It is the deeds of a common man that transform him into an extraordinary one. This statement has its best reflection in the personality of “Guru Gomke Pandit Raghunath Murmu”. His noble works and fights for his own language have brought him many identities. Hailed as Guru Gomke, people do regard him as a godly figure. Even today, on the day of Guru Purnima, the Kapiburu locality near Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha gets crowded by people to pay homage to this iconic personality, Pandit Murmu. He is the one who has created the Ol Chiki script of the Santhali language.
he Ol Chiki script of the Santhali language is enriched with the cultural identity of the tribal community. He used to say, “our literature can’t progress without its own script”. The norms and standards set by him have become the traditional rituals for the santal community for which he is awarded with the position of God by the community. The script prescribed by him is still being followed by the Santhal population of Bangladesh, Nepal and India.
On 5th of may in 1905, full moon day of Baisakh, the village of Dohardihi, Dandbus welcomed the third son of village manjhi Shri Nandalal Murmu and his wife Smt. Salomi Tudu. As per the local tradition the new born was bestowed with the name “Chunu” after his grandfather and later it was changed to Raghunath. In the year 1912, the seven-year-old Raghunath started his schooling in Gambharia Primary School situated at a distance of 3 kms form his village. The mediums of teaching at that time were Oriya and English. This fact soon became a matter of concern for him as most of the students in the school were Santali and they were not able to understand the languages through which they were being taught. A different oral language was in use by the Santhalis at that time for the communication purpose. Later an independent script was designed by Pandit Murmu based on same oral language.
In 1914 Raghunath Murmu was admitted to Bahalada Primary school, which was about 7 kms away from his village. As the distance was not in his favour, he along with his friends made a hut near the school on his relative’s land at Baladunguri and started living there. As a child he used to play with sand by drawing figures from which he got the idea of having an independent script. He was sent to Baripada, the capital city of “Mayurbhanj State” for further studies. But deep inside his mind he was stocked with the thoughts of having an independent script. During his holiday visits to the home place at Dandibus he used to spend quality time alone at Kapiburu Jungle, where it is believed, he invented the Ol Chiki script in 1925. The locals had a strong belief that Pandit Murmu used to get vanished inside the Kapiburu forest.
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