Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das

Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das was born on 28 April 1848 in a village called Satyabhamapur, 20 kilometers from Cuttack, Odisha. He was known as "Utkal Gourav" which means Pride of Utkal and was a Poet, Freedom Fighter. He was the first Graduate and Advocate of Orissa. He was born to father Choudhury Raghunath Das and mother Parbati Debi. They had initially named him Gobindaballabh. Later they changed his name to Madhusudan. He had two elder sisters and a younger brother named Gopalballabh. 

He had adopted a daughter, by name Shailabala, in whose name the famous Shailabala Womens College was founded. Shailabala was a Bengali, and her parents had left her in the care of Madhusudan Das and his wife at Calcutta. Madhubabu had taught Ashutosh Mukherjee the former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University in Calcutta.

Madhusudan Das had his early education in the village school. He had studied many subjects, including Persian, from a Maulvi. After his early education, he moved to Cuttack High School (later known as Ravenshaw Collegiate School) which offered English education. In 1864, he passed the Entrance examination and went to Calcutta for Higher Education in the renowned Calcutta Universiry. In spite of uttermost challenging conditions he lived in Calcutta for almost fifteen years (1866 to 1881). In 1870, he became the first Oriya to complete B.A. He continued his studies in Calcutta to complete his M.A. and B.L. degrees, thus becoming the first ever scholar of Orissa to achieve these feet.

After returning to Orissa from Calcutta in 1881, he started his legal practice. His insight knowledge on this field helped him to earn sufficiently and spend for the widespread. 'Madhu Babu' as acknowledged by the common people, was a stupendous personality in politics. He worked untiringly for the political, social and economical upliftment of people of Orissa and served his mother-nation as a lawyer, social reformer and patriot. He founded Utkal Sammilani which brought a revolution in the social and industrial development of Orissa.

He has always been admired as a great Legislator and Journalist. He was the first Oriya to be the member of both Llegislative Council and Central Legislative Assembly. He was the first Indian Minister. He was also the first Oriya to sail overseas.

He founded Utkal Tannery in 1905, a factory producing shoes and other leather products. In 1897 he founded Orissa Art Ware Works. With his support, the Tarakashi work of gold and silver ornaments achieved commendable feet.  As a writer and poet, patriotism was always been the reflection of his works. He penned a number of articles and poems in both English and Odia. Some of his important poems are “Utkal Santan”, “Jati Itihash” and “Jananira Ukti” etc. He was also a influential speaker in Oriya, Bengali and English.

He sacrificed his whole life for the welfare of his country and people. He spent all his wealth for the sake of the country and declared himself as an insolvent. He died on 4 February 1934. Mahatma Gandhi described him as a great Indian patriot who wore himself out in giving shape and reality to various nation-building schemes.

Gopabandhu Dash

Gopabandhu Das who is known to every Oriya family was born on 9th October 1877 in a small village called Suando in the Satyabadi police station of Puri district. The village is situated on

the bank of river Bhargavi, a sacred river for the people of coastal Orissa. He was the son of Sri Daitari Das and his third wife Srimati Swarnamayee Devi. Gopabandhu graduated from Cuttack. He lost his father before joining Ravenshaw College. He took time to adjust to the new environment. His personality attracted friends. Gopabandhu has created some memorable literary pieces named as “Go Mahamya”, “Nachiketa Upakhyana”, “Karakabita” and “Dharmapada”. 

He formed 'Kartavya Bodhini Samiti' to engage his friends for discussion on socio-economic and political problems. During his Ravenshaw days, he along with Acharya Harihara and Braja Sundar Das engaged himself in helping the flood victims. During his studentship at Cuttack he lost a newly born son. Further his social service affected his educational pursuit. Due to this he was failed in B.A examination and he got this degree in the second attempt. 

Later he went to Calcutta where he did both M.A. and LL.B. As an educationist he was responsible for establishment of Satyabadi School at Satyabadi in the Puri District. Imbued with patriotic fervour the students of Satyabadi School were known as indefatigable fighters against British Imperialism. Gopabandhu regarded politics as an instrument of service to the people. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, Gopabandhu was one of the Noblest Sons of Orissa. 

His spirit of service and sacrifice finds an apt echo in his following lines. “Let my body mingle in the dust of my motherland and let my countrymen walk across it”. On June 17, 1928 Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, the jewel of modern Utkal died at the age of only fifty-one. Though, he is no more yet his memory remains in the hearts of millions of people.