Jayanta Mahapatra is a famous Indian poet who writes in English. Though from Orissa, he has a background in physics. He began writing poetry later in life, in his 40s. Mahapatra is known for his unique style that incorporates imagery and symbols from Hindu culture and the Orissan landscape. Some of the recurring symbols in his poetry include temple bells, funeral pyres, and lepers. His work depicts the culture and hardships of life in Orissa through these symbols and images. Mahapatra's poetry focuses on themes of poverty, hunger, human relationships, and the suffering of women.

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International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832, (Print), E-ISSN- 2320-5474, July, 2013 VOL-V * ISSUE -54
Research Paper -English
July, 2013
Jayanta Mahapatra is a famous poet from Orissa, who
writesinEnglishthoughheisbasicallyamanofPhysics.
He has authored 27 books of poems, of which 7 are in
odiya and rest in English. He began writing poetry
when he was in his 40's. It was quite late by normal
standard. He made his deput as an Indian poet writing
in English with the publication of his first anthology
Close the sky, Ten by Ten and second Svamwara and
other poems, both published in 1971. It was followed
byhisthird anthologyRainofRites,publishedin1976.
Relationship is his long poem for which he received
SahityaAcademyAward in1981.Besidesbeing oneof
the most popular Indian poets of his generation, he
was also thepart of trio poets , who laid the foundation
of Indian English Poetry.
Mahapatra's Obsessive writing style is an
importantcharacteristicofmodernism.Hehasused his
own style in writing poetry and the words used by him
hasbecomeconceptandsymbols.IndianCulture,land-
scape and environment are the source of his imagina-
tion. His poetic creations depict the culture of Orissa
and are intensified with the complexities of day to day
life especially of Orissa. The poet belongs to a Chris-
tian family. But he has been surrounded by the land-
scape of Hindu rituals and myths. Therefore, he has
made Hindu culture, rituals and myths. Therefore he
has made Hindu culture, rituals and society the source
ofhisimaginationforwritingpoetryfromwhichhehas
been alienated by his grandfather's conversion to
Christianity.
In his poetry we find the sounds of temple
bells, the prayers of priests, the funeral pyres and the
uncomplaining acceptance of past to which he did not
belong. In his poem " Dawn at Puri" He makes it clear:
"The endless crow noises
A skull in the holy sands
Tilts it empty country towards hunger
White lad widowed women
past the centres of their lives
are waiting to enter the Great Temple" 1
Mahapatrashasanamazingcontroloverhispoetry.He
hasspenthispoeticenergyinrecognizingHinduworld.
Modernism in his poetry is like a rainbow of different
colours having a number of strips- personal, socio
Imageryand symbolismin thepoetryof
JayantaMahapatra
cultural, archetypal and so on. He has made a mark in
Indian poetry for various attributes of his poems, sym-
bolismbeingoneofthem.Hehaschosenmetaphysical
tone to express his sentiments. The extensive usage of
the local landscape symbolizes his ideas or emotions.
He uses a number of images and symbols to depict the
temple of the town of Puri:
"At Puri, the crows
The one wide street
Lolls out like a giant tongue.
Five faceless lepers move aside
As a priest passes by "2
Puri is a living character in his poems. The temple, the
priest, the beggar, the crow, the crowd, all these rises
before us in their objective realityand then transforms
intoimagesand symbols.TheVariousimagesand sym-
bolsofhispoetryaretheproductofatrained mind.His
consciousness about the sufferings of the Indian
masses and about the women as victims of male lust,
imparts a tragic pessimistic tone to his poetry. He por-
trays woman as a victimof poetry and physical exploi-
tation.In"Thewhorehouseincalenfta street"heevokes
the society by the blending of romantic imagination
withironicsymbolism:
"Dream children, dark, super flows;
You miss them in the house dark
Spaces, how can't you?
Even the woman don't wear them
Like jewels or precious stones at the throat
The faint feeling deep at a woman's ceratre
That brings back discarded things" 3
Here'dreamchildren" symbolisesthe destroyingemo-
tions of human kindness. The main focus is on the
hungerandmiseryofthecommonpeople.Theportrait
of the woman indicating her helplessness and poor
condition. She is merely a mechanical tool of the man
whom she requests:
"Hurry will you? Let me go" 4
Mahapatra's personal world is filled with pain, guilt,
remorse, hunger and desire. His poems are an attempt
to bridge the gap between his past and his desire to
know and to be the part of the world by which he has
been alienated. Like poverty, hunger and starvation,
human relationship is one of the major theme of his
* Dr. Manisha Rani
*Ahir College , Rewari

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International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832, (Print), E-ISSN- 2320-5474, July, 2013 VOL-V * ISSUE -54
poetry. The poem "Lost" takes up the case of "a lonely
man who welcomes his room in half lights". The room
becomes his "meditation chamber for "experiencing
pain and pleasure". He uses symbolic language to
present the human condition ofthe whole world. In his
poetrythisrelationship centresround sexuallove.The
encounter between man and woman is grippingly pre-
sented.In Indian Summer he presents the gloomystate
of a a woman. The wife thinks that her husband will
fulfill all her emotional and physical desires but she is
left alone in her room. She thinks the
"funeral pyres" will accomplish her wishes:
"The good wife
lies in my bed
through the long afternoon : dreaming still,
unexhausted
by the deep roar of funeral pyres".5
Jayanta Mahapatra is a skilled craftsman who churns
out his images and symbols thoughtfully. "The whore
house in Calcutta Street" deals with the pains and
agonies that the prostitutes suffer in their everyday
life. The images and symbols used by him not only
represent Orissa but India as a whole. Some of the
1. Mahapatra Jayanta, Selected poems, oxford University Press, (1980), pg 14
2. Ibid , Pg 21
3. PGDTE Course material (Hyderabad, CIEFL, 2005) 61
4. Ibid
5. Mahapatra Jayanta , selected poems, Oxford University Press (1980), Pg. 8
6. Ibid , Pg. 31
images transforms into symbols . The poem "Moun-
tain" symbolizes eternity facing the process of growth
and decay . He writes :
"In the darknesss of evening
silence and pressure only,
Multiplying, adding, subtracting
in the abyssal hear" 6
The image of "darkness" symbolizes the corruption in
modernhumanlife.Especiallyasfoundinmetropolitan
cities. The tone of Mahapatra's poetry is metaphysical
and he uses image in the manner of T.S. Eliot, taking
from the world ofscience.We have "morning like pale
yellowhospital linen" in the faith which symbolies the
ill health. In "ARain ofrites", "crows' symbolizes evil
and guilt, ' water' is the symbol of clarity and rain is a
symbol of purification.
Conclusively it can be said that Jayanta
Mahapatra has provided a new dimension to Indian
EnglishPoetrywith his imageryand symbolism. He is
one of the great Indian Poets in English, Who has
acquired a significant place in to international stan-
dards and comments.
R E F E R E N C E