KORAPUT: Mahakabi Kalidas might have had intimate relationship with the Koraput region, said Prafulla Mishra, a professor from Utkal University. Speaking to newsmen here on Saturday, after completing their four-day-visit in the region, Prof. Mishra, who is also chairman of the Mahakabi Kalidas Research Committee, said there were many evidences to support the claim.

Vital links

In his immortal works like `Raghuvansh' and `Meghdoot', Kalidas referred to places like Dandakaranya, which were similar to the names of places of the region ranging from Mahendragiri in Gajapati district to Malyabantagiri in Malkangiri.

"The committee is examining the validity of these places for establishing the valuable link," Prof. Mishra said. In `Raghuvansh', Kalidas described the heroic war between king Raghu, the forefathers of Lord Rama, with the king of Kalinga Hemagad in Mahendragiri. The warriors of Kalinga fought the battle with huge boulders, which can be seen even today, he said.

In `Meghdoot', Kalidas had written how a Yakhya sent a message to his beloved one through clouds. These clouds and the situation in which he had sent the message resemble that of Ramgiri in Koraput district. The existence of Sitakund, where, according to legend, goddess Sita had a bath, the mountains, the Sabari in the nearby Gupteswar, the footprints of Lord Rama in Mudulipada added strength to the claim that Kalidas was associated with these places, he said.

Footprints of Lord Rama in Mudulipada, towns with the names of places described in Ramayana like Maithili (now Mathilli), Chitrakonda, Amrakut (now Umarkote) adds more credence to the claim that Kalidas was in greater contact with these places or even was born in the region, he said. Moreover referring to the team's recent visit to some Saura villages near Mahendragiri in Gajapati district he said that people were offering prayers to Yakshya, which again confirms the relation of Yakshya with the region

Scholars undertook many studies earlier but this was the first time a systematic study was carried out by a research team on behalf of the Jagannath University of Puri, he said. Professors Braja Kishore Nayak and Biswanath Swain and journalist Laxmi Narayan Patnaik also accompanied him.

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