ValarieNarvaez8 at 07:40, 18 January 2026

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{{Short description|Odia poet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix = ''Kabisurjya''
| name = Baladeba Ratha
| image = File:Odissi music composer Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha depicted in talapatra (palm leaf manuscript).jpg
| imagesize = 250
| alt =
| caption = Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha depicted in a palm leaf manuscript by 19th-century chitrakāra master Raghunath Prusti
| birth_place = Athagadapatana,
Kabisuryanagar [[Ganjam]], [[Odisha]], India
| death_date =
| death_place = Athagada Patana Ganjam, [[Odisha]], India
| resting_place =
| occupation =
| language = [[Odia language|Odia]]
| period =
| genre = [[Odissi music]]
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = Kishorachandrananda Champu, Ratnakara Champu, Chandrakala, Sarpa Janana
}}
''Kabisurjya'' '''Baladeba Ratha''' (alternatively spelled ''Kabisurya, Kavisurya Baladev Rath,'' Kabisūrjya Baḷadeba Ratha, {{IPA|or|kɔbisurd͡ʒjɔ bɔl̪ɔd̪ebɔ ɾɔt̪ʰɔ|lang|LL-Q33810 (ori)-Prateek Pattanaik-କବିସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟ ବଳଦେବ ରଥ.wav}}; c. 1789 – 1845) was an Indian poet who wrote in the [[Odia language]], and a composer and musician of [[Odissi music]], most known as poet-composer of the ''Champu''. Kabisurjya has composed hundreds of songs in the tradition of [[Odissi music]], employing unique traditional ragas & talas. His magnum opus ''Kisorachandrananda Champu'' is a cornerstone of the Odissi music repertoire & Kabisurjya is widely renowned for his masterful compositions. He wrote in both [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] and [[Odia language|Odia]]. His works are known for their devotional quotient and he is the credited founder of the [[dhumpa sangita|Dhumpa Sangita]] tradition.<ref>{{cite book|last=Garg|first=Ganga Ram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&q=kavi+surya+baladev+rath&pg=PA78|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World: A-Aj, Volume 1|publisher=Concept Publishers|year=1992|isbn=9788170223740|location=New Delhi|page=78}}</ref>

== Early life ==
He was born at Athagadapatana, Kabisuryanagar, [[Ganjam district|Ganjam]], Odisha. Baladeva Ratha's mother died when he was ten years old. He was brought up by his maternal grand father, Tripurari Hota in Athagada (who also taught him Sanskrit and Odia literature). He married at the age of 15. After his father's death, he moved to the nearby Jalantara state. The prince of Jalantara, Rama Chandra Chhotaraya encouraged his literary creations and gave him the title '''Kabisurjya''<nowiki/>', meaning 'The Sun among Poets.'

== Literary works ==
[[File:Janana Baladeba Ratha (Odia).ogg|thumb|A person singing the "kehi sariki, prabhu pane nilādrī keśarīki" poem of Baladeba Ratha]]Ratha was an [[Odissi music]]ian and scholar. He composed poems as a [[Vaishnava]], in devotion to Lord Vishnu. He was associated with a group of poets, which included Dinakrushna Dasa and Abhimanyu Samantasinghara.<ref name="books.google">{{cite book|last=Nagendra|title=Indian Literature|year=1988|publisher=Prabhat Prabhashan|location=Delhi|page=454|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqGojPpe8DIC&q=kavi+surya+baladev+rath&pg=PA454}}</ref> His best-known works include ''Kabisurjya Granthavali'', ''Kabisurjya Geetabali'' and ''Kisora Chandrananda Chaupadi-Chautisa'', which combines the two literary forms of ''chaupadi'' (a poem having four stanzas (though the term came to refer to any short song in latter times), and ''chautisa'' (a 34-stanza poem where every stanza begins with a new letter of the [[Oriya alphabet|Odia alphabet]]). ''Kisora Chandrananda Champu'' is noted for its emotional quotient and the role it played in enforcing the ''riti'' school of Sanskrit literature. He was also the author of several [[champu]]s including ''Ratnakara Champu'', ''Premodaya Champu'' and ''Kisora Chandrananda Champu''.<ref name="orissa">{{cite journal|year=2004 |title=EMINENT LITERARY LUMINARIES OF ORISSA |url=http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/orissaannualreference/ORA-2004/pdf/eminent_literacy_luminaries_of_orissa.pdf |journal=Orissa Reference Annual |page=292 |access-date=27 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019045142/http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/orissaannualreference/ORA-2004/pdf/eminent_literacy_luminaries_of_orissa.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Das|first=Sisir Kumar|title=A History of Indian Literature: 1800–1910 : Western Impact, Indian Response|year=1991|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|pages=55, 374|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C&q=kavisurya&pg=PA374|isbn=9788172010065}}</ref> ''Kisora Chandrananda Champu'' has both Odia and Sanskrit compositions and it was the Odia part of the work that has been credited with cementing his literary reputation in the language.<ref name="books.google" />

== Dhumpa sangita ==
{{Odissi Classical Music sidebar}}
Ratha is thought to have invented the ''[[Dhumpa sangita|dhumpa]]'', a [[bamboo]] [[percussion instrument]], that accompanies the [[Culture of Odisha|Odia folk art]] form of dhumpa sangita. The dhumpa accompanies recitations of his songs called ''dhumpa sangeeta''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Call to revive folk musical instrument 'Dhumpa'|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/17/stories/2007121756630300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219203133/http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/17/stories/2007121756630300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2007|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=17 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Gopalpur beach fest gets under way|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/article980863.ece|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=26 December 2010}}</ref> Many of his poetic pieces, especially the ''champu'' are set to dance in [[Odissi]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Camping with concepts|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/camping-with-concepts/article3502633.ece|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=8 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Their spot in the sun|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/dance/their-spot-in-the-sun/article4196012.ece|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=13 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Odissi takes centrestage|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/08/18/stories/2006081801310200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928043427/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/08/18/stories/2006081801310200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2013|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=18 August 2006}}</ref>

== Death and Commemoration ==
Ratha died in Brahmapur (Berhampur, [[Odisha]]) in the year 1845.<ref name="orissa" /> Dasarathi Das' ''Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha'' is a biography that examines his life and contributions to [[Indian literature]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Dasarathi Das|title=Kavisurya Baladeva Rath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFEuAAAAMAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi}}</ref> [[Kavisuryanagar|Kabisuryanagar]], formerly Boirani, a town in the Ganjam district of [[Odisha]] has been named in his honour.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kabisuryanagar|url=http://www.indiamapped.com/orissa/ganjam/kabisuryanagar/|access-date=27 March 2013}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Wikisourcelang|or|କିଶୋରଚନ୍ଦ୍ରାନନ୍ଦ ଚମ୍ପୂ|Kisorachandrananda Champu}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Odissi music}}
{{Odia literature}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rath, Baladev}}
[[Category:Poets from Odisha]]
[[Category:People from Ganjam district]]
[[Category:1845 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Odia-language poets]]
[[Category:Writers from Odisha]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Indian Sanskrit scholars]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Odissi music composers]]

Baladeba Ratha - Revision history

ValarieNarvaez8 at 07:40, 18 January 2026