Jayadeva birth controversy

The birthplace of the twelfth-century Sanskrit poet Jayadeva, author of the Gitagovinda, has been disputed, with the neighboring states of Odisha, West Bengal in eastern India and the region of Mithila staking a claim. This had led to a bitter feud between people on both sides that lasted for over a century. The issue is still debated by scholars.

Odia view

Ancient stone idol of Jayadeba at Akhandaleswara Temple, Prataparudrapura, Odisha

Proponents of the Odia view cite evidence from archaeological, epigraphical, literary and musicological sources, among others. Archaeological discoveries establish Jayadeva's extended presence in Odisha. There also exists a village called Kenduli Sasana in Odisha where the Hindu deity Krishna, who was also the main theme in Jayadeva's works, has traditionally been worshipped as the main god. Coincidentally, the inhabitants of that village also worship Jayadeva. A Sasana is a name for villages that traditionally were centers of Brahmin scholarly activity in Odisha, and Jayadeva himself was a Brahmin. The Gitagovinda is said to have been composed in the Dasavatara Matha on Badadanda, Puri.

Furthermore, researchers opine that Jayadeva is among the central-most figures in Odia culture. Jayadeva's works, they observe, have spread to southern India, but are rare in neighboring Bengal. It has been pointed out that the Gita Govinda's influence outside Odisha is most felt in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where verses of the poet's work have been incorporated into the Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Bharatanatyam classical dance forms respectively. It is Jayadeva's ashtapadis that are sung in dance performances of Odissi, the classical dance of Odisha. Traditional Odissi Music is based on ragas and talas specified by Jayadeva's hymns. Jayadeva was a devotee of Krishna, and Krishna in the form of Jagannath is the central deity of Odisha, whereas the female deity Durga is prominent in Bengal. The Gita Govinda composed by Jayadeva is one of the popular themes in the traditional pattachitra paintings of Odisha. Additionally, a highly Sanskritized and sophisticated classical culture had been firmly entrenched in Odisha during that period, while neighboring Bengal only had a folk based culture until recent times.

Archaeological evidence

Supporters of Odisha as his birthplace, including the Odisha state government, argue that the archaeological records, including temple inscriptions, palm leaf manuscripts and lithographs of that era have revealed the poet's Odia origin. The worship of the Hindu deity, Krishna, in the form of Jagannath was widespread in Odisha during Jayadeva's birth. On the other hand, they argue that there is no archaeological evidence of such worship in Bengal until the arrival of Chaitanya, which was over three centuries after the era of Jayadeva. Inscription at the Lingaraja temple in Bhubaneswar tells us that Jayadeva had been a member of the teaching faculty of the school at Srikurmapataka. The inscriptions, that refer to "Sadhu Pradhana Jayadeva" were carved by the Odisha monarch of that period. Later discoveries of inscriptions at the Madhukeswara and Simhachala temples, temples erected by Odia monarchs, are believed to establish the linkage between Jayadeva and the dancing families of Kurmapataka, who held sway during the reign of Chodaganga Deva.

Thomas Donaldson, a scholar of architecture and sculpture of Odisha, remarks on the controversy:

"Many scholars identify this Kenduvilva with a site of the Ajaya river in the Birbhum district of Bengal. More convincing, however are arguments of Orissan scholars such as K. Mahapatra and B. Rath, who identify it with the village of Kenduli in the Puri district of Orissa, between the Prachi and Kusabhadra rivers."

Evidence based on medieval manuscripts

Historian Kedarnath Mahapatra refers to the evidence in manuscripts to observe historical opinions on the controversy, "There is little evidence, literary or archaeological, that the Gitagovinda was popular in Bengal prior to the advent of Chaitanya. In fact, Chaitanya first discovered the jewel of Gitagovinda when he visited Puri in AD 1590, and came to realize the religious significance of the work from Raya Ramananda on the banks of the Godavari when he went on pilgrimage to the south." Donaldson adds that "In Orissa, on the other hand, the popularity of the Gitagovinda was almost immediate and the two earliest commentaries on the poem were produced there, the Bhavavibhavini by Udayana Acharya (AD 1190) and the Sarvangasundari by Kaviraja Narayana Dasa."

Handwritten palm leaf manuscript of Jayadeva's Gitagovinda by the medieval Odissi musician-poet Gopalakrusna Pattanayaka of Paralakhemundi

Furthermore, scholars maintain that accounts by numerous medieval authors, such as Chandra Dutta of Mithila and Navaji of Gwalior support Odisha as the poet's birthplace. The poet Mahipati of Maharashtra writes in his book Bhakti Vijaya, that Jayadeva's native village was very close to Puri. The Assamese text, Sampradaya Kula Dipak as well as the Telugu text, Sanskrita Kavi Jivani, contain elaborate descriptions of the poet's birth taking place near the Jagannath Dham in Utkala. Another book, Vaishnava Lilamruta by Madhaba Patnaik, who lived in the sixteenth century and was contemporaneous to Chaitanya, clearly mentions that the poet was born near Puri.

Some further details about Jayadeva have been garnered from Madhaba Patnaik's book. It gives a clear account of Chaitanya's visit to Puri and mentions that Chaitanya paid a visit to Kenduli Sasan near Puri to pay homage to Jayadeva and to sing passages from the Gita Govinda. The book mentions that Kenduli Sasan was in fact the birthplace of the illustrious poet. It also gives an account of Jayadeva's early life based on the legends around Puri.

Evidence from Jayadeva's own writings

Some historians now suggest that some of the poet's own compositions in Odia unequivocally support the idea that Jayadeva belonged to Puri, Odisha. For example Jayadeva mentions his birthplace as "Kendubilva by the sea" ("Kendubilva Samudra Sambhava") in his 7th Ashtapadi, and Birbhum, unlike Puri, does not abut on the sea. Jayadeva used to bathe each morning in the banks of a river, mentions the book Bhaktamala. A. K. Tripathy, an eminent scholar on Jayadeva, and P. C. Tripathy point out that the poet could never have walked daily to the river Ajeya which is 36 miles away from the Bengali village, unlike the Prachi river upon whose banks is situated the Kenduli village near Puri. Jayadeva's hymns refer to the ocean using the Sanskrit word "Mahodadhi", which is a typical name given to the sea in Puri. It's also argued that one of Jayadeva's compositions remotely suggest that he ever served in the court of any monarch. Besides, Lakshmana Sena ruled Birbhum between 1179 AD and 1185 AD, that was just about a few years after birth of the poet. Bengali scholars, Dr. Satyakam Sengupta and Dr. Ashis Chakravarti have confirmed Jayadeva's birth in Kendubilva of Prachi valley of Orissa, based on their research findings.

Musicological evidence

Various scholars have analysed the ragas and talas employed by Jayadeva, considered to be the first lyric in Sanskrit where the parameters of classical music have been delineated by the author. The ragas and talas employed by Jayadeva are peculiar to the tradition of Odissi music and this has been independently observed by several scholars as an indication of the poet's Odia origin. Pt. Gopal Chandra Panda, who has done extensive research on traditional Odissi music renditions of the Gitagovinda, writes :

Jayadeva's Gitagovinda forms an inextricable part of Odissi classical music. The ragas used by Jayadeva such as Mangala Gujjari, Baradi, Desa Baradi are found only in Orissan kabyas, kabita, chhanda and chaupadi ; these ragas are not found to be in usage outside Odisha. Why only ragas, according to many early commentators the talas used by Jayadeva such as 'Astatali' are only found in Odisha, and are not found to be in use anywhere else. From these musicological points it is very clear that Jayadeva is Odia.

In contrast, according to Thomas Donaldson, "Jayadeva's ragas do not match the lyrical patterns of Bengal, which unlike Odisha, does not even possess a classical vocal tradition" "It is also noteworthy that all the musical notes (ragas) used in the Gitagovinda are fully utilized with greater dimensions by the old Oriya writers whereas these ragas are rarely met with in old Bengali literature". The lack of correlation between Bengali traditional music and the compositions of Jayadeva were independently observed in Barbara Stoler Miller's book, Love Song of the Dark Lord. Musicologist Kirtan Narayan Parhi affirms this, with special reference to the talas referred to by Jayadeva :

Jayadeva has composed this illustrious Gitagovinda as per the specifications of the Udramagadhi Pravrtti, Ardhamagadhi padasrita Giti, Bhinna Svarasrita Giti and Nava Talasrita Giti. The songs of the Gitagovinda are set to talas such as Rupaka, Nihsara, Jati, Astatala and Ekatali which are included in navatalas, commonly used in Odishi (music) till to-day. One has to acknowledge that the Gitagovinda was written in order to be sung before Lord Jagannatha and since then (12th century) the recital has been continued as a daily ritual in Srimandira to entertain the Lord.

The Bengali view

A few earlier accounts by Bengali writers had linked Jayadeva to the famous king of Bengal Lakshmana Sena, the fourth ruler of the Sena dynasty and the last Hindu ruler of unified Bengal. These views originated from a single Bengali book, Jayadeva Charita authored by Banamali Das, then subsequently disseminated by Bengali historians. The book was written in 1803 when little was known about the poet's life. Since this was the only published source of information then, it eventually came to be accepted that Jayadeva may have been born in Bengal. This idea was further propagated in 1906 through an article by a certain M. M. Chakraborty where he mentioned that the great poet belonged to Bengal in the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Since Jayadeva mentions the village of Kindubilva as his birthplace, a location in Birbhum, where a traditional Baul festival is held each year, was identified to have been the original Kenduli village of Jayadeva. Under the assumption that the illustrious poet was born there, that festival too became associated with Jayadeva. A nearby village acquired the sobriquet of "Jayadeva Kenduli" and became a tourist attraction, and the Baul festival was renamed as "Jayadeva Mela". Jayadeva lived for a long time in Navadwip during the reign of the king of Bengal, Lakshman Sen, making his home not far from the king's palace. At that time, the king's chief scholar was Govardhan Acharya. According to Ashutosh Deb's Bengali dictionary, Jayadeva was Lakshman Sen's court poet.

Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes in his Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya that Lakshman Sen was delighted when he heard Jayadeva's hymn to the ten incarnations, the Dasavatara-stotra. When Govardhan Acharya notified the king that it was Jayadeva who had composed the hymn, he became desirous to meet the poet. He went incognito to Jayadeva's house and when he saw him, he noticed that Jayadeva possessed all the characteristics of a great and powerful spiritual personality. In spite of having originated centuries later during the time of Chaitanya. Also The Krishna worshipping was prevailing in Bengal from long time before Sri Chaitanya. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhana, it is stated that Jayadeva found his Radha Madhava Deities in this river's waters. It is also stated there that he used to rest and worship at the Temple of Shiva known as Kusheshwar, which is also on the banks of the Ajaya River.

Since Jayadeva's composition, including the Gita Govinda clearly were composed in Puri in Odisha, Bengali historians who supported the idea that Jayadeva must have been from that state, went on to explain that the poet eventually settled in Puri in that state where he began composing poetry.

Sikh encyclopedist Kahn Singh Nabha writes in his Encyclopedia Mahan Kosh (1926) that Jayadev was born in Kendooli, Birbhum district, Bengal.

Sahitya Akademi's The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature describes Jayadeva as a "Brahman [sic] of Bengal", who lived between 1201–1245.

The Kaun Banega Crorepati faux pas

The April 16, 2007 episode of the popular Indian TV game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC III) mentioned Jayadeva as the court poet of king Lakshmanasena of Bengal. This triggered an immediate volley of protests by the culture-aware people of Odisha. Shah Rukh Khan, the game show's host was denounced for spreading false information. The government of Odisha has also demanded an apology from Kaun Banega Crorepati as it claims that the game show "mutilated historical facts" and "hurt the feelings of the people of Odisha". The Jayadeva Foundation Trust launched a protest against the TV show. Some scholars have expressed concern over the false depiction of Jayadeva's origin by Kaun Banega Crorepati, which they call a "historical humbug".

Postage stamps commemorating Jayadeva's birth in Odisha

In July 2009, the government of India's Department of Posts has decided to release 11 stamps in Bhubaneswar to commemorate the birth of Jayadeva. One stamp depicts the poet himself, while the other ten show the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, or Dasavatara, that the poet popularized in his epic poem, the Gita Govinda. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the stamps at a special function in Jayadev Bhawan. The stamps are in the denomination of Rs 5. A total of 800,000 stamps were released for sale in Odisha.

See also

• Kenduli Sasan
• Jaydev Kenduli