Durga Prasad Das, Dharmapada Awardee was born in the village of Dashapalla, Nayagada, Odisha in 1938. He went Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan and did his specialisation in painting. He began his career as a lecturer in Indian Painting at Government School of Art and Crafts, Khallikote. In 1967 and retired as a principal (1989-1996) from the said college in 1996.