Satyanarayana Rajguru

padmasri Satyanarayana Rajguru (1903-1997) was an Indian litterateur, epigraphist and historian.^[1][2] He was a curator and epigraphist at the Odisha State Museum and was a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award,^[2] Bharati Bhushan award, Ganjam Sahitya Sammilani award, Odisha Sahitya Academy Award and Sarala Sanman.^[1] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1974.^[3]

Padmasri Dr. Satyanarayana Rajguru
Born	(1903-08-19)19 August 1903 British India
Died	11 June 1997(1997-06-11) (aged 93)
Occupation(s)	Epigraphist, writer, historian
Known for	Studies in Odisha history
Spouse	Taramani Devi
Children	4 son and 1 daughter
Parent(s)	Harikrushna Rajguru Sunamani Devi
Awards	Padma Shri Sahitya Akademi Award Odisha Sahitya Academy Award

Biography

Born on 19 August 1903 to Harikrushna Rajguru and Sunamani Devi^[2] in the Indian state of Odisha, Rajguru passed the Oriya and Sanskrit title examination from Andhra University and started his career in 1929 as the manager of Parala Padmanabha Rangalaya,^[1] the first theatre in Odisha, founded by Padmanabha Narayan Deb, erstwhile Raja of the state of Parala.^[4] During his tenure there, he was associated with the activities of Utkal Sammilani and assisted Krushna Chandra Gajapati in the formation of Odisha state in 1937; he is known to have submitted a thesis on the state reorganization.^[1]

Rajguru, after his tenure as the president of the Ganjam District Education Council (1942–45), worked as an assistant at the Kalinga Historical Research Society at Bhawanipatna from 1947 and later, joined Odisha State Museum to work as a curator (1950–61) and later as an epigraphist (1963–70).^[1] He was a member of the working committee of Odisha Sahitya Academy and the chairman of Paralakhemundi Municipality.^[1] He was a life member of Berhampur University and was awarded DLitt by the university.^[1]

Rajguru is known to have done notable research on the history of Odisha^[5] and is credited with findings on the early of life of Jayadeva, the thirteenth century Sanskrit poet and the author of Gita Govinda.^[6] He translated The Palanquin Bearers, a poem by Sarojini Naidu into Odia language under the name, Palinki Bahaka^[1] and has published several other works, some of which are prescribed text for university studies.^[7]

• Mo Jeevana Sangrama (autobiography)^[8]
• Swapane Chumban
• Janani Utkal
• Radhavisek
• Odia Lipira Krama Bikash^[9]
• History of Gangas^[10]
• The Korasanda Copper Plate Grant of Visakhavarmma
• History of Eastern Gangas of Kalinga^[11]
• Heirographic Letters of Naraj
• The Odras and their Predominency
• The Historical Research in Orissa
• The Konduli Copper Plate Grant of Narasimha Deva of Saka 1305
• Sumandal Plates of Dharmaraj
• Ranpur plates of Dharmaraja^[12]
• Historical Background of Gopinath & Radha Krishna
• Oriya Inscription on a Stone Image^[13]
• South Indian Inscriptions^[14]

Satyanarayana Rajguru died on 11 June 1997 at the age of 93, his wife Taramani Devi preceding him in death by one year.^[2] He is survived by his sons Gopeshwar rajguru, Radha Raman rajguru and sitakant rajguru.

Honours, awards and recognition

Rajguru was awarded the civilian honour Padma Shri in 1974 by the Government of India.^[3] He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his autobiography, Mo Jeevana Sangrama in 1996.^[15] He was also a recipient of Bharati Bhushan award from Andhra Mahasabha, Ganjam Sahitya Sammilani award (1968) and Odisha Sahitya Academy award (1968).^[1] A recipient of Sarala Sanman (1989) from Sarala Sansad,^[16]

References

1. "Padmashree Satyanarayana Rajguru". Gajapati. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
2. "Memories of My Father" (PDF). Government of Odisha. 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
3. "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
4. Sisir Kumar Das (2000). History of Indian Literature, Volume 1. Sahitya Akademi. p. 815. ISBN 9788172010065.
5. "Inscriptions of Orissa". Cornell University Library. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
6. "Jayadeva (1200 AD)" (PDF). Poem Hunter. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
7. "Historical Background of Gopinath & Radha Krishna" (PDF). Utkal University. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
8. Satyanarayana Rajguru (1994). Mo Jibana Sangram. Sri Balabhadra Rath. ASIN B0018Y3VN0.
9. . DAV College. 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
10. "History of theGangas" (PDF). Government of Odisha. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
11. Prabhat Mukherjee (1981). The History of Medieval Vaishnavism in Orissa. Asian Educational Services. p. 200. ISBN 9788120602298. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
12. "Ranpur plates of Dharmaraja" (PDF). Shodhganga. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
13. "Oriya Inscription on a Stone Image". South Asia Archive. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
14. Nihar Ranjan Patnaik (2015). Economic History of Orissa. Indus Publishing. ISBN 9788173870750. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
15. "Akademi Awards (1955-2014)". Sahitya Akademi. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
16. "Sarala Samman 2011 to Ramakant Rath". Incredible Orissa. 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.

Further reading

• Satyanarayana Rajguru (1994). Mo Jibana Sangram. Sri Balabhadra Rath. ASIN B0018Y3VN0.
• Satyanarayana Rajguru (29 August 2013). "Padmashree Satyanarayan Rajguru". Blog. Google Blogger. Retrieved 13 June 2015.