Surendra Mohanty (21 June 1922[1]- 21 December 1990) born in Odisha was an Indian author who wrote in Odia.
His well-known books are Mahanagarira Ratri (The Night of the Metropolis), Maralara Mrutyu (The Death of a Swan), Andha Diganta (The Dark Horizon), and Mahanirvana (The Final Departure).
The events of the novel take place between the years 1727 and 1736 when Ramachandradev, the king of Khurda who is revered by the people of Orissa as the representative of Jagannath, the presiding deity of the Oriya race, converts himself into Islam and marries the daughter of the Muslim ruler of Cuttack.
It is an intense portrayal of the religious and cultural tradition of Orissa which is still an integral part of Oriya racial consciousness.
"Ajibakara Attahasa" is set in the third century BC when Buddhism was in a state of decadence, eventually culminating in its bifurcation into the Mahayana and Hinayana sects.
It is an irony of history, the novel suggests, that Ashoka who killed lakhs of Oriyas in the Kalinga war is idolized as a great hero and a model king.