Bhawanipatna: Shiva Purana, a mythological text, originally translated to Odia and meticulously inscribed on palm leaf by Maharani Bishwas Kumari Devi of the former princely state of Kalahandi has been published as a book. This endeavour has garnered significant attention due to its cultural and scholarly relevance. The ‘Uttarakhand’ of Shiva Purana consists of 45 chapters. Maharani Bishwas Kumari, the queen of former Kalahandi royal Maharaja Udit Pratap Deo (1853-1881), completed the transcription of the text in 1883. Maharaja Udit Pratap Deo was a poet and Sanskrit scholar who is credited with composing Devi Bhagavata.
The Shiva Purana manuscript, originally written in Sanskrit, was translated into Odia and preserved on 186 palm leaf pages, each containing approximately five lines of text. With a total of 7,302 lines spanning 45 chapters, this monumental work reflects the literary and cultural heritage of the region. The palm leaf manuscript was handed over to scholar Dasarathi Acharya by Sudhansu Sekhar Mohapatra from Bhawanipatna’s Mandar Bagichapada. Mohapatra entrusted it to Acharya, who edited and published the text as ‘Shiva Purana Uttarakhand’. This historic publication remains a testament to the literary contributions of Maharani Bishwas Kumari Devi and the cultural richness of the Kalahandi region.
