Balasore: During the British Raj, when railway communication was making its humble beginnings across the country, Baikunthanath Dev, the son of a landlord, played a pivotal role in ushering in rail connectivity in the state.
Along with erstwhile Mayurbhanj king Ramchandra Dev, Baikunthanath made serious efforts in this direction.
When the second session of the Indian National Congress was held at Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1887, Biakunthanath was invited as guest to take part in the event.
He appealed to the British government to lay rail network in Orissa. However, due to funds crunch, the Bengal-Nagpur railway authority found it an impossible proposition.
Baikunthanath then put forth a proposal that he would arrange funds for laying of railway line from Kharagpur to Balasore. The Bengal-Nagpur railway authority made it clear that `5 lakh will be required for the project.
Baikunthanath contributed `50,000 and collected `3 lakh from the Mayurbhanj King, `30,000 from a landlord Ganganarayan, `2,500 from Jagmohan Ray and raised the remaining amount from the public.
The railway authorities launched the project after `5 lakh was deposited with them. Baikunthanath’s dream came true February 8, 1892 when a two-engine train ran on the track on a trial basis.
From that humble beginning, the rail network has now expanded across the state. But it’s an irony that neighbouring Mayurbhanj district still lags behind other areas in terms of rail connectivity though King Ramchandra Dev had donated the maximum amount of funds for the first railway project of the state.
Drawing inspiration from the legendary Gourishankar Ray, one of the makers of modern Orissa as well as the savior of Oriya language, Baikunthanath contributed immensely towards the Oriya language movement and creation of separate Orissa province.
By dint of his prudence, intelligence and jovial nature, Baikunthanath emerged as a popular leader in Orissa and the country. The eldest son of landlord Shymananda Dev, Baikunthanath was a friend of legendary poet Radhanath Ray during his school days.
From 1877 to 1891, Maharaja Baikunthanath was the honourary chairperson of the Balasore municipality and a lifetime member of the National Society, an outfit formed with 25 prominent senior citizens during that period. The society had built the Town Hall at Balasore.
Besides, Baikunthanath had worked as the vice-president of the British India Association from 1897 to 1900. With his efforts, several temples, schools, ponds, and hospitals were set up at Balasore, Soro and Remuna. During the visit of Queen Victoria to India, Baikunthanath was honoured with the title of Maharaja.
Moreover, he was the first Oriya to be nominated as a member of the Bengal Legislative Council from 1883 to 1886.
For unification of Oriya-speaking tracts, he along with Bichtrananda Das had submitted a memorandum to then viceroy at Cuttack in 1876.
In 1885, he along with Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das and Palli Kabi Nanda Kishore Bal had put forth a memorandum to Sir Rovers Thompson at Cuttack for this purpose.
Baikunthanath along with Radhanath Ray managed to collect the signatures of over one lakh Oriya people December 15, 1902 and submitted a memorandum to Lord Curzon.
Then, a monthly Oriya magazine named Utkal Darpan was being printed from his
printing press from 1873 to 1874 to promote and propagate Oriya when the language was passing through a critical phase.
Baikunthanath had undertaken a lot of work in the field of land reformation from 1885 to 1900. He passed away in 1923. PNN
