Dhrubendra Chandra Bhanja Deo became an air force pilot and died in action during the Second World War.

[5] Maharaja died due to an accident, while on a hunting trip, when he was accidentally injured by the bullet fired from the gun of his brother-in-law (brother of Sucharu Devi).

He also started an English High School with boarding facility, a government Press, a fully equipped hospital and a leper asylum in Baripada.

The famous Chhau dance of Orissa or "war-dance" was presented by him for a show in 1912 in Calcutta in honor of George V, the British emperor, who was impressed by its beauty and splendour.

[8] He was also a patriot and great patron of the Odia language and presided over the first meeting of Utkal Samilani held on 3 December 1903.

[2] He and his father Maharaja Krushna Chandra Bhanja Deo[10] are widely acknowledged as the makers of modern Orissa.