Pandit Nilakantha Das, born in 1984 in  SriRamchandraPur, near Puri, grew up in British-ruled Odisha deeply aware of the poverty, loss of self‑respect, and helplessness of people around him. He believed that Odisha’s future depended on three important things: education that trained young minds to think freely, respect for the Odia language and culture as the binding force for the people, and reform to remove superstition and class distinction in the society. He wanted Odia youths to grow into brave, thoughtful, and conscientious citizens, ready to serve their state and their country.
He worked for this vision as a teacher, a freedom fighter, a public leader, and a writer. At the Satyabadi School he tried to shape a new kind of education. Through journalism and other writings, he awakened public conscience. In Delhi, he argued for a separate Odisha province based on language, and later worked to build institutions such as Utkal University and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi, believing that language and culture were the foundation of a strong society.
His love for Odisha led him to study its language, history, and spiritual traditions. He helped show that Odia was not just a dialect of Sanskrit but a classical language with its own transformative identity, and wrote deeply about Jagannath dharma as a faith that united people beyond caste and superstition. This refusal to compromise — whether in politics, religion, or public life — often cost him power and comfort, but he remained faithful to his ideals throughout his life.