Utkalbharati Kuntalakumari Sabhat was born in Jagdalpur in the erstwhile Bastar state, now under t she state of Chhattisgarh.  sher fat sher's name was Daniel Sabat and  her mother's name was Monica Sabat. Her grandfat sher was a resident of Dandamukundapur in Puri district. For some reason, her father moved to Bastar district. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Burma, where she remained until she was 18 years old. She later returned to Odisha with her mother. After returning from Burma, Kuntalakumari lived with her mother in Khordha for a short period.

After her studies at the Ravenshaw Girls' School, Kuntalakumari graduated from Cuttack Medical School (now Sri Ramchandra Bhanja Medical College) and received her LMP degree with a gold medal in 1921. At the time, women's education was not widespread. But behind her success was  her mother's direct encouragement. Mother always wanted her daughter to be highly educated. Apart from Odia language, Kuntalakumari was fluent in Bengali, English and Burmese. After medical education, she practiced in Cuttack from 1921 to 1927 under the supervision of Dr. Kailash Chandra Rao.  She then did her practice independently. In 1925, she was a female health inspector for the Red Cross Society.  She left for Delhi in 1926. Dr. Kailash Chandra converted to Brahma in order to marry Kuntalakumari, but the marriage was not possible.  She then joined the Arya Samaj and married Brahmachari Krishnaprasad Das. Kuntalakumari had two sons and two daughters.

Kuntalakumari raised her voice against the abominable caste system. Her writings against the Purdah system, child marriage, and gender inequality gave her a new identity. She also worked for widows and women's empowerment. Kuntalakumari was a shining star in the national Independence Movement.

Like in Odia, Kuntalakumari had also earned popularity in Hindi literature. She edited Hindi magazines such as Mahabir, Jeevan and Nari Bharati. In order to improve the Oriya language, she formed a committee in Delhi called the Bharati Tapoban Sangha. In 1925, the Mahila Bandhu Samiti honoured her with the title ‘Utkal Bharati’. Besides poetry, Kuntalakumari also wrote stories. Many of her works have been translated into English and other Indian languages.

Poetry

Poems

Novels

Story

Audio Poems