If you were to step back into the literary landscape of medieval India, you would be surrounded by poetry. From the grand epics in Sanskrit to the devotional Bhakti movements sweeping across the regions, history and mythology were almost exclusively remembered in verse. Meter and rhyme were not just artistic choices; they were mnemonic devices essential for an oral culture.

However, inside the colossal Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, a quiet linguistic revolution was taking place. While poets sang of divine love, scribes were busy doing something entirely different: they were writing prose.

The Madala Panji (The Drum Chronicles) stands as a monumental achievement in the history of the Odia language. It is the official chronicle of the Sri Jagannath Temple, capturing centuries of rituals, administrative decisions, and royal history. For linguists and language enthusiasts, the Panji is a goldmine—a rare example of evolving vernacular prose in an era dominated by poetry, and a testament to how bureaucratic necessity can standardize a language.

What is the Madala Panji?

The term Madala Panji is derived from the Odia words Madala (a drum) and Panji (chronicle or almanac). The name refers to the peculiar physical shape of the records. These chronicles were written on palm leaves (talapatra), encompassing heavy bundles that were tied tightly with cords. Due to their bulk and cylindrical binding, the bundles resembled the Madal, an Indian percussion instrument.

Historically, the exact origin date of the Panji is debated among scholars, with estimates ranging from the 12th to the 16th century. However, the linguistic evidence within the text suggests a continuous evolution, capturing the shifting sands of the Odia language over several reigns, from the Ganga dynasty to the Gajapati kings and beyond.

The Linguistic Shift: From Verse to Prose

For the student of linguistics, the most striking feature of the Madala Panji is its structure. In the pre-modern era, prose was often reserved for commentaries on Sanskrit texts. Vernacular literature—literature written in the spoken languages of the people—was almost always poetic. Poetry effectively preserved myths, but it was a poor vessel for the mundane details of administration.

The Jagannath Temple was not just a spiritual center; it was a massive economic engine. It owned land, managed thousands of servitors (sevayats), received immense donations, and organized complex daily rituals. You cannot manage such an institution with rhyming couplets. You need the precision of prose.

The Madala Panji marks a functional shift in the language:

• Precision over Meter: The scribes needed to record exact dates, specific quantities of grain, and legal disputes. Using prose allowed the language to become more utilitarian and direct.
• The Emergence of Administrative Register: The chroniclers developed a specific register (a variety of language used for a particular purpose). We see the birth of legal and administrative Odia, distinct from the literary Odia of the poets.
• Sentence Structure: Unlike the flexible word order often permitted in poetry to fit a meter, the prose of the Panji began to solidify the standard Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure that characterizes modern Odia.

Standardizing the Tongue of Kalinga

Religious institutions often serve as unintentional language academies. Just as the King James Bible standardized English or the Quran standardized Arabic, the administration of the Jagannath Temple helped standardize Odia.

Because the temple was the heart of the Kalinga empire (historical Odisha), its records had to be understood by diverse groups: the King’s court, the Brahmin scholars, the temple functionaries, and the regional administrators. This necessitated a “standard” dialect that cut across regional variations.

The Role of the Karanas

The writing of the Panji was entrusted to a specific community of scribes known as the Karanas. Specifically, the Tadau Karana and the Deula Karana were the official record keepers.

From a sociolinguistic perspective, these scribes were the gatekeepers of the language. They were trained in the script and the specific vocabulary required for courtly and temple duties. Their consistent use of spelling and grammar over centuries created a linguistic continuity that helped preserve the Odia identity even when the political borders of the kingdom fluctuated.

A Melting Pot of Vocabulary

Languages are never static; they are sponges that absorb the history around them. The text of the Madala Panji serves as a linguistic fossil record of Odisha’s political history. By analyzing the layers of the text, linguists can trace the external influences on the region.

1. Sanskrit Roots: The early sections are heavily Sanskritized (Tatsama words), reflecting the dominance of Brahminical scholars and the liturgical nature of the temple.

2. The Persian and Arabic Influence: As history moved into the medieval period and the Mughal influence spread across India, the administrative vocabulary of the Panji shifted. We begin to see Persian and Arabic loanwords regarding revenue, land measurement, and governance—formally known as Yavanic terms in local scholarship. Words related to districts, taxes, and officials were adopted into Odia script, showing how the language adapted to survive not just religiously, but politically.

3. Dravidian Elements: Given Odisha’s proximity to the south, the chronicles also reveal distinct Telugu and Tamil influences, particularly regarding architectural terms and temple items.

The Three Main Chronicles

The Madala Panji is generally categorized into three distinct types of records, each offering a different linguistic flavor:

• Rajabhogam (Royal History): These are the chronicles of the Kings (the Gajapatis). The language here is grander and focuses on lineage, wars, and royal decrees. It reads like a historical narrative.
• Desa Khanja (Donations and Endowments): This is the accounting section. It records land grants and financial endowments. The language is dry, technical, and precise—the ancestor of modern legal Odia.
• Karmangi (Rituals): This details the daily and festive duties of the temple. The vocabulary preservation here is immense, keeping alive archaic terms for food, clothing, and worship that might otherwise have vanished from common parlance.

Why It Matters Today

For modern language learners and historians, the Madala Panji is more than just a list of kings and festivals. It is a testament to the power of functional literacy. While poetry touches the soul, prose builds civilizations.

The diverse nature of the Panji challenges the notion that Indian vernaculars were only developed for devotion. It proves that Odia was a robust, flexible language capable of complex bureaucratic, legal, and historical documentation centuries ago.

Furthermore, it highlights the importance of the preservation of writing systems. The evolution of the rounded Odia script is directly linked to the medium used here—the palm leaf. Scribes could not use straight horizontal strokes because the iron stylus would split the leaf veins; they had to write in curves. The Madala Panji is not just a repository of words, but a physical embodiment of how the tools of writing shape the script itself.

In the end, the chronicles of the Jagannath temple remind us that language is the ultimate keeper of history. Long after the kings have passed and the boundaries of kingdoms have shifted, the words scratched onto dried palm leaves remain, whispering the story of a people, their gods, and their grammar.