumes and cost about Rs 40,000. Bihar's and Orissa's legislative councils both heard
the issue. Dewan Bahadur Srikrushna Mahapatra, then M.LC, his esteemed friend and classmate,
fervently advocated that the effort receive generous financial assistance from the Government in
light of its value.

The author had to raise the other half from other sources after the governments of Bihar and
Orissa gave me a grant for half the money. However, as the printing process went on, it became
appwerent that both the volume and the cost of the publication would increase. Ultimately, the
project took seven volumes, consisted of 9250 pages of dictionary content, 250 pages of other
material, and cost about 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees.

As he approached his seventieth year at the time, this is no minor performance; nonetheless, he
had never felt inadequate for the duty assigned to him, and throughout these lengthy 27 years, he
had never faltered in his commitment to the work. He gave thanks to the Lord for this mental
fortitude.
 PANDA -28

In 1913, the word collecting got underway.

The first volume's printing is started in 1929, and the last word of the final volume's printing is
completed in 1940 (August). Thus, it wouldbecome clear that this is "the result of twenty-seven
years' labour."
He believed that unless he focused all of his concentration and energy on the assignment, he
would not be able to accomplish it justice. And as a result, he decided to quit his tolerably
wealthy law practise and work nonstop. He had colleagues, but the responsibility fell solely on
him. The fact that so much money is needed to produce it embarrassed him the most.
Fortunately, he is able to secure the sympathy and financial support of the government as well as
the princes and noblemen who serve as Orissa's patrons of learning and literature thanks to the
strong recommendation of His Excellency Sir John Austen Hubbaek (who served as the Orissa
Division's Commissioner in 1927–1928 and kindly inspected the manuscripts at the request of
Mr. N. F. Peck, then the Collector of Cuttack). The lack of funds, however, caused him much
grief, and at one point during the project he is forced to sell his home in the town. Now that his
labours had been successfully completed, he felt content knowing that he is giving his
countrymen an heirloom of which they could rightfully be proud and that he had contributed in
some small way to the mother tongue that he held in such high regard.

This most recent volume focused on the two final letters of the alphabet, Sa and Ha. This
volume's 991 pages were all taken up with words that start with the letter (Sa), which hadthe
most words per page. Since the first consonant (Ka) comes after the compound letter 9 (Ksha),
which novices learn at the end of the alphabet, words beginning with that letter had been placed
after words beginning with (Ka) (Page 1843 to page 1880 of volume-II).

The collection of words and phrases reached one lakh and 60,000 in the sixth book. About 25000
words and phrases were contained in the final volume, increasing the total to 1,085,00.It won't be
out of place to remark that he became awwere of roughly 5000 (five thousand)
provincial(dialectical), technical, scientific, and popular words that he had previously been
unable to access as the subsequent volumes were being published. They were arranged
alphabetically by him. He is confident that a thorough search of the Odia-speaking regions,
which were now dispersed across four provinces (Bengal, Bihar, Madras, and the Central
Provinces), as well as the Odia-speaking states, and a revision of the technical, popular, modern,
and scientific words that were created in the sister languages to deal with the advancement of
science and knowledge, would uncover an additional ten thousand new words.The cost of the
entire set of seven volumes, which is bound in calico and leather, is Rs. 150; the cost of the
equivalent set bound in stiff board, however, is Rs. 130; and the cost of each volume, when
bought separately, is Rs. 25.
 PANDA -29

When he visited the Aul Estate's headquarters in Dt. Cuttack last June (1940), Sri Sri
Brajasundar Dev, the estate's multifaceted and accomplished Raja Saheb, gave him a list of fifty
nautical terms that were popular at the time Aul is one of the hubs for the construction of
seagoing vessels, but that were not known to him at the time he put the work together. The Raja
Saheb claimed he could provide hundreds of Odia phrases that were in use when the
aforementioned professions were prosperous in the nation and that were related to shipping,
boats and ships, fishing, nets, and heraldry. Losing value with time and soon disappearing if not
recorded.

Due to factors he had no control over, it had taken more than 3 years to publish this final book.
The patrons' well of generosity running dry, the political and administrative crisis that Orissa
endured during those three years, his illness and that of his dependable colleague Srimati
Pitambari Debi, which required their absence from Cuttack for a considerable amount of time,
the resignation of the Congress Ministry, and finally the war, all played a part in the delay.

In order to pay back the debt he took out to cover the costs of the previous volumes when
donations and subscriptions ran out and the work could not be stopped, he had to sell the Cuttack
home he had acquired on his own. He had not found the endeavour to be a bed of roses from a
worldly perspective. He is comforted, however, by the knowledge that he had left his
countrymen with an heirloom that would one day make them proud and draw attention to the
Odia language among linguists in both the old and new worlds.

He gave up a moderately lucrative bar practise and the government leadership position in Puri,
and is thereafter in a much worse financial situation than before he started the task. He had been
receiving $100 in donations and membership payments each month, but those payments had
since been stopped. He is forced to rely on the work's selling.

However, not everyone hadthe opportunity to see their life's work come to fruition. He is
thankful to the almighty and to his Gurudev, who had been kind to him, for enabling him to
finish a task whose enormity he had not realised when he began it and for sparing him from a
serious illness over the course of these lengthy 27 years, which would had hampered its progress
and completion. He released it into the country's cwere and sang,

"Oh Lord 1

Let all be happy

Let all be healthy

Let all look upon the Noble

Let none be miserable"-Amen !

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Conclusion:

There wouldbe a lot of variations if one studies a normal text (novels, poetry etc.) and a
dictionary which is a repository of knowledge. Taking into consideration a dictionary in Indian
vernacular named Purnachandra Odia Bhasakosha which is considered to be the first complete
dictionary compiled in Odia language, the present work aims to find the enlightenment of Odisha
as an independent province by finding if the author provides any traces of critique of the
Empire. The project also takes into consideration the various processes and factors for
development the state which includes administrative, religious, cultural and development in case
of education. The explanation is done by providing a history of emergence of the Bhasakosha in
the first chapter which explains why the author found a need of a text like this in Odisha. This
goes on with the analysis of the paratextual materials like the pictures, portraits, contents etc
which were equally important as pictures and portraits provide an idea of the time they were
created and the texts they were included. In the third chapter attempts had been done to find if
the author provides any criticism of the British rule as the text is produced during the colonial
rule. Even though there were answers to the research that hadbeen tried to be done there is a
more deep analysis in the fourth chapter in which takes into consideration the development of
Odisha with respect to its
history.

Robert Darnton states in his work The Business of Enlightenment, “A book about a book: the
subject seems arcane and it could contract into the infinitely small, like a mirror reflected in a
mirror.” Darnton tries to trace the publishing history of Diderot‟s Encyclopédie with respect to
the process of enlightenment in France. He takes into consideration all the factors which he calls
the "communication circuit" in order to study the history. This project is not as vast as Darnton‟s
work because in this project only some parts like the paratextual material were taken into
consideration in order to study the history of Purnachandra Odia Bhasakosha.

The 19th and beginning of 20th century is period of chaos and confusion because it is the time
when Odisha came under the influence of colonialism. With this, various changes took place in
the administrative policies, culture and most importantly in the field of education with the
introduction of print culture. Praharaj seems to be ambivalent or it can also be said that he tries to
strike a balance while providing information about the British rule. In some cases he seems to
celebrate the brithish rule which can be seen in many other writers of that time like Gangadhar
Meher hadshown his faith towards British and wished for long life of the Queen in his Victoria
Staba (Prayer for Victoria), Fakirmohan Senapati haddedicated one of his writings named
Ramayana (1880) to John Beams who is the districts collector of Baleshwar and there were many
more. In many cases the author can be seen criticizing the colonial rule by stating their ill-
practices to destroy the economy of India. Besides all these the newly educated people of Odisha
tried to spread consciousness among the people towards the declining identity of Odisha and
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Odia language. Although the intellectuals had faith towards the British because of the help they
provided, they also criticized the people who imitated the so called "civilised" and "modern"
behaviour of the British. These intellectuals started Odia and Odisha movements in order to
counter the declining identity and the linguistic crisis that is created by the non-Odia and non-
British people. There is no information included in the dictionary about the national movements
that took place while producing the text and some of them were the Non-cooperation movement
which is launched in 1920s and the Civil Disobedience movement, launched in the year 1930 by
Mahatma Gandhi. The small movements that took place in Odisha merged with the national
movements which paved the way for Odisha in its struggle towards gaining independent identity
and becoming a separate province in 1936
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Praharaj, Gopalchandra. “Introduction.” Purnachandra Odia Bhasakosha, Vol.1, Utkal

Sahitya Press, 1931

Darnton, Robert. “What Is the History of Books?” 1982.

Darnton, Robert. The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopedia

Mansinha, Mayadhar. HISTORY OF ODIA LITERATURE. Sahitya Akademi, 1962

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