Re-creating Homeland in The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra

Abstract

One of the most widely known and celebrated poets of India is Jayanta Mahapatra. He has been an influence on a number of contemporary Indian English poets and brought recognition to this new genre by being the first ever recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for poetry in 1981 for his book of verse, Relationship. Relationship is set in Odisha where Mahapatra has glorified the rich landscape and culture of the eastern coast. The sun and the soil of Odisha, his homeland, shine in the poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra. Puri, Konark, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar form a quadrangle in Mahapatra's poetry. Legends, myths and history associated with these places form the core of his poetry. Poems such as “Indian Summer Poem”, “Evening in an Orissa Village”, “The Orissa Poems”, “The Indian Poems” and “The Indian Way” reveal his Indian sensibility. The themes of his poetry are varied – love, sex, death, tradition, rituals and contemporary reality. My paper makes a humble attempt to explore the concept of 'Homeland' explored in the poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra