Nityananda Mahapatra (1931- 2004) Dharmapada Awardee was born in the village of Puri, Odisha in 1931. He went to Government School of Art and Crafts, Lucknow. He began his career as a lecturer in said School, Lucknow and retired. At the end of 20th century among four artists of Uttar Pradesh, he was the one of them. He received the highest award of Uttar Pradesh Lalitkala Akademi and died in 2004.