Rourkela: Bhanja Cultural Trust here celebrated the birth anniversary of poet Jayadev of Geet Govind fame on Sunday.

Jayadev was widely accepted because of his treatment of the Sanskrit language. He gave a new dimension to the use of the language and made it popular among readers.

Biju Patnaik University of Technology vice-chancellor Chitta Ranjan Tripathy said: "Jayadev treated Sanskrit very differently and made it easy for every reader to understand... The easy and lucid manner of expression of the love between Radha and Krishna is hardly seen in any other depiction. The portrayal of Radha as the soul and Krishna as the super soul was done in such a manner that for a new reader nothing remained mysterious."

Former vice chancellor of North Odisha University Prafulla Mishra, said: "This 12th century poet, who is regarded as one of the incarnations of Lord Jagannath, made a very interesting presentation of the relation between Radha and Krishna that has remained timeless because of its subtlety and simplicity."

Vice President of Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy Ramahari Mishra said: "You will never find such nuance and soft delicate touch in composition of poetry, this is his uniqueness. Jayadev has a lot to teach the present poets or those who are thinking of writing poetry," he said.

"Reading of his poetry leaves you in a peaceful state," he said.

Basabdatta Mohanty, Ashalata Sarangi and Binapani Rath sang Jayadev's songs on the occasion.

The programme in the evening was inaugurated by Rourkela Steel Plant executive director (works) Subhendra Das who lauded the efforts of the trust and said: "Such efforts would help us to remain rooted to the cultural diversity of our society."