Raghunath Mohapatra Biography 
Raghunath Mohapatra is an architect and sculptor from the state of Odisha, also known as a politician. He has been nominated to Rajya Sabha and has been serving as a parliamentarian since 14 July 2018. Known for his outstanding contributions towards the fields of Indian arts, architecture, crafts and sculptures, government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 1976, Padma Bhushan in 2001 and Padma Vibhushan in 2013. An artist deeply rooted in indigenous forms of sculpture, he is also a recipient of National award for sculpture in the year 1964. He has formerly served as a senior instructor and superintendent of Handicraft training & designing center at Bhubaneshwar since 1963, and widely regarded as a great expert of Indian crafts.
Raghunath Mohapatra was born on 23 March 1943 into a family of traditional stone carvers in the temple town of Puri. He is a descendant of illustrious sculptors who have carved stones in the temples of Konark and Puri. He also holds the true tradition of Odisha using his magic fingers. Now he is an artist of international repute. For his work, he has made deep study and research works of Shilpa shastra from ancient palm leaves and also traditional style of sculpturing. Mohapatra excelled in the form at an early age, and didn’t even complete his formal education. He studied till class three only, but earned a national award at the age of 22.
As per latest biz, he is to build a second sun temple on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar with an estimated cost around Rs 600 crore. He has already made repeated requests to government agencies to green light the project. His aim was to give visitors a glimpse of the true glory of the original Sun Temple, built in Konark the 13th century. More than 2,000 students have learnt at his training centre in Odisha, with 25-30% students winning state and national awards. He has also worked towards the preservation of traditional sculpture and ancient monuments, such as the Sri Jagannath Temple in his hometown.
Published: March 01, 2019
Updated: March 01, 2019
