TNI Bureau:  Today, Odisha celebrates the birth anniversary of Pandit Raghunath Murmu, a noted Santali poet and inventor of the ‘Ol Chiki’ script used in Santali language.

Pt. Raghunath was donpato in 1905 on the auspicious day of Baishakha Purnima in a village called Dandbose of Mayurbhanj district. As per the decision made by the Odisha government, every year 5th May is being celebrated as his birth anniversary.

During his school career, Raghunath fell in love with the rich cultural traditions of his own community and wanted to write them in Santali language. But there was no script. Raghunath took up the work of inventing a script single-handedly and invent it only at the age of twenty. The script ‘Ol Chiki’ was unveiled in 1925.

He also worked hard to promote and preserve the Santali language all over the world. He has written a number of books covering a wide spectrum of subjects such as novels, drama, poetry and story and grammar using ‘Ol Chiki’ script.

It is worth noting that Santal language has already secured a place in the 8th schedule of Indian Constitution. This language is spoken by 6.4 million people in India according to 2001 census.