Upendra Bhanja

Kabi Samrāṭa Upendra Bhanja Bīrabara
Native name	ଉପେନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭଞ୍ଜ
Born	Kulagarh (present-day Kulada, Ganjam, Odisha, India)
Died	1740 (Not Confirmed)
Occupation	King & Poet
Language	Odia
Period	Riti juga or Bhanja juga
Genre	Odissi music
Notable works	Baidehisha Bilasa

Kabi Samrata Upendra Bhanja (Odia: ଉପେନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭଞ୍ଜ, romanized: Upendra Bhañja, Odia: [upend̪ɾɔ bʰɔɲd͡ʒɔ] ^ⓘ) was a 17th-century Odia poet-composer of classical Odissi music.^[1] He is most known for his Odissi songs and kabyas written in the Odia language, primarily Baidehisa Bilasa, Labanyabati & Koti Brahmanda Sundari.

He was born during 1670 (opinions differ between 1670 and 1688) in Kulagarh, Ghumusar Zamindari, present day Kulada near Bhanjanagar, 80 kms from the Silk City Brahmapur, Odisha and died during 1740 (again opinions vary).

His first wife was the sister of the king of Nayagarh and the daughter of the king of Banapur was his second wife, who was an erudite princess and gave Upendra Bhanja poetical inspiration in an abundant measure. His grandfather King Dhananjaya Bhanja was a great poet and wrote Raghunatha Bilasa (The Ramayana), Ratna Manjari (a poetical romance) etc., which provided models to the prince for writing. But unlike his grandfather, he preferred his entire life to poetry rather than to ruling over a kingdom. He had a thorough training in Sanskrit classical literature and mastered Sanskrit dictionaries such as Amara Kosha, Trikanda Kosha and Medini Kosha. He even wrote a dictionary Geetabhidhana in Odia for helping poets. The town of Bhanjanagar is named after him. The music of Upendra Bhanja is central to Odissi music, the traditional classical music of the state of Odisha and Bhanja is widely respected as one of the greatest Odissi composers of all time.