The Conquest of Kanchi: A Play

Ramshankar Ray was a landmark in Oriya theatre. His first play Kanchi-Kaveri was staged in 1881. He chose as hero Gajapati Purushottam Dev, illustrious king of the Suryadynasty of Orissa, through whose historic war with the king of Kanchi, Saluva Narasimha Dev, Ray depicted Oriya patriotism. The play won the hearts of audiences instantly by its popular nationalistic theme and attractive presentation.Ramshankar Ray never looked back and by 1917 had written as many as fourteen historical, mythological, and social works, including traditional Yatra, Lila, and downright farce. He was the first author to present Shakespeare in Oriya. He adapted The Tempest as Batiabala in 1882 and tried his best to adopt a Shakespearean style. However, keeping in view the taste of spectators, he had to follow Indian classical and folk traditions too.Towards the end of the nineteenth century, under the influence of Western education, socially conscious Indian writers started dreaming of reform. Ray was no exception. In his social drama, he took on the role of a reformist. Kalikal in 1883 dealt with the harmful effects of alcoholism. Budhabara or “Old Groom” in 1892 dealt with problems created by older men marrying young girls. “Bisha modak” or ‘Poisonous Tablet’ in 1900 dealt with intoxication and loans while Yuga-dharma i.e. “Dharma of the Age” in 1902 dealt with the rigidity of Hinduism. Elsewhere, he wrote about women’s education, development through industrialization, eradication of unemployment, and evils of the dowry system. He presented these issues in simple and lucid language, aided by ample but effective music. Even in his mythological plays, like Rama banabas or “Rama’s Exile” in 1891, Kamsabaddha or “Kamsa’s Killing” in 1896, Chaitanya Ma i.e. “Chaitanya’s Lila” in 1906, and Ramabhishek i.e. “Rama’s Coronation” in 1917 his scientific outlook aimed to change the philosophy of Oriyas. Ramshankar Ray died in 1931.

Debi Prasad Padhi has been selected to work as a Lecturer in English at Emarti Devi Women’s College, Cuttack on recommendations of Odisha State Selection Board. He did his M.A. and M.Phil. from Ravenshaw University. His research interests include Indian Writing in English and Translation Studies.

Gurudev Meher has been teaching English as an Associate Professor at the PG Department of English, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha for the last 10 years. His specializations include postcolonial criticism, diaspora studies and translation. He pursued his study and research from Utkal University and Ravenshaw University, Odisha, and has more than twelve years of teaching experience in various colleges of Odisha. His current research project is on diasporic writing and translation of Odia novels and short stories into English. His books titled The Changeover, an English translation of Surendra Mohanty’s novel, Kalantara and The Bread and the Moon and Other Stories, an English translation of Surendra Mohanty’s Ruti o Chandra o Anyanya Galpa were published in 2019 and 2020 respectively, by Bloomsbury Publishing, India. He is an accomplished translator.