Prayer in the Poetry of Rabindranath Tagore and Sitakant Mahapatra

A prolific genius and world citizen like Rabindranath Tagore needs no introduction.As a recipient of Nobel Prize for Gitanjali, his contribution to literature is recognized by the scholars and the general readers alike.Besides literature, Tagore’s contribution to music, painting, education and philosophy is equally rich.Similarly Dr Sitakant Mahapatra, a recipient of Jnanpith award and Padma Vibhushan, isa versatile genius with his field of work and interest ranging from Indian Administrative Service and social anthropologyto the field of mural paintings, translationof the poetry of tribes, besides composingnumerous poems in his native language Oriyaas well as in English. A poet of immense depth, Mahapatra’s poems have been translated into different languages of the world. The poetry of these two poet philosophers is characterized by a common strain, i.e., prayer, though their rendering of the devotional element is different. The present book aims to analyse the various dimensions of prayer in their poetry.It is hoped that this book wouldfind a warm welcome in the hands of lovers of the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore and Sitakant Mahapatra and provide food for thought to research scholars totake up further research on these two eminent poets.