BHUBANESWAR: Eminent academician and scholar Prof Gouri Kumar Brahma passed away here on Thursday morning. He was 91. An authority on Orissan culture and Jagannath tradition and a powerful orator, Brahma was admitted to a private hospital following illness. The end came in the morning. Born in Ganjam’s Prataplaxmanpur village under Bhanjanagar sub-division, Brahma had to his credit about scores of books in several languages, over 10,000 speeches in Oriya, Sanskrit and English and numerous articles. Brahma who started off as a lecturer in Oriya retired from Ravenshaw College in late 1970s. While teaching remained the core competence, he went on to master several languages. His knowledge of Sanskrit led him to pen several books. He was also a translator extraordinaire who translated many works from Hindi, Bengali and English to Oriya. Known to be a teacher with little or no parallel, Brahma would teach in Oriya and Sanskrit without even referring to books. His oratorial skills were such that he left his audience spellbound across the country and outside too. His tremendous command over Jagannath culture made him a reference point for scholars and researchers. Brahma served as Secretary of Orissa Sahitya Akademi, Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi and Orissa Lalitkala Akademi. His death was mourned by who’s who of the State. Governor M C Bhandare described him as an incomparable orator whose command over Oriya literature and language, especially Kavi Samrat Upendra Bhanja’s works, was unparalled. With Brahma’s death, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, a literary era has come to an end. Culture Minister Prafulla Samal mourned his death.
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