Dramatist Manoranjan Das passes away

Noted dramatist Padma Shri Manoranjan Das passed away on late Sunday night at his residence at Bardhamaan Kotthi near Ravenshaw college square in Cuttack. He was 92.

He was the pioneer of the modern theatre movement in Odisha. The government of India accorded him with the coveted Padma Shri award in 2004 for his contribution to Indian literature.

Born in 1923, the winner of many awards was well known for his experimentalism in literature. Amongst his most known works, “Kaattha-ghodaa” (The Wooden Horse) and “Aranya Fasala”(The Wild Harvest), which brought the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for him in 1971, are superb. He was awarded by Odisha Sahitya Akademi in 1964 for “Chhota naataka” (Short Play).

The last rites of the eminent play writer held today at Khan Nagar crematorium ground in the city, family sources said.