UTKALAMANI PUNDIT GOPABANDHU DAS

.Pundit Gopabandhu Das took birth in a noble Brahmin family in a village called Suando situated on the banks of river Bhargabhi in the district of Puri. After completing his education from the village school he passed his "Entrance" from the District School of Puri" in the year 1899. He passed his B.A from Revenshaw College in 1904 and later passed B.L. from Calcutta University in 1906.

........................He first worked as a teacher for sometime in Nilagiri and later practiced law as a lawyer in Puri and Cuttack. He worked as government lawyer for some time in Mayurbhanj court. Law profession did not interest him much, so he gave up his practice and worked for the welfare of the people. His strong belief was that education was the only that could improve and develop the society. So he established a school in 12 August 1909 beginning with only 19 students in a place called Satyabadi. This industry of Gopabandhu Das brought development to the education and society of Orissa. This school turned to be a high school in 1910. In 1914 this school was affiliated with Calcutta University and for the first time in the same year appearing for the matriculation exam was allowed. This school got affiliation from Patna University in the year 1917. In 1921 this school was changed to National School. Many eminent educators were appreciating this school. This school was broken in year 1927. After few years it was again started and is still continues to be neglected. This school was being compared to that with Ujjain and Nalanda. In 1977 on the occasion of Gopabandhus birth centenary a college was established here. But there have been no signs of development of this college since then. In 1902 Gopabandhu, Harihar, Nilakantha and Ananta Mishra pledged to sacrifice their life for the country at the banks of river Bhargabi. They were supported and joined by Godabarish Mishra, Krupasindhu and others. They were involved in making of human beings. They had promised that after completing their education they would not go for any kind of job rather they would sacrifice their life contributing for the development and welfare of the society and country. They were all involved in teaching at the Satyabadi School. Gopabandhu was member of Vidhan Sabha (state assembly) of Bihar and Orissa from 1917 to 1921. As an administrator he took demanded for initiative steps to be taken for eradication of poverty from Orissa, providing relief to the flood hit areas, spreading of education and uniting the Oriyas residing at various places. ........................He was inspired by the struggle for independence started by Mahatma Gandhi. Gopabandhu was already implementing all the steps that were given by Gandhi. Gandhi appreciated this. He took part in the congress meeting held at Lucknow in 1916 and at Calcutta in 1920. He also formed Oriya Labour organisation at Calcutta. He was the President of Orissa congress committee in 1920. He took lead in 1920 in the “Asahajog Andolan”. Gopabandhu was the President of Orissa congress till 1928. His major pledge was to serve for the country during the natural calamities. On 4th October 1919 on the auspicious day of "Vijayadsahami" he first started the weekly newspaper “Samaj”. Till his death he used to write the editorial of “Samaj” without any break. Before “Samaj” took birth he had also published another monthly magazine named “Satyabadi” in the year 1914. He took part in the “Bharatiya Loksevak Mandal” in the year 1927 and at the time of his death he was the vice-president of “Bharatiya Loksevak Mandal”. Just before his deathbed he donated “Bharatiya Loksevak Mandal” to the institution “Samaj, Satyabadi press”. Samaj was first published from Sakhigopal. It was then published in1824 from Puri and in1927 from Cuttack. He was associated with the works of Utkal Samilani from 1903 to 1921. He was the President of Utkal Samilani in 1919 but after taking part in the struggle for independence, most of his time was spent in the works of National Congress. He was an eminent philosopher. He had proved that "pen is mightier than the sword". He was also a poet and writer. His poems "Ma Ra Kabita ", "Dharmapada", "Bandi Ra Atma Katha" reveal well the characteristic of a classic poet. His poems had the message of spirituality, patriotism, truth and non-violence. His editorials in Samaj, Satyabadi and Ganakabi had a well-defined solution to the problems related to socialism, culture and politics. Death of his father at his childhood, that of mother during his studentship, that of wife, son and brother during his youth had taken him far away from the family and he was a member of the global family. He had sacrificed his life for the betterment of the human being and to eradicate the problems from the life of the humans. He was gem of the crown of the Oriya community. More Info:: Click me