Ganakabi Baishnab Pani was born on the night of Kumar Purnima in 1882 at Kothapada village in Cuttack district in a Brahmin family to father Sudarsan Pani and mother Chanda Devi. He was named Satrughna by his parents. In his childhood he suffered from various diseases and his parents were unable to provide him with treatment. Then they dedicated the child to Lord Jagannath under a banyan tree of Badachhata mutt in Puri and changed his name from Satrughna to Baishnab.At the age of 21, he wrote ""Meghanada Baddha"" in 1903. His prominent writings were based on mythological plots with incorporation of contemporary socio-economic and political issues of society. Baishnab Pani wrote 600 books which include 150 yatras, 19 farces and 65 anthologies of lyrics, poems, stories and other literary pieces. Some of his popular yatras include ""Dronacharya Baddha"" in1928, ""Karna Arjuna"" in 1929, ""Rangasabha"" in 1930, ""Daksha Yajna"" in 1932, ""Karnadana Parikshya"" in 1951.Recognizing his contributions to the Odia yatra and literature, the Utkal Sahitya Samaj awarded him ""Ganakabi"" at a function held at Banipitha Sriram Chandra Bhawan, Cuttack posthumously. Ganakabi Baishnab Pani died on May 10th, 1956.