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Dhoopa means an offering of incense, and is a fitting title for this book of sensual romantic poems, written in Odia, the language of Odisha State, on the east coast of India. The poems represent the outpourings of a young man's soul on fire, following an ever so brief crossing of paths, replete with wonder, longing, trysts, intimacy, ecstasy, separation, pain, questions, and finally acceptance, memories. The book of poems was published in 1931, while the author was still a student. The poems ushered in a new era in Odia poetry. Mayadhar Mansinha continued on to be a prolific poet and writer, but he is fondly remembered as a romantic poet, and the poems in Dhoopa are considered his best.
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Mayadhar Mansinha (also spelled Mansingh) (13 November 1905 - 11 October 1973) was a towering literary figure in Odia literature in the mid-twentieth century. The bulk of Mansinha's writings are in Odia, the language of some 40 million people, of Odisha State, India. His first book, Dhoopa (Incense), a bouquet of romantic poems, was published in 1931, while he was still a student. With Dhoopa Mansinha helped usher in the modern era in Odia literature. He continued to write extensively, with outpourings of poetry, drama, essays, and criticisms and became recognized as a romantic poet and a literary genius. The University of Durham awarded him a Ph.D. in English in 1939, based on a dissertation comparing the works of two giants of literature, Kalidasa, and Shakespeare. He authored some 80 books, and edited two newspapers and several literary magazines, among them Sankha and Jhankara. His writings in English include the History of Oriya Literature (1962), Saga of the Land of Jagannath (1971) and Ripples on the Mahanadi (1971) and numerous English articles in newspapers and journals. His contributions to literature were recognized with the award of Padmashri in 1967 by the Government of India.
