Annapurna Maharana

Annapurna Maharana
Born	(1917-11-03)3 November 1917 Odisha,India
Died	31 December 2012(2012-12-31)(aged 95) Cuttack,Odisha,India
Nationality	Indian
Known for	Freedom fighter,Social Activist
Spouse	Sharat chandra maharana
Children	Karmadev Maharana,Jaidev Maharana,

Annapurna Maharana(3 November 1917 – 31 December 2012) was anIndiapro-independence activist active in theIndian independence movement.She was also a prominent social andwomen's rights activist.Maharana was a close ally ofMahatma Gandhi.

Life

Maharana was born inOdishaon 3 November 1917, the second child of Rama Devi and Gopabandhu Choudhury.Both of her parents were active in the Indian independence movement from theUnited Kingdom.Maharana began actively campaigning for independence when she was fourteen years old, becoming a supporter ofMohandas Gandhi.In 1934, she joined Gandhi on his "Harijan Pada Yatra" march through Odisha fromPuritoBhadrak.Maharana was arrested several times by British andBritish Raj,including August 1942 during theQuit India Movementcivil disobediencecampaign.

Following independence, Maharana advocated on behalf of women and children in India. She opened a school in Odisha'sRayagada districtfor the children of the area'stribal population.Maharana also became involved with theBhoodan movement,or Land Gift Movement, started byVinoba Bhave.She further campaigned to integrate theDacoitsactive of the Chambal Valley.

Duringthe emergencyshe protested by helpingRamadevi Choudhurywith their newspaper published by the Gram Sevak Press. The newspaper was banned by the government and was arrested along with Ramadevi Choudhury and other leaders from Orissa likeNabakrushna Choudhuri,Harekrushna Mahatab,Manmohan Chowdhury, Jaykrushana Mohanty and others.

TheCentral University of Odishaawarded Maharana anHonoris Causa(honorary degree) in a ceremony held at her Cuttack home on 19 August 2012.

Maharana died of lengthy illnesses related to old age, at her home in Bakharabad,Cuttack,Odisha, at 10:30 p.m. on 31 December 2012, aged 96. Her late husband, Sarat Maharana, died in 2009. She was cremated with honors at the Khannagar crematorium in Cuttack on 2 January 2013.

Governor of OdishaMurlidhar Chandrakant BhandareandChief MinisterNaveen Patnaikdescribed her death as "irreparable loss" to India and Odisha.