Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odia poet, playwright, art historian, and former IAS officer Jagannath Prasad (JP) Das breathed his last at his residence in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday night. He was 90.
Das left behind a rich and multifaceted cultural legacy that seamlessly bridged the domains of public administration, literature, and art history.
Born on April 26, 1936 in Puri district, he joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1958. During his bureaucratic career, he earned widespread acclaim for his handling of relief operations as Collector of Kalahandi during the severe famine and drought of 1965–66.
At the height of his career in 1984, Das took premature retirement to devote himself fully to his creative pursuits. A towering figure in modern Odia literature since the 1960s, Das authored several acclaimed poetry collections, including Prathama Purusha, Ahnika, and Parikrama, known for their modernist sensibility, philosophical depth, and cultural introspection. He received the prestigious Saraswati Samman in 2006 for his literary excellence.
In a display of his principled stance, he had, however, declined the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990. Beyond poetry, Das made significant contributions to Odia theatre through experimental and absurdist plays such as Suryasta Purbaru and Sundara Das. He also wrote the landmark historical novel Desha Kala Patra. He was a passionate advocate for writers, having founded the Poetry Society (India) and serving as its president for 14 years.
A bilingual writer and translator, Das introduced Odia literature to wider audiences by rendering works into and from Swedish, Urdu, French, and English. His expertise as a painter enriched his scholarly work on Odishan art, with seminal books like Puri Paintings (1982) and Palm-Leaf Miniatures (1991) remaining essential references in the study and preservation of the state’s artistic heritage.
With his passing, Odisha has lost one of its most versatile and respected cultural voices of the post-independence era.