View source for Annapurna Maharana

{{Short description|Odia freedom fighter}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Annapurna Maharana
| image = Annapurna_Maharana_died_2012.jpeg
| alt = Annapurna Moharana
| caption = 
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|11|03|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Odisha]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2012|12|31|1917|11|03}}
| death_place = [[Cuttack]], [[Odisha]], India
| burial_place = 
| nationality = Indian
| other_names = 
| occupation = 
| known_for = [[Freedom fighter]], [[Social Activist]]
| spouse = Sharat chandra maharana
| children = Karmadev Maharana, Jnanadev Maharana
| honours = 
}}

'''Annapurna Maharana''' (3 November 1917 – 31 December 2012) was an [[India]] pro-independence activist active in the [[Indian independence movement]]. She was also a prominent social and [[women's rights activist]].<ref name=business>{{cite news|title=Noted freedom fighter Annapurna Maharana dies  |url=http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/noted-freedom-fighter-annapurna-maharana-dies/103191/ |agency=[[Press Trust of India]]  |work=[[Business Standard]]|date=2013-01-01 |access-date=2013-01-07}}</ref> Maharana was a close ally of [[Mohandas Gandhi]].<ref name=timesofindia>{{cite news|title=Annapurna Maharana cremated  |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-03/bhubaneswar/36130072_1_state-honours-freedom-struggle-veteran-freedom-fighter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615224639/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-03/bhubaneswar/36130072_1_state-honours-freedom-struggle-veteran-freedom-fighter |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-06-15 |date=2013-01-03 |work=[[The Times of India]]  |access-date=2013-01-07}}</ref>

==Life==
Maharana was born in [[Odisha]] on 3 November 1917, the second child of Rama Devi and Gopabandhu Choudhury.<ref name=business/><ref name=od>{{cite news|title=Odisha: Freedom fighter Annapurna Maharana passed away|url=http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=38594|work=[[Orissa Diary]]|date=2012-12-31|access-date=2013-01-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313062625/http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=38594|archive-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> Both of her parents were active in the Indian independence movement from the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name=business/> Maharana began actively campaigning for independence when she was fourteen years old, becoming a supporter of [[Mohandas Gandhi]].<ref name=business/> In 1934, she joined Gandhi on his "Harijan Pada Yatra" march through Odisha from [[Puri]] to [[Bhadrak]].<ref name=business/> Maharana was arrested several times by British and [[British Raj]], including August 1942 during the [[Quit India Movement]] [[civil disobedience]] campaign.<ref name=business/>

Following independence, Maharana advocated on behalf of women and children in India.<ref name=business/> She opened a school in Odisha's [[Rayagada district]] for the children of the area's [[India tribal belt|tribal population]].<ref name=business/> Maharana also became involved with the [[Bhoodan movement]], or Land Gift Movement, started by [[Vinoba Bhave]].<ref name=business/> She further campaigned to integrate the [[Dacoits]] active of the Chambal Valley.<ref name=timesofindia/>

During [[The Emergency (India)|the emergency]] she protested by helping [[Ramadevi Choudhury]] with 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 like [[Nabakrushna Choudhuri]], [[Harekrushna Mahatab]], Manmohan Chowdhury, Jaykrushana Mohanty and others.<ref>Orissa: the dazzle from within (art, craft and culture of ...by G. K. Ghosh - 1993 - - Page 37</ref>

The [[Central University of Odisha]] awarded Maharana an [[Honoris Causa]] ([[honorary degree]]) in a ceremony held at her Cuttack home on 19 August 2012.<ref name=od2>{{cite news |title=Central University Odisha confers Honoris Causa to Annapurna Moharana |url=http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=35957 |work=Odisha Diary |date=2012-08-19 |access-date=2013-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311212917/http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=35957 |archive-date=11 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Maharana died of lengthy illnesses related to old age at her home in Bakharabad, [[Cuttack]], Odisha, at 10:30&nbsp;p.m. on 31 December 2012, at the age of 96.<ref name=business/> She was survived by two of her sons.<ref name=business/> Her late husband, Sarat Maharana, died in 2009.<ref name=business/> She was cremated with honors at the Khannagar crematorium in Cuttack on 2 January 2013.<ref name=timesofindia/>

[[Governor of Odisha]] [[Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare]] and [[Chief Minister of Odisha|Chief Minister]] [[Naveen Patnaik]] described her death as "irreparable loss" to India and Odisha.<ref name=business/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Indian independence movement}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maharana, Annapurna}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Odisha]]
[[Category:Indian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:People from Cuttack]]
[[Category:Women educators from Odisha]]
[[Category:Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India)]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:Indian reformers]]
[[Category:Women Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Indian women publishers]]
[[Category:Indian publishers (people)]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Indian women journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Indian newspaper journalists]]
[[Category:Women writers from Odisha]]
[[Category:Journalists from Odisha]]
[[Category:Educators from Odisha]]