Saints

ପଞ୍ଚସଖା (‘the five companions’) names the revered 15th-16th century Odia Vaishnav poet-saints (Balaram Das, Jagannath Das, and others) whose devotional writings, especially Jagannath Das’s Odia Bhagavata, are read daily in village bhagavata tungi halls across Odisha — an elite, literarily-canonized category, not the corporate status of every believer. ପବିତ୍ର ଲୋକ keeps sainthood as the status of all believers by God’s declaration.