Born :- 21-Oct-1935
Died :- 03-Jun-1991
Place of Birth :- Banaigada, Sundargada

RabiPatnaik, a bright star of Odia prose literature, was born in Banaigarh under Sundergarh district. However, his real ancestral village was Ambadiha village under Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district.

Rabi Pattanayak was born to father Krushnachandra Pattanayak and mother Sundarmani Devi. His father first worked as a teacher at the Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya and later as an official of the  Banaigarh royalty. He eventually returned to Rairangpur after retirement. By that time Rabi was only four or five years old. So his childhood was spent amidst the natural environment of the area.

A river on the east, the sky-touching hills on the north, the horizons on the south, west and east of with a road passing between his village Ambadiha and the hills created a perfect setting to shape Rabi’s mind for the future. The village Ambadiha is named so because it was set between two large mango orchards. Playing and growing in the lap of the bounteous nature, he studied and did his matriculation from Rairangpur High School. He also did his graduation with zoology and post-graduation with geology from Maharaja Purnachandra College. He joined the Geological Survey of India as a geologist and breathed his last while on job as Director of its Bhubaneswar branch.

Making his debut as a storyteller in the sixth decade of the twentieth century, Rabi Pattanayak dominated the scene for three decades and enriched Odia prose literature as a writer par excellence. He wrote over 240 stories during this period. More than one collections were specially compiled under the title ‘Best Stories of Rabi Pattanayak’. Three collections, published under the title ‘Rabi Pattanayak Galpa Samagra’ were also published. In total, he had 16 individual story books published — 12 during his lifetime, with four posthumous publications. The books published in his lifetime nclude ‘Asamajikara Diary’ (1967), ‘Andhagalira Andhakar’ (1977), ‘Raga Todi’ (1979), ‘Bahurupi’ (1979), ‘Hiranyagarbha’(1982), ‘Galpa’ (1982), ‘Bishuba Rekha’ (1983), 'Raajarani’ (1986), 'Bandhaagandhari' (1988), ‘Amarilata’ (1990), ‘Bichitrabarna’ (1991) and ‘Chhayaputrara Kaala’ (1991). His time was over with the publication of ‘Chhayaputrara Kaala’ and then followed, posthumously, the publication of ‘Megha Malhar’ (1992), ‘Prema O Pratima’ (1993), ‘Abinashwara’ (1993) and ‘Prajapatira Ghara’ (1995). Some of his stories still remain unpublished.

He received the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award (1984) for ‘Hiranyagarbha’. The Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (1992) was given posthumously for his ‘Bichitrabarna’. The same year, he was awarded the ‘Sharla Award’ jointly with Ramchandra Behera for his ‘Bandaagandhari’.

RabiPatnaik has used a lot of myths in his stories. Examples include Takshaka, Anasara, Belalsen, Bishara Mohanty, Mahisasura, Hiranyagarbha, Kapilbastura Paagala, Baaishipahacha, Jaajnaseni, Bandhyaagandhari, Prahlaad.

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