[7] A pioneering figure in the world of sculpture and a Padma Vibhusan awardee – second highest civilian honour after the Bharat Ratna – the 78-year-old icon was born into a Biswakarma family in Puri's Pathuria Sahi.

His initial training in sculpting began at the age of eight under his grandfather Aparti Mohapatra, a sculptor who worked with the royal family of Puri for upkeep of Shri Jagannath Temple.

Although he did not have any formal training in sculpture, Mohapatra was an encyclopedia on Shilpa Sastra and began sculpting idols based on religious Hindu iconography from an early age.

A decade after, he won the prestigious Padma Shri in 1974 for creating a six-feet-tall grey stone statue of Sun god which is displayed at the Central Hall of Parliament.

In the period between, the legendary craftsman went on to create several masterpieces like Buddha statues in white sandstone at Dhauligiri Shanti Stupa, Konark horses at the Barabati Stadium and Master Canteen, Mukteswar Gate at Surajkund and a gigantic lotus at Rajiv Gandhi's samadhi at Vir Bhumi, both in New Delhi besides, Buddha statues in monasteries at Ladakh, Japan and Paris.

In his lifetime, he trained thousands of youths from within Odisha and other states in traditional sculpting and temple designing at his workshop at Sisupalgarh square on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.