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Ravenshaw is the oldest institution of higher education in the state of Odisha and one of the oldest institutions of higher education in India. It was founded in 1868 with intermediate level (F. A.) classes at the Cuttack Zilla (district) School (now Ravenshaw Collegiate School). The high school, which was also known as the Cuttack High School, was elevated to a first grade college in 1876. It became widely known as Cuttack College until it was rechristened Ravenshaw College as a tribute to T. E. Ravenshaw, who was the Commissioner of Cuttack Division and had played a key role in its creation. The office of Ravenshaw College and Ravenshaw Collegiate School was separated in 1904.
The site in which Ravenshaw is presently located was selected as a site for the College by the Nathan Committe in 1913. Ravenshaw College Map first draft reproduced from Nivedita M.’s Ravenshaw College: Orissa’s Temple of Learning, 1868-2006; Building plan Back then, the site was populary called Chakra Padia which was a race course at the time. According to popular lore, it was a lonely and unsafe place. However, newspaper reports of the time provide accounts of how Chakra Padia was the preferred site of the English officers in Cuttack for festivities and sports. Besides horse racing and cricket matches which were the usual sporting events, it was the women’s cycle race which drew great attention.
If a strategic shift in favour of the spread of ‘modern’ education and ‘development’ by building an institution of higher education like Ravenshaw in the wake of a catastrophic famine of 1866 characterized the focus of colonial policy interventionism in nineteenth century Odisha, the ‘expressivist’ signs of the institution were marked by a subversive spirit of anti-colonialism suffused with a radical libertarian ideological position in the first half of the twentieth century Student volunteers for Utkal Union Conference. Stretching beyond its institutional logic and framework of knowledge production, Ravenshaw remained a distinct critical site of negotiating modernity from multiple perspectives by an emerging yet assertive intelligentsia in the early decades of the twentieth century Orissa Education Fund; Oriya People’s Association; Sonepur State Peace Medals Fund; Domicile Orissa; Medallions Great War Commemoration; Second War loan; Song of British Victory. The class passionately engaged with larger and diverse issues of region, language, identity and community, nation, and the emerging global order.
Amid its intimate engagements and negotiations with the colonial order University Company; Provincial Publicity Department, Ravenshaw College underwent several phases of expansion and transformation with regard to infrastructure and facilities and teaching and research Ravenshaw in 1917; Board of Studies-1919; Syndicate; Governing body.
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Institutional Identity
“Temple of Learning”
“…The teaching you have imparted, The spiritual path you have lighted, May become forever my life’s guiding spirit. This is the humble wish I express at your sacred feet…” (Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das on Ravenshaw)
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Sundial : Standing the test of time
Ravenshaw’s aspiration to rise as “the University of Orissa” received its public expression for the first time in a report presented by H. Lambert Esqre, who was the Principal of Ravenshaw College, on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the Ravenshaw College on 5 April 1922. “With the occupation of the these magnificient buildings, with the higher teaching we now give and with the still higher education we hope to give in the near future, we are approaching appreciably nearer to one of our aims, viz. the establishment of the University of Orissa. Before we can hope to this dignity, however, we must have the highest teaching possible in more subjects than the one we contemplate at present, and I commend as a most worthy object for private generosity the endowment of chairs for M.A. teaching.” Opening ceremony of the Ravenshaw College. Lambert was, however, reiterating the words of Sir Edward Gait, Lt. Governor of Bihar-Orissa Province, who, while laying the foundation stone of Ravenshaw College on 11 November 1919, had wished for a “separate University with its own character”.
Ravenshaw College was affiliated to Calcutta University in 1876. But the affiliation was restricted for a limited number of courses such as English, Vernacular Composition, Sanskrit, Persian, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Chemistry and Botany. The affiliation of the College was transferred to Patna University on 1 October 1917. For the first time officers of Indian Educational Service (IES) grade were assigned to Ravenshaw College. New faculty arrived and teaching and research activities gained momentum. Amid the outbreak of World War I and later the Non-cooperation movement, the College continued to provide a stimulating environment for the young students. The faculty and students were immersed in the activities of the college as well as social causes. A number of magazines came to be published, the most popular of which was The Ravenshavian.
In the midst of it all, the architect A. M. Millwood started work on the design for Ravenshaw College. The early buildings which came up as a result were the college main block (the Arts block), the physical laboratory, the chemistry laboratory, two hostels, and a few residential quarters for the Principal and the Professors Building plan.
Soon, Ravenshaw College, because of the activities of its faculty and students, became a driving force in the civic and political life of the state of Orissa. The famous literary movement called Sabuja juga was born through the writings of young students (of the College) such as Annadashankar Roy, Kalindicharan panigrahi, Baikunthanath Patnaik, Saratchandra Mukherjee and Harihar Mahapatra; the Utkal Sahitya Samaj often had faculty members of Ravenshaw College as speakers; the great Professor Jogesh Chandra Ray, who introduced Samanta Chandra Sekhar’s great work, the astronomical treatise Siddhanta Darpana to the world, was honoured by the oldest learned society of Odisha, the Puri Mukti Mandap which conferred on him the title ‘Vidyanidhi’.
When Ravenshaw College celebrated its golden jubilee in 1926, it already had a band of loyal Ravenshavians who, in adoration of their experiences of their alma mater, got together to form an Old Boys’ Association. Hostel life, which began with the establishment of the East, West and Muhammadan hostels, added glamour to the life of the students who were infused with the spirit of camaraderie. The students of Ravenshaw College were looked upon as a class of first citizens of sorts who could play an important role in building up a strong Orissa province, and so they did. The students reached out to the society in various ways: through the activities of the Social Service Guild, they volunteered to teach at the Adult (Evening) School, coordinated and conducted relief work during the floods in Orissa, formed a Cremation Association to take charge of the cremation of dead bodies.
Ravenshaw College celebrated its Diamond Jubilee on 18 January 1936. On 1 April 1936, the new province of Orissa came into being. It was in the Ravenshaw College Hall (now called Heritage Hall) that Sir John Austin Hubback was administered the oath of office of the Governor of Orissa. In the euphoria that followed, new practices of community and social life were introduced which gave a distinct character to Ravenshaw College. The first Provincial Durbar was held in the College Hall on 9 January 1937. Soon after, the first Legislative Assembly of Orissa started operating from the College Hall from 28 July 1937. Ravenshaw College had become the symbol of a young vibrant State and for the whole year of 1937, the College played host to several high-profile gatherings, festivities and celebrations. When the Assembly was in session, the legislative members shared rooms with the students in the hostels. Understandably, the young students were inspired and soon founded a ‘mock assembly’ and conducted regular sessions.
With the formation of the new Orissa province in 1936, Shyamchandra Tripathi was appointed the first Oriya Principal of Ravenshaw College, where he had studied I.Sc. before going on to study Physics under Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose at Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1915, Tripathi left for Cambridge where, after passing the Tripos exams in maths and physics, he joined the research team led by Sir Edward Appleton in the Cavendish Laboratory. He returned to India after the War in 1919. Under Tripathi’s stewardship, community and extra-curricular life in Ravenshaw College attained new heights. Among the early Odia professors whose erudition, charisma and nationalistic ideals set the gold standard for academic and political life for the students of Ravenshaw College were Professor Kasinath Das (Professor of Sanskrit), Prof. Artaballabh Mohanty (Professor of Sanskrit and Oriya), Professor Mohini Mohan Senapati (Professor of Philosophy and son of the legendary modern Odia novelist Fakir Mohan Senapati), Professor Bipin Vihari Ray (Professor of Philosophy), and Professor Kruttibas Samantaray (Professor of English).
With the arrival of Professor Prana Krushna Parija as Professor of Botany in 1921, Ravenshaw College acquired a distinct recognition. The brilliant record of Professor Parija as a scholar in Cambridge and his contributions in botanical science helped Ravenshaw College gain its fame as a veritable centre for teaching and especially research. Professor Parija succeeded Prof. Tripathi as the Principal in 1938. Both Prof. Tripathi who went on to become the Director of Public Administration (D.P.I.) and Prof. Parija worked together to help Ravenshaw College grow in stature. Prof. Parija
Amid the tumultuous years of World War II, the Quit India Movement and the garjat agitation, the College continued to expand its activities. More and more women students and faculty arrived. Among the new women faculty were the distinguished teachers such as Mrs. Padma Sundaram (Professor of History), Professor Ashalata Behera (Oriya), Prof. Prabhat Nalini Das (English) and Prof. Gaurirani Ghosh (Botany). The students of Ravenshaw College, inspired by nationalistic fervour and democratic ideals, started taking active part in politics. The Ravenshaw College Students’ Union was born around the time. Political heavyweights such as Subhash Bose and Sarojini Naidu addressed the students of Ravenshaw College on different occasions, inspiring the students to participate in several political protests organised during the freedom movement.
The author of Ravenshaw College: Orissa’s Temple of Learning, 1868-2006, Nivedita Mohanty describes the scene thus:
“On 14 August 1947, before the midnight hours, the students and the staff assembled in front of the college portico. The College was illuminated with colourful lights. Attired in serwani and chudidar, Principal [Sachidananda] Ray arrived. He inspected the University Defence Corps. At twelve at night, Principal Ray hoisted the tricolor of independent India. The Defence Corps of the College held a parade and the Principal received their salute under the Indian flag. Principal Ray the addressed the gathering” (p. 237).
The celebrations continued for four days with a football match among the staff and the students, cultural programmes in the evenings, and a fund-raiser exhibition.
Four years earlier, in 1943, the Utkal University had come into existence and the affiliation of Ravenshaw College was finally transferred from Patna University to Utkal University. Utkal University started functioning as an affiliating body from the premises of Ravenshaw College. Within the following decade, post-graduate departments in Geology, Economics, Sociology, Chemistry, Physics and History were opened. Later, prestigious conferences such as the 12th All India History Congress, 26th session of the Indian Historical Records Commission, the Indian Science Congress 1962, the All India Political Science Congress 1962 were organised in Ravenshaw College.
Ravenshaw College completed hundred years of its existence in 1968. IN 1978, Ravenshaw College was honoured by the Government of India through the issue of a commemorative stamp.
The plus-two wings were separated from Ravenshaw College in 1998-99 as per the recommendation of the National Education Policy 1986. Meanwhile, the need for a new status for Ravenshaw College was felt. The ‘Friends of Ravenshaw’ joined hands to form the Ravenshaw College Development Trust with the aim to “restore and reinvigorate the oldest and the leading educational institution of modern Orissa, namely Ravenshaw College, to its pre-eminent position symbolising the SPIRIT OF ORISSA” (Ravenshaw College Vision – 2010, 11 July 1994). After a decade-long effort, Ravenshaw College was elevated to the status of a full-fledged University on 15 November 2006.
How T. E. Ravenshaw fought for Oorya and Orissa
“The Lieutenant Governor accepts your view in regard to the adoption of the Oorya language in the schools in Orissa. His Honour authorizes you to use your discretion about the exclusion of Bengallee.” (Arthur Cotton, Assistant Secretary, Government of Bengal, in a letter to Ravenshaw, 25 February 1873)
“The establishment of a college in Cuttack is an object of personal interest to myself and also of greatest importance to the spread of higher education in Orissa. The Bengal Educational department, located in Calcutta, is incapable of affording immediate supervision and is alien, if not antagonistic, to local peculiarities. If therefore Government will assign Rs. 500 per month and place the organization of the new college in my hands, I am prepared in communication with the D. P. I., to submit a definite scheme for approval.” (Ravenshaw, in a letter to the Secretary, Government of Bengal, 5 August 1875: No. 108)
(From “The Promotion of Education in Orissa by T. E. Ravenshaw” by P. Mukherjee – Former Reader in History, Utkal University)
1903. Bengali, “Kartabya Bodhini” and Oriya
It was when Ravenshaw College was affiliated to Calcutta University. Striving to take forward the movement for Oriya language, three young Ravenshavians founded an organization called “Kartabya Bodhini”. They were Gopabandhu Das, Lokanath Patnaik and Brajasundar Das. While Gopabandhu and Lokanath were students of B.A. in Ravenshaw College, Brajasundar was doing B.A. in Presidency College. The University authorities, to further the cause of Bengali language, decided that a student sitting for the B.A. examination would have to write an essay in Bengali. To honour the successful student, his name along with a star mark beside it would be featured in the gazette. Kartabya Bodhini rose up in revolt against this unfair rule. A generous Sir John Woodburn, who was the rector of Calcutta University, took cognizance of the complaint letter sent by Kartabya Bodhini and approved a separate question in Oriya for Oriya students taking the B.A. examination. Lokanath Patnaik and Gopabandhu Das were the first to take the examination in the new system. They were confident of passing the exam with good marks. But, in fact, they had failed. The question setter and the evaluator for their papers was Madhusudan Rao. Brajasundar, by then, had already passed the B.A. course from Presidency College. To find out why his friends had failed, Brajasundar met Rao, who said that he had given them a total of 33 marks. But the University authorities had, in the meanwhile, raised the pass marks to 50, thus pushing out the students from the pass list. Gopabandhu Das and Lokanath Patnaik, thus, had the good luck of staying back in Ravenshaw for another year.
(From “Kartabya Bodhini” by Gopabandhu Pattnayak, a former Ravenshavian)
1914. Saturday afternoons in Ravenshaw A young professor and students’ hero Arta Ballav Mohanty used to speak on “The Progress of the First World War”. “His talks were so interesting that the ‘College Hall’ was always full, even though attendance was not obligatory at all.” (From “My Recollections” by Late Nityanand Kanungo, Former Governor of Gujarat and Bihar)
Landmark year: 1916: The College is admitted to the English Honours course Landmark year: 1921. The College comes home to ‘Chakrapadia’ – “the great piece of wasteland, south of what later became the Kanika Library, had rather sinister associations: no one dared walk alone in this vast maidan, after darkness fell.” (excerpt from “Then…and Now” by Harischandra Baral)
1916. Rai Bahadur Jogesh Chandra Roy, Vidyanidhi in Ravenshaw
Acharya Jogesh Chandra Roy, as he was known widely, was the man who brought Chandrashekhar Samanta (Pathani Samanta) to limelight by writing a 58-page introduction in English to Samanta’s Siddhanta Darpan. The Acharya was a slightly dark-complexioned man of average height. He used to be modestly dressed in creased matha [muga silk] pants and galaband coat of the same fabric. New students found his made to order rainbow coloured umbrella particularly interesting.
(From “Ardhashatabdi purbara Ravenshaw” by Lala Nagendra Kumar Ray)
1921. Why Pandit Gopabandhu Das was not happy about a young Harihar joining Ravenshaw
At some time in 1921, a young village boy, fresh from school, arrives at the Cuttack Railway station. There, he is received by his maternal uncle Dibya Singha Misra who was a person of eminence in those days. Just then Gopabandhu Babu gets down from the train and modestly greets Misra who was his teacher. Misra introduces his nephew to Gopabandhu Babu with great pride, for the boy had passed the matriculation in the first division and was likely to receive the University Scholarship. But, “like cold water on boiling oil came a stammering reply from Gopabandhu Babu – ‘If the situation had not changed I would have overwhelmingly congratulated him.’ By changed situation he indicated the non-violent non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji including a call to the students to leave the colleges and schools run by the alien government.” The reply stung Misra and robbed the young boy of all hallucinations. The boy, nonetheless, went on to join Ravenshaw and rose in life to become
Justice Harihar Mahapatra. Late Justice Mahapatra was the judge of Patna High Court.
(From “Old Days Calling” by Late Justice Harihar Mahapatra)
1920s. Evenings in Ravenshaw: Hinks’ lamps and the “kindly light”
The evenings of the Ravenshavians staying in the East Block in the 1920s used to be lit up by Hinks’ kerosene table lamps. “On the eve of the summer vacation, a few students would smuggle a Hinks’ lamp or two into their beddings, “to let the “kindly light” light up their (perhaps) dark, and dismal village houses.”
(All quotes from “Then… and Now” by Harischandra Baral)
How a teacher jumped into the river to look for a student
Kathajodi was in full spate. A first year student named Ramchandra Pratihari, who had gone swimming, drowned in the river. Prof. Atul Chandra Ganguli, whose house was near the river, was having his meal when news about the student reached him. Without washing his hands, he rushed to the bank and jumped into the river and started looking. He ordered his son who was standing at the bank, to jump in and help him in his search. Several others, too, made the plunge. But all efforts went futile. A tired Atul Babu came out of the river and started wailing. He kept wailing and walking on the bank till the sun went down.
(From “Mora jaha mane paduchi” by Gyanaranjan Pattanayak, who was a Ravenshavian from 1920 to 1926)
Landmark year: 1922. Opening of Sonepur Professor Chair in English Landmark year: 1924. Maharaja Purna Chandra Bhanja Deo donates Rs. 1,00,000/- for the construction of Ravenshaw Power Plant. Ravenshaw becomes an oasis of light and piped water Landmark year: 1925. Admission of one girl graduate to the MA Class Landmark year: 1926. Opening of the Kanika Library; starting of the College Commemoration Day Landmark year: 1926-27. Institution of the Janakinath Bose prize to the best all-round pupil
1930. Salt satyagraha and the bold Ravenshavians
Rama Devi and Malati Choudhury are seen picketing near the College gate and giving a call to students to join the salt satyagraha movement. Some students want to join the picketing and approach the Principal, Mr. T. C. Orgill for permission. Dr. P. K. Parija and Prof. Arta Ballav Mohanty are called in to take up the matter with the students. Dr. Parija takes a stern stand and asks the students if they wanted to study or leave college. A bold Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi said, “Sir, not only will we leave the College, but we shall also persuade our friends to do so.” The Principal
intervenes and gives the students permission to hold their meeting inside the College compound.
(From “My Halcyon Days in Ravenshaw College by Shyam Sundar Misra – Member, Servants of India Society)
The only girl in the class gets a dog as a friend
As the only girl among 150 boys in 1st Year Science in Ravenshaw College in 1930, B. Mishra found herself in a most bizarre situation. Some professors would bestow special attention on her in the Science laboratory. Dr. P. Parija, for example, would see her sample of crystals first, saying “Ladies first”. But some like a Professor of Mathematics wanted that her father be present when he cleared her doubts in the after-class hours. In the classroom, her seat was always near the teacher’s desk. This saved her from the boys’ pranks but caused her great deal of trouble of another kind in the English classes. “Mr W. V. Duke, the then Principal, was taking these classes. The Principal’s dog, a cocker spaniel, would follow his master to the class room and must sit near me. This dog with a jet black coat was beautiful to look at but he had a stink which I could not stand.”
(Mrs. B. Mishra, former Joint Secretary, Child Welfare, in “Our Lady Students Speak”)
1931-1935. When a hostel superintendent went without food to put an end to the hunger strike by students
Hostel students went on hunger strike against low quality food. Late Narayan Misra, who was hostel superintendent, gave up food at home. While the students fed themselves paratha, rice and curry at a nearby hotel, Misra continued to remain on fast. The students couldn’t bear to see their teacher thus and ended their strike.
(From “Ravenshaw re charibarsha” by Shraddhakar Supkar, a former Member of Parliament)
1936-1940. What the Professors of Ravenshaw did and what they stood for
Soon after Orissa became a separate province on 1 April 1936, Ravenshaw College celebrated its diamond jubilee. On the occasion, the Principal, H.R. Batheja said: “The Europeans have come and gone, and the Bengalees and the Biharis will soon depart, and the Oriya will come to his own.” A seemingly obvious remark to make but the subtle exhilaration in it makes it part of Ravenshaw lore. “Can a modern student imagine that his principal will take his weight weekly in the College dispensary, provide milk for his better health from the College funds and supply nutritious diet in his own residence? Can any one conceive the idea that a Principal whose pattern of life was entirely European, will run every morning in the College field with a weak student in order to instil into his heart the love of physical exercise so that he may prosper in life? This is what Tripathi used to do in respect of my own self,” says Dr. Shreeram Chandra Dash, former professor and Head of the Department of Political Science, Utkal University. On the eve of the summer vacation in 1937, Prof. Tripathi, with the help of contributions from the teaching staff, organised a community dinner for the students. According to Dash, “It was a sight even for Gods to see, Parija distributing pan and cigarettes, which he never takes, to the students on the dinner table and Tripathi serving water with a burning cigarette in his mouth.”
Suresh Chandra Bardhan, Professor of Economics – meek, unobtrusive and unassuming, and, a trouble-shooter.
Rai Saheb Nirmal Chandra Banerjee, Professor of History – a distinguished homeopath and students’ doctor. “When any one fell sick, it was not for the patient to go to the doctor, it was Rai Saheb Banerjee who went to the residence of the boy.”
Ramanath Mohanty, Professor of Mathematics – an eminent vocalist and instrumentalist. “A visit to his bachelor’s quarters meant a very pleasant evening with cards, songs and tabla certainly interspersed with occasional meals and tiffin…No sum was too intricate for him for a solution.”
Bama Charan Das, Professor of Mathematics – enjoyed wide reputation as a pilot. “Many people came to the College to see this handsome young teacher who could fly in the air.”
Rai Bahadur Arta Ballav Mohanty, Professor of Oriya – had everyone’s genealogical tree at the tip of his tongue and no naughty boy could escape his watchful eye. Prof. Mohanty started the “Prachi Samiti” which published scholarly editions on ancient Oriya literature.
Rai Bahadur Bipin Bihari Roy, Professor of Philosophy – embodiment of charity, magnanimity, kindness and generosity.
Mohini Mohan Senapati, Professor of Philosophy – the absent minded-professor. “An independent thinker he had almost earned a notoriety and his advocacy for companionate marriage created a stir in the social and academic dovecotes.”
Lakshmikant Choudhury, Professor of Sanskrit – an elder brother to his students, he died young. “A visit to his residence was both pleasant and rewarding. Delicacies were sumptuously served, and, if you were needy, a tenner or a fiver was certainly yours…Prof Choudhury also founded the Utkal Sangeeta Vidyalay, which is the first music school at Cuttack.”
(All quotes from “Flashback” by Dr. Shreeram Chandra Dash, who joined the first year class of the College in July 1936. Dr. Dash was former Professor and H.O.D., Political Science, Utkal University)
1940s. The laws of physics in Narayan Misra’s classroom
What goes up must come down. To explain this to students the Professor would throw upward several things inside the classroom – a pen, a ball, a chalk, and many more things. A young Bidyadhar wished the ball flew out and never came back. In the age of Sputnik, Prof. Misra would have landed in deep trouble, as Bidhyadhar muses later. Similarly, to explain the law that ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’, the Professor would keep hurling the ball at the wall, the ceiling, the blackboard, the table, the desk, at this student and that and so on.
(From “Shri Gurucharane Pranam” by Dr. Bidyadhar Padhi, former H.O.D. Chemistry, Utkal University)
1938-1950. Biblio polis – “Fine days…fine people”
The College magazine Ravenshavian started in 1916. Prof. P.S. Sundaram (former Sonepur Professor of English, Ravenshaw College) recollects how exciting it was “to do a little research in the history of the college, … get all the back numbers together, correct the mistakes in their enumeration, and get them bound in sizeable volumes for consultation in the College library.” While the Ravenshavian attracted a lot of contributions, some of which had to be tactfully put aside, the Ravenshaw College Weekly hardly received a contribution. According to Prof. Sundaram, until Mr. V. V. John joined the College in 1940, “practically all the eight columns of the Weekly had to be written or rewritten by the Editor.” Time and again, the Weekly was pronounced dead. However, it remained active for a brief period when it carried the news of the World War, highlighting the victories of the Allied Powers and castigating Hitler. Finally, the Weekly did die.
Soon after the death of the Weekly, Mr. V. V. John started The Wheel as “an Organ of University Life in Orissa.” It ran from November 1948 to April 1949. The Wheel ventilated “one’s grief and indignation at cows destroying the College lawn, men and women having to draw up water from a well without a pulley, and sundry other daily chores and vexations.” At the same time, it took up cudgels “against the highest of the land—Chief Justices and such like, who went out of their way to sneer at it—and had to be stopped so that the powers that be might not be offended.”
The first issue of the Ravenshaw College Calendar saw the light of the day in July 1940. The Government had no money to print such a calendar, when, as a godsend, a sum of Rs. 500 arrived as a discretionary grant from the Governor, Sir John Hubback.
Prof. Sundaram recounts his days and nights in the Kanika Library where, he, with the help of the Librarian Damodar Misra and some students and several others arranged the books according to the Dewey Decimal System, much to the chagrin of the librarian, who called it all dewy and foggy. When the catalogue was printed in 1939, it listed a minimum of 7000 books.
The College Hall was the site for Durbars and Assembly sessions and some very glorious debates. Prof. P. S. Sundaram cites an MLA, who was a member of the Senate, saying after coming out of the Hall after a debate, “You have first rate people here debating trivial issues, and in the other place great issues are being debated by second rate men.”
(All quotes from “Memory hold-the-door” by Prof. P. S. Sundaram)
Lending a book, lending a hand
Late Loknath Misra, Professor of Chemistry, was the founder of the lending library of the Department of Chemistry. He started the library with books of a meagre fifty rupees. By the time he retired, the library had around 1400 books worth Rs. 10,000. After retirement, he used to visit the library almost every day and help in organisation and supervision until he fell ill and could visit no more.
From “Adhyapak Loknath” by Shri Ram Chandra Tripathy)
Sundial stolen
(From “Suryasakshira apamrutyu” by Rabindra Kumar Mishra, former faculty of Department of Political Science, Ravenshaw College)
The sundial was designed by Mr. R. C. Choudhury of the Department of Chemistry, Ravenshaw College, in 1902. Source: “Ancient Sundials of Orissa” by Nikunja Bihari Sahu, Orissa Review, September October 2005.]
(The content for the History section has been compiled by Dr. Urmishree Bedamatta (Department of English) with the help of the early records which were digitised under the Ravenshaw Restoration Project envisaged by former Vice-Chancellor Mr. Devdas Chhotray and coordinated by Dr. Umakant Mishra (on lien; Department of History), and Ravenshaw College: Orissa’s Temple of Learning, 1868-2006 by Nivedita Mohanty. The content for Ravenshaw Lore has been compiled from the articles in the Ravenshaw Centenary Souvenir.)
Ravenshaw Lore
How T. E. Ravenshaw fought for Oorya and Orissa
“The Lieutenant Governor accepts your view in regard to the adoption of the Oorya language in the schools in Orissa. His Honour authorizes you to use your discretion about the exclusion of Bengallee.” (Arthur Cotton, Assistant Secretary, Government of Bengal, in a letter to Ravenshaw, 25 February 1873)
“The establishment of a college in Cuttack is an object of personal interest to myself and also of greatest importance to the spread of higher education in Orissa. The Bengal Educational department, located in Calcutta, is incapable of affording immediate supervision and is alien, if not antagonistic, to local peculiarities. If therefore Government will assign Rs. 500 per month and place the organization of the new college in my hands, I am prepared in communication with the D. P. I., to submit a definite scheme for approval.” (Ravenshaw, in a letter to the Secretary, Government of Bengal, 5 August 1875: No. 108)
(From “The Promotion of Education in Orissa by T. E. Ravenshaw” by P. Mukherjee – Former Reader in History, Utkal University)
1903. Bengali, “Kartabya Bodhini” and Oriya
It was when Ravenshaw College was affiliated to Calcutta University. Striving to take forward the movement for Oriya language, three young Ravenshavians founded an organization called “Kartabya Bodhini”. They were Gopabandhu Das, Lokanath Patnaik and Brajasundar Das. While Gopabandhu and Lokanath were students of B.A. in Ravenshaw College, Brajasundar was doing B.A. in Presidency College. The University authorities, to further the cause of Bengali language, decided that a student sitting for the B.A. examination would have to write an essay in Bengali. To honour the successful student, his name along with a star mark beside it would be featured in the gazette. Kartabya Bodhini rose up in revolt against this unfair rule. A generous Sir John Woodburn, who was the rector of Calcutta University, took cognizance of the complaint letter sent by Kartabya Bodhini and approved a separate question in Oriya for Oriya students taking the B.A. examination. Lokanath Patnaik and Gopabandhu Das were the first to take the examination in the new system. They were confident of passing the exam with good marks. But, in fact, they had failed. The question setter and the evaluator for their papers was Madhusudan Rao. Brajasundar, by then, had already passed the B.A. course from Presidency College. To find out why his friends had failed, Brajasundar met Rao, who said that he had given them a total of 33 marks. But the University authorities had, in the meanwhile, raised the pass marks to 50, thus pushing out the students from the pass list. Gopabandhu Das and Lokanath Patnaik, thus, had the good luck of staying back in Ravenshaw for another year.
(From “Kartabya Bodhini” by Gopabandhu Pattnayak, a former Ravenshavian)
1914. Saturday afternoons in Ravenshaw A young professor and students’ hero Arta Ballav Mohanty used to speak on “The Progress of the First World War”. “His talks were so interesting that the ‘College Hall’ was always full, even though attendance was not obligatory at all.” (From “My Recollections” by Late Nityanand Kanungo, Former Governor of Gujarat and Bihar)
Landmark year: 1916. The College is admitted to the English Honours course Landmark year: 1921. The College comes home to ‘Chakrapadia’ – “the great piece of wasteland, south of what later became the Kanika Library, had rather sinister associations: no one dared walk alone in this vast maidan, after darkness fell.” (excerpt from “Then…and Now” by Harischandra Baral)
1916. Rai Bahadur Jogesh Chandra Roy, Vidyanidhi in Ravenshaw
Acharya Jogesh Chandra Roy, as he was known widely, was the man who brought Chandrashekhar Samanta (Pathani Samanta) to limelight by writing a 58-page introduction in English to Samanta’s Siddhanta Darpan. The Acharya was a slightly dark-complexioned man of average height. He used to be modestly dressed in creased matha [muga silk] pants and galaband coat of the same fabric. New students found his made to order rainbow coloured umbrella particularly interesting.
(From “Ardhashatabdi purbara Ravenshaw” by Lala Nagendra Kumar Ray)
1921. Why Pandit Gopabandhu Das was not happy about a young Harihar joining Ravenshaw
At some time in 1921, a young village boy, fresh from school, arrives at the Cuttack Railway station. There, he is received by his maternal uncle Dibya Singha Misra who was a person of eminence in those days. Just then Gopabandhu Babu gets down from the train and modestly greets Misra who was his teacher. Misra introduces his nephew to Gopabandhu Babu with great pride, for the boy had passed the matriculation in the first division and was likely to receive the University Scholarship. But, “like cold water on boiling oil came a stammering reply from Gopabandhu Babu – ‘If the situation had not changed I would have overwhelmingly congratulated him.’ By changed situation he indicated the non-violent non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji including a call to the students to leave the colleges and schools run by the alien government.” The reply stung Misra and robbed the young boy of all hallucinations. The boy, nonetheless, went on to join Ravenshaw and rose in life to become
Justice Harihar Mahapatra. Late Justice Mahapatra was the judge of Patna High Court.
(From “Old Days Calling” by Late Justice Harihar Mahapatra)
1920s. Evenings in Ravenshaw: Hinks’ lamps and the “kindly light”
The evenings of the Ravenshavians staying in the East Block in the 1920s used to be lit up by Hinks’ kerosene table lamps. “On the eve of the summer vacation, a few students would smuggle a Hinks’ lamp or two into their beddings, “to let the “kindly light” light up their (perhaps) dark, and dismal village houses.”
(All quotes from “Then… and Now” by Harischandra Baral)
How a teacher jumped into the river to look for a student
Kathajodi was in full spate. A first year student named Ramchandra Pratihari, who had gone swimming, drowned in the river. Prof. Atul Chandra Ganguli, whose house was near the river, was having his meal when news about the student reached him. Without washing his hands, he rushed to the bank and jumped into the river and started looking. He ordered his son who was standing at the bank, to jump in and help him in his search. Several others, too, made the plunge. But all efforts went futile. A tired Atul Babu came out of the river and started wailing. He kept wailing and walking on the bank till the sun went down.
(From “Mora jaha mane paduchi” by Gyanaranjan Pattanayak, who was a Ravenshavian from 1920 to 1926)
Landmark year: 1922. Opening of Sonepur Professor Chair in English Landmark year: 1924. Maharaja Purna Chandra Bhanja Deo donates Rs. 1,00,000/- for the construction of Ravenshaw Power Plant. Ravenshaw becomes an oasis of light and piped water Landmark year: 1925. Admission of one girl graduate to the MA Class Landmark year: 1926. Opening of the Kanika Library; starting of the College Commemoration Day Landmark year: 1926-27. Institution of the Janakinath Bose prize to the best all-round pupil
1930. Salt satyagraha and the bold Ravenshavians
Rama Devi and Malati Choudhury are seen picketing near the College gate and giving a call to students to join the salt satyagraha movement.
Some students want to join the picketing and approach the Principal, Mr. T. C. Orgill for permission. Dr. P. K. Parija and Prof. Arta Ballav Mohanty
are called in to take up the matter with the students. Dr. Parija takes a stern stand and asks the students if they wanted to study or leave college.
A bold Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi said, “Sir, not only will we leave the College, but we shall also persuade our friends to do so.” The Principal
intervenes and gives the students permission to hold their meeting inside the College compound.
(From “My Halcyon Days in Ravenshaw College by Shyam Sundar Misra – Member, Servants of India Society)
The only girl in the class gets a dog as a friend
As the only girl among 150 boys in 1st Year Science in Ravenshaw College in 1930, B. Mishra found herself in a most bizarre situation. Some professors would bestow special attention on her in the Science laboratory. Dr. P. Parija, for example, would see her sample of crystals first, saying “Ladies first”. But some like a Professor of Mathematics wanted that her father be present when he cleared her doubts in the after-class hours. In the classroom, her seat was always near the teacher’s desk. This saved her from the boys’ pranks but caused her great deal of trouble of another kind in the English classes. “Mr W. V. Duke, the then Principal, was taking these classes. The Principal’s dog, a cocker spaniel, would follow his master to the class room and must sit near me. This dog with a jet black coat was beautiful to look at but he had a stink which I could not stand.”
(Mrs. B. Mishra, former Joint Secretary, Child Welfare, in “Our Lady Students Speak”)
1931-1935. When a hostel superintendent went without food to put an end to the hunger strike by students
Hostel students went on hunger strike against low quality food. Late Narayan Misra, who was hostel superintendent, gave up food at home. While
the students fed themselves paratha, rice and curry at a nearby hotel, Misra continued to remain on fast. The students couldn’t bear to see their
teacher thus and ended their strike.
(From “Ravenshaw re charibarsha” by Shraddhakar Supkar, a former Member of Parliament)
1936-1940. What the Professors of Ravenshaw did and what they stood for
Soon after Orissa became a separate province on 1 April 1936, Ravenshaw College celebrated its diamond jubilee. On the occasion, the Principal, H.R. Batheja said: “The Europeans have come and gone, and the Bengalees and the Biharis will soon depart, and the Oriya will come to his own.” A seemingly obvious remark to make but the subtle exhilaration in it makes it part of Ravenshaw lore.
“Can a modern student imagine that his principal will take his weight weekly in the College dispensary, provide milk for his better health from the College funds and supply nutritious diet in his own residence? Can any one conceive the idea that a Principal whose pattern of life was entirely European, will run every morning in the College field with a weak student in order to instil into his heart the love of physical exercise so that he may prosper in life? This is what Tripathi used to do in respect of my own self,” says Dr. Shreeram Chandra Dash, former professor and Head of the Department of Political Science, Utkal University. On the eve of the summer vacation in 1937, Prof. Tripathi, with the help of contributions from the teaching staff, organised a community dinner for the students. According to Dash, “It was a sight even for Gods to see, Parija distributing pan and cigarettes, which he never takes, to the students on the dinner table and Tripathi serving water with a burning cigarette in his mouth.”
Suresh Chandra Bardhan, Professor of Economics – meek, unobtrusive and unassuming, and, a trouble-shooter.
Rai Saheb Nirmal Chandra Banerjee, Professor of History – a distinguished homeopath and students’ doctor. “When any one fell sick, it was not for the patient to go to the doctor, it was Rai Saheb Banerjee who went to the residence of the boy.”
Ramanath Mohanty, Professor of Mathematics – an eminent vocalist and instrumentalist. “A visit to his bachelor’s quarters meant a very pleasant evening with cards, songs and tabla certainly interspersed with occasional meals and tiffin…No sum was too intricate for him for a solution.”
Bama Charan Das, Professor of Mathematics – enjoyed wide reputation as a pilot. “Many people came to the College to see this handsome young teacher who could fly in the air.”
Rai Bahadur Arta Ballav Mohanty, Professor of Oriya – had everyone’s genealogical tree at the tip of his tongue and no naughty boy could escape his watchful eye. Prof. Mohanty started the “Prachi Samiti” which published scholarly editions on ancient Oriya literature.
Rai Bahadur Bipin Bihari Roy, Professor of Philosophy – embodiment of charity, magnanimity, kindness and generosity.
Mohini Mohan Senapati, Professor of Philosophy – the absent minded-professor. “An independent thinker he had almost earned a notoriety and his
advocacy for companionate marriage created a stir in the social and academic dovecotes.”
Lakshmikant Choudhury, Professor of Sanskrit – an elder brother to his students, he died young. “A visit to his residence was both pleasant and
rewarding. Delicacies were sumptuously served, and, if you were needy, a tenner or a fiver was certainly yours…Prof Choudhury also founded the Utkal Sangeeta Vidyalay, which is the first music school at Cuttack.”
(All quotes from “Flashback” by Dr. Shreeram Chandra Dash, who joined the first year class of the College in July 1936. Dr. Dash was former
Professor and H.O.D., Political Science, Utkal University)
1940s. The laws of physics in Narayan Misra’s classroom
What goes up must come down. To explain this to students the Professor would throw upward several things inside the classroom – a pen, a ball, a chalk, and many more things. A young Bidyadhar wished the ball flew out and never came back. In the age of Sputnik, Prof. Misra would have landed in deep trouble, as Bidhyadhar muses later. Similarly, to explain the law that ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’, the Professor would keep hurling the ball at the wall, the ceiling, the blackboard, the table, the desk, at this student and that and so on.
(From “Shri Gurucharane Pranam” by Dr. Bidyadhar Padhi, former H.O.D. Chemistry, Utkal University)
1938-1950. Biblio polis – “Fine days…fine people”
The College magazine Ravenshavian started in 1916. Prof. P.S. Sundaram (former Sonepur Professor of English, Ravenshaw College) recollects how exciting it was “to do a little research in the history of the college, … get all the back numbers together, correct the mistakes in their enumeration, and get them bound in sizeable volumes for consultation in the College library.” While the Ravenshavian attracted a lot of contributions, some of which had to be tactfully put aside, the Ravenshaw College Weekly hardly received a contribution. According to Prof. Sundaram, until Mr. V. V. John joined the College in 1940, “practically all the eight columns of the Weekly had to be written or rewritten by the Editor.” Time and again, the Weekly was pronounced dead. However, it remained active for a brief period when it carried the news of the World War, highlighting the victories of the Allied Powers and castigating Hitler. Finally, the Weekly did die.
Soon after the death of the Weekly, Mr. V. V. John started The Wheel as “an Organ of University Life in Orissa.” It ran from November 1948 to April 1949. The Wheel ventilated “one’s grief and indignation at cows destroying the College lawn, men and women having to draw up water from a well without a pulley, and sundry other daily chores and vexations.” At the same time, it took up cudgels “against the highest of the land—Chief Justices and such like, who went out of their way to sneer at it—and had to be stopped so that the powers that be might not be offended.”
The first issue of the Ravenshaw College Calendar saw the light of the day in July 1940. The Government had no money to print such a calendar, when, as a godsend, a sum of Rs. 500 arrived as a discretionary grant from the Governor, Sir John Hubback.
Prof. Sundaram recounts his days and nights in the Kanika Library where, he, with the help of the Librarian Damodar Misra and some students and several others arranged the books according to the Dewey Decimal System, much to the chagrin of the librarian, who called it all dewy and foggy. When the catalogue was printed in 1939, it listed a minimum of 7000 books.
BOX – The College Hall was the site for Durbars and Assembly sessions and some very glorious debates. Prof. P. S. Sundaram cites an MLA, who was a member of the Senate, saying after coming out of the Hall after a debate, “You have first rate people here debating trivial issues, and in the other place great issues are being debated by second rate men.”
(All quotes from “Memory hold-the-door” by Prof. P. S. Sundaram)
Lending a book, lending a hand
Late Loknath Misra, Professor of Chemistry, was the founder of the lending library of the Department of Chemistry. He started the library with books of a meagre fifty rupees. By the time he retired, the library had around 1400 books worth Rs. 10,000. After retirement, he used to visit the library almost every day and help in organisation and supervision until he fell ill and could visit no more.
Registrar | Ravenshaw University | Cuttack – 751003 | Odisha | India
Phone : +91-6712201690 | Email : registrar[at]ravenshawuniversity[dot]ac[dot]in