Delhi, 16 March (H.S.): Sahitya Akademi mourns the passing away of Sri Ramakanta Rath, distinguished Odia poet, Fellow of Sahitya Akademi, eminent scholar and writer, former President of Sahitya Akademi and a retired civil servant. He passed away in Bhubaneswar on 16 March 2025. His poetry helped countless individuals to deeply introspect, make inquiries to the meaning of life, death and existence beyond the material world and empowered thousands to retrace and rediscover their cultural roots.

Ramakanta Rath was the author of number of poetry collections and long poems including the much celebrated “Sri Radha” and “Saptama Ritu.” His works guided millions in their journey of self-discovery and his poems covered a wide range of subjects, from the everyday battles of life to death to loneliness to interpretation of ancient literary classics to intellectual pursuit to natural phenomena etc.

Though he wrote predominantly in Odia, his contributions have enriched Indian Literature and as such his passing away is irreparable. Many of his poems have been translated into English and a number of Indian languages. He was the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, Padma Bhushan, Sahitya Akademi Award, Saraswati Samman and Bishuva Samman, among others. Sahitya Akademi joins the literary fraternity of India in paying homage to this doyen of modern Indian literature.

Sahitya Akademi will convene a brief meeting of its staff on Monday, 17 March 2025 in Delhi to condole the death Sri Ramakanta Rath and as a mark of respect to the departed writer, all offices of Sahitya Akademi will remain closed in the afternoon of 17 March 2025.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar