Koti Brahmanda Sundarii
                     ODIA BOOK KOTI BRAHMANDA SUNDAREE
KOTI BRAHMANDA SUNDAREEODIA BOOK
Kabi Samrata Upendra Bhanja was considered as the greatest poet of Odia Literature and 
was awarded the title "Kabi-Samrata" – "The Emperor of Poets". Born in a royal family, Upendra 
Bhanja had never eyed for throne.
Kabi Samrata Upendra Bhanja was a 17th-century Odia poet-composer of classical Odissi music. 
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 at Kulagarh 
now known as Kulada , a princely state in Bhanjanagar, 80 km from the Silk City Berhampur Of 
south 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 near 
Silk City Berhampur 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.