THE FATHER OF SORA SCRIPT – SORAN SOMPENG
Orissa is a wonderland of marvelous art, craft, architecture, culture, traditions, languages, and many great personalities. A number of poets, philosophers, and social thinkers were born in this holy land and passed away, leaving behind great deeds that have made them immortal. Sora Pandit Mangai Gomango, the inventor of the Sora script, is one of those great personalities.
There are sixty-two categories of Scheduled Tribes living in different parts of Orissa. Among them, the Sabaras or Soras are one of the prominent tribal communities, living in almost every corner of Orissa. However, they are found in large numbers in Gajapati District and the Gunupur Sub-Division of Rayagada District.
They have their own language called “Sora,” which belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family. The script of this language, “Soran Sompeng,” was invented in the year 1936. Inspired by religious and nationalistic feelings, Mangai Gomango, a learned person from the Sora community, went into meditation for 21 days in the forest adjoining his village, Marichaguda. During this period, he saw a script in his dream, which he believed to be a divine gift for the Sabaras.
According to Sora tradition, their legendary “Daru Devata” reappeared in the form of “Akshara Brahma.” The letters of Akshara Brahma symbolize the 24 important deities of their religion, which together form the Sora script, known as “Soran Sompeng.” The term “Soran Sompeng” means the phonetic alphabet of the Sora people.
The stone on which the script was first revealed has become a place of pilgrimage for the Sora community. In the idol of Akshara Brahma, twenty-four syllables, numbers up to twelve, and a symbol of wisdom are arranged in the shape of the Odia letter “Om.” All these letters were kept hidden inside a temple made of cement.
There are three
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