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Nityananda Mahapatra was born on 17 June 1912 in the district of Bhadrak. He was the eldest son of the celebrated Odia poet Laxmikanta Mahapatra. He married Smt. Haripriya Debi. From his childhood, he was a brilliant student but left his studies when he was in class XI in Bhadrak high school to join the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and was imprisoned for one year. He was transferred from Balasore to Cuttack and then to Patna camp jail. In 1934, his book ‘Gandhi Buddha’ was prescribed by the government. He was arrested time and again in different phases of the freedom movement, one during individual satyagraha in 1940 and the Quit India Movement in 1942. He was arrested three times from 1930 to 1947. He came to literacy prominence as editor of Odia magazine Dagara, as a short story writer after independence. He was minister of Cultural affairs and food and civil supplies in Odisha in the Ministry headed by R N Singhdeo during 1967-71. He was a three-time MLA from the Bhadrak Assembly constituency, twice as an Independent and once as a Jana Congress candidate. Nityananda received the Odisha sahitya Akademi Award in 1974 and the kendriya sahitya Akademi award in 1987 for his novel ‘gharadhina’. His other books include ‘Bhangahada’, ‘kalagara Dharagara’, ’Nahonm Tistami Baikuthe’ and ‘Priya o priyatama’ He died on 17 April 2012 at around 9:45 in Bhubaneswar.