Legendary poet Padma Shri Jayanta Mahapatra dies

Cuttack: Legendary poet Padma Shri Jayanta Mahapatra passed away this evening at the age of 95. He was undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

According to reports, the celebrated poet was admitted at the ICU of the medicine department of the hospital as he was suffering from Pneumonia and kidney related ailments since long. He recovered from his sickness but died at around 9 PM today following a heart attack.

Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended on the poet and writers fraternity in Odisha following the death of Mahapatra. Several important people from different sections of life rushed to the hospital to pay their rich tributes to the deceased poet.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, other politicians, Kandhamal MP and founder of KIIT and KISS Achyuta Samanta, Kadambini editor Dr. Itirani Samanta, and many others condoled Mahapatra’s death and prayed for his souls to rest in peace.

The Indian government had conferred him with the Padma Shri in 2009 for his contribution to literature. However, he returned the award in 2015 with the aim to protest the growing “moral asymmetry” in the country.

Jayanta Mahapatra, who is one of the greatest Odia litterateurs of all time, was the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry in 1981.