Umapatidhara

Umapatidhara a reputed Sanskrit poet of 12th century AD. jaydev mentions him among his contemporaries and decries his tendency for verbal ramification (vachah pallavayatyumapatidharah). This is exemplified by the Deopada stone inscription of vijayasena, composed by Umapati, a standard specimen of the Eastern style (Gaudiya Riti) of sanskrit literary criticism. No other major work of his has been handed down to us. Some verses of his are quoted in anthologies like saduktikarnamrta, S'u'ktimukt'a'val'i, Pady'a'val'i and Sh'a'r'b'gadharapaddhati under the name Umapati or Umapatidhara. Umapati attended the court of king Vijayasena of Bengal, his son vallalasena and his grandson laksmanasena. He is said to have been one of five gems in the court of Laksmanasena. One Umapati is said to have composed the K'rsv'akarnamrta, based on the life of Lord krishna, and the poem Chandrach'ud'acharita. He is different from Umapati Upadhyaya of Mithila, author of P'a'rij'a'ta Hara'n'a, who lived probably in 1400 AD. [Pratap Bandyopadhyay] [Bandyopadhyay, Pratap Professor of Sanskrit, Burdwan University, West Bengal]