376 M. M. Chakravarti — Language and literature of Orissa. [No. 4, 
Rasabati and Sulaksana, the initial letters of each line of the latter 
being 5 a ; while Premacintamani is said to be religions. 
The last and the best of Ids poems is Bidagdliacintamani, based 
on the Sanskrit Bidagdhamadhava of Rupa Gosvami the well-known 
disciple of Caitanya. It deals with the life and love of Radba 
and Krsna ; while the last four Ohandas poetise the Caitanyite doctrines 
of Prema and Bhafcti (love and devotion). The poem is a store-house 
of rhetorical excellences, almost each Chanda exemplifying a different 
kind of verbal formations. It thus resembles Kotibrahmandasundari 
of Upendra Bhanja; but it is simpler, less loaded with Sanskrit learn¬ 
ing and imageries, and therefore more effective. The author’s religious 
feelings have made the poem less obscene and have induced him to put 
in graceful verses the rather abstruse doctrines of Prema and Bhakti —a 
field which Upendra Bhanja did not try. In learning and comprehen¬ 
siveness he is undoubtedly, inferior to Upendra ; but it may be said for 
Bidagdliacintamani that no single Oriya poem contains so many 
examples of rhetorical skill or abstract poetry as this work does. 
Madala Panji. 
Having finished the pre-British period of Oriya poetry, a few 
words may be added in the conclusion about Oriya prose. Literary 
compositions in Oriya prose are unknown. The Madala Panji and a 
few Bamsabalis are the only specimens of prose. These have no literary 
merits. 1 The Madala Panji is a sort of chronicle of the Jagannatha 
temple. Its contents are roughly divisible into three kinds : 
(1) A short history of the kings of Orissa (Rajamanagkara 
Rajyablioga). 
(2) A history of the erection of Jagannatha’s temple, its modes 
of worship, and the duties of its sebakas. 
(3) An account of extraordinary events happening in the temple 
•with the details of their costs, if any. 
The historical value of Madala Panji has been very much overrated. 
The original informations were often not correctly entered. Then 
again the chronicle being on palm-leaves, it had to be recopied three or 
four times in a century, and in re-copying many mistakes crept in, 
particularly in figures. Lastly the Seba (worship) was closed several 
times on account of the Mahomedan raids, and many volumes must 
have been lost at the time. Hence the text is found full of mistakes 
and cannot be relied upon, unless corroborated by other evidence. The 
later writers have also fallen into mistakes by following exclusively only 
1 The remarks by Mr. Beames on the literary value of the Madala Panji (Vol. 
II, p. 348) were passed admittedly without any knowledge of their contents. 
