Radical Religious Poetry in Colonial Orissa

BhƯma Bhoi, Orissa’s 19th century saint poet of Mahima Dharma, in articulating a rationality of radical social equality and a theory of secular rationalism in colonial India, lays the foundations for an indigenous comparative modernity. The ingenious ways in which he does this through the aesthetic form of his poetry enables us to decolonise indigenous thinkers, and give them back their ability to articulate their own identities. The material they provide helps us change the terms of the conversation about modernity. It allows us to see a vast array of local narratives from all corners of the world conflicting, intersecting or adding to one another, all contributing to the modernity we live in today.