Bhubaneswar: This year’s Padma awardees from Odisha embody the spirit of state’s rich cultural heritage and the great strides in literature and health sector.
The state list includes a 61-year-old sculptor who created the National Police Memorial and a 72-year-old neurosurgeon who led a team of surgeons, who successfully conducted the rare craniopagus surgery of conjoined twins Jaga and Balia of Odisha in 2017. An 80-year-old celebrated poet who struck a chord with readers by delving into human relationships and emotions and a 73-year-old Odissi guru who brought global prominence for Deba Prasad Das’ style of the classical dance form.
Sculptor Adwaita Charan Garanayak, Art
A recipient of the Lalit Kala Akademi award, he has worked with black granite stone all through his career.
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“I am pleased and cannot think that a man, from a remote village of Dhenkanal district, doing stone works could get such a prestigious award like Padma Shri. It is for the first time that a contemporary artist from Odisha has got this prestigious award. It is a matter a happiness having put in 45 years in this field,” Gadanayak told the media.
He also spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Art India’.
Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, Medicine
An alumnus of MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, Mohapatra was chief of the Neurosciences Centre at AIIMS, New Delhi and also served as the first director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar from 2012 to 2016.
In 2017, he led India’s first successful craniopagus surgery on 27-month-old twins, Jaga and Balia, who were conjoined at the skull and shared brain tissue, nerves, and major blood vessels. The separation surgery was later included in the Limca Book of Records.
Mahapatra also specialises in skull base surgery, addressing complex conditions requiring advanced techniques and precision.
He is currently the principal advisor (health sciences) to the Academy of Sciences and Research of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) deemed to be university in Bhubaneswar. He was also the former VC of the university. He was also listed as one of the world’s top 2 per cent scientists by the Stanford University in 2024.
“I have been doing my duty over the years without expecting an award. I am happy that my name was finally considered,” he told the media.
SOA’s Founder President Manojranjan Nayak expressed his happiness at the honour bestowed on Mahapatra and said it was a moment of great pride for the university.
Pratibha Satpathy, Literature, Education
Born at Satyabhamapur village in Cuttack, the noted poet of Odia literature gained prominence in the 1960s with her work ‘Sesha Janha.’ She inherited a passion for literature from her grandfather, the renowned Odia lexicographer Gopal Chandra Praharaj.
Her poetry expresses deep human sensibility in lucid form while attempting to explore the mystery of human relationships and beyond.
She was conferred with the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 2001 for her poetry collection ‘Tanmaya Dhuli’. Her other works include ‘Nimishe Akshara’, ‘Sabari’ and ‘Adha Adha Nakshyatra’, which resonate with the themes of life, nature, and humanity.
She was the editor of one of the leading Odia magazines ‘Istahaar’ for 25 years. Even today, she edits the quarterly poetry magazine ‘Udbhasa’, which promotes Odia poetry. Her writings have been translated into various Indian and foreign languages and she has also translated a number of famous English literatures of well-known writers such as Perl S Buck into Odia.
Satpathy has received numerous other awards, including the Jhankar Award, Orissa Sahitya Akademi Award, Sahitya Bharati Samman, and the Sarala Award.
“It is an honour and a responsibility too. I am happy that the government acknowledged my work. I will keep writing for the society,” she said.
Durga Charan Ranbir, Art
Born in 1951 in Kamaguru village in Khurda district, he is one of the most celebrated disciples of late Guru Deba Prasad Das. He also acquired proficiency in playing the Pakbawaj during his training at Utkal Sangeet Mabavidyalaya, Bbubaneswar.
He later founded his own institution, Nrutyayan, and has been creating new training techniques for Odissi while extending and propagating the vocabulary of the dance form developed by his guru for over five decades.
His significant contributions to Odissi have earned him several prestigious awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Veda Vyas Award from Bhanja Kala Kendra, and the Orissa Samman from the Orissa Press Academy.
Ranbir said that, though late, he is happy that the government considered his name for the award. “I used to think, if I have done anything for Odissi dance, then I will surely get the award one day with the blessings of Lord Jagannath,” he said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, in a post on X, congratulated the four Odia personalities for the honour.
“My heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to all the winners who are going to be honoured with the prestigious Padma Awards for their talent and lifelong dedication. In particular, the people of the state are proud of Odisha’s four Padma award winners, Dr Ashok Mahapatra in the field of medicine, artists Shri Adwaita Charan Gadanayak and Shri Durga Charan Ranbir in the field of art, and Smt Pratibha Satpathy in the field of literature and education. I pray to Lord Jagannath for a bright future for everyone. #PadmaAwardees.”
