Dr. Laxminarayan Sahu (3 October 1890 – 18 January 1963) was an eminent and noted writer, poet, journalist, social worker, reformer, historian, politician from

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, India. He was born in a village named Manikhamba near

Balasore Balasore, also known as Baleswar, is a city in the state of Odisha, about from the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balasore district and the largest city as well as heal ...

and was the only son of his father, Khetramohan Sahu and got degrees of M.A. and L.L.B. after graduation from school. He was a teacher of repute. He was noted for his writings and books recording the tribal myths of Odisha. His stories were connected with creation, heaven, and hell, life and death, which the tribal people of Odisha have been taken down from the lips to lips from generations. He was also deeply involved in promotion and preservation of folk dance and music of Odisha and Odia culture, language and literature. Apart from Odia he was also known for his writings in Hindi, Bengali, English and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

. His other famous stories are "Veena", "Sulata", "Control Room", poems " Pashara " and social story of "Springs of the Soul " etc. He was also editor of the Odia newspaper ''Sahakaara'' and English dailies - ''Vatarini'' and ''Star of Utkal''Laxminarayan Sahu
Balasore Official Website As a reformer, he fought against

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

and social evils against women. He was elected to Odisha Assembly in 1947 and was a member of

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

. He was noted for his fiery and to the fact debates while drafting of constitution of India and even

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

had to admit in context of arguments put forth by Laxminarayan Sahu that the Constitution was carrying contradictions, harmful enough to shatter India, unless removed by the people's representatives in the earliest opportunity. At the debate in Constituent Assembly of India, he is said to have thundered:- '' Mr. Kamath has quietly introduced in it the God too. Some people hold that there is no God. The people of India do not want God''. He was awarded

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in year 1955 for his contributions in field of Literature & Education. He was also given title of ''Ithihasaratna'' for his works and writings on history of Odisha. He was a member of

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

, President of Odisha Sahitya Academy and also a member of Servants of India Society. A school in

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

has been named after him as ''Lakshmi Narayan Sahu Mahavidyalaya''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahu, Laxminarayan 1890 births 1963 deaths Social workers from Odisha Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Activists from Odisha 20th-century Indian educational theorists Odia-language writers English-language writers from India Hindi-language writers Indian male journalists People from Balasore district 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian historians Scientists from Odisha 20th-century Indian male writers Poets from Odisha