Noted Litterateur Binapani Mohanty Cremated In Cuttack With State Honours

Cuttack: Eminent Odia litterateur Binapani Mohanty was cremated with full state honours at Sati Chaura crematorium here on Monday.

A ceremonial guard of honour was accorded to the Padma Shri awardee, who was a noted literary figure in the field of Odia fiction writing, after her mortal remains were taken to the crematorium.

Cuttack Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani, DCP Prateek Singh, and former Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Prabhat Ranjan Biswal were present at the crematorium to pay their last tribute to the departed soul.

Mohanty had breathed her at her residence in Cuttack on Sunday at the age of 85. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor Ganeshi Lala and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had expressed grief over her demise.

A retired professor in Economics, Mohanty had been awarded Padma Shri in 2020. She had also been conferred with the prestigious Atibadi Jagannath Das Samman by Odisha Sahitya Akademi in 2020 for her contribution to Odia literature.

She began her literary career with ‘Gotie Ratira Kahani’ in 1960 and has over 100 books to her credit. Her best-known works include ‘Pata Dei’, ‘Khela Ghara, ’Naiku Rasta’, ‘Bastraharana’, Andhakarara’, ‘Kasturi Murga O Sabuja Aranya’, and ‘Michhi Michhika’.

She was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for her collection of short stories titled ‘Pata Dei and other stories’. ‘Pata Dei’ was published as ‘Lata’ in Femina in 1986 and its Hindi dramatisation was telecast in Doordarshan as a series called ‘Kashmakash’ in 1987.

She was the founder of the Odisha Lekhika Sansad, an organisation of Odia women writers.