Statues of former Estate owner Kshirod Chandra Kanungo and his wife Mahindramani Kanungo were installed today in Salagan near Chowdwar in presence of Justice B.P.Das, Justice B.P.Roy and Justice Shatrughna Pujahari. Sri and Smt. Kanungo had passed away on August 10, 1999 and May 11, 2001 respectively. Both of them were highly humanitarian in nature. They were of immense spiritual quest and to them, education was the only way to emancipation. Hence, they had always helped whosoever was deserving help to have education.
Their 3rd son, eminent Mining Engineer Jatindranath and his wife Smrutirekha (Montreal, Canada) played key role in installation of the statues. 2nd son eminent Textile Technologist Ratindranath (Ahmedabad) conducted the ceremony. Eldest son-in-law Journalist Subhas Chandra Pattanayak released the souvenir containing tributes to the late couple by family members and friends. Kshirod babu’s eldest daughter Prof. Sabitarani Kanungo, second daughter-in-law Smt. Pratima Kanungo, second daughter Smt. Gitarani Kanungo (Reader, Rtd) and her husband Sisir Ranjan Mohanty (OAS Rtd), 3rd daughter Smt. Namita Kanungo and her husband Ananta Kumar Das (BDO Rtd) were present. The eldest son of the revered couple, internationally acclaimed academic in the fields of Psycology, Behavioral Science in Business management and Leadership, Prof. Rabindranath Kanungo, unable to attend the function due to age and health, sent the following message:
“They had a nature you could not help loving
And hearts that were purer than gold
And to those who knew them and loved them
Their memory will never grow cold”.
The event was a collective act of the children of Late Kanungo and of his beloved sister late Chhayamani Mohanty (wife of late Kishore Chandra Mohanty, OAS of Kakata, Kendrapada): Their eldest son Er. Bijay Kumar Mohanty (Chief Engineer Electricals Rtd) and his wife Smt. Priyambada Pattanayak (Reader Rtd), 2nd son Ashok Kumar Mohanty (Reader, Rtd) and his wife Smt. Basanti Mohanty, 3rd son Dr. Binaya Kumar Mohanty (Associate Prof. Endocrinology) and his wife Smt. Supriti Mohanty (Reader, Rtd), 4th son Dr. Amiya Kumar Mohanty (Addl. Director HE Rtd) and his wife Smt. Nirupama Mohanty, Eldest daughter Smt. Shubhalaxmi Mohanty and her husband Deba Prasad Mohanty (Central Govt. Audit Officer Rtd), 2nd daughter Smt Bhagya Laxmi Mohanty (Reader) and her husband Dr. Ajaya Kumar Das (Reader) were conspicuous by their active role in the function. Grand children and great grand children of both the Kanungo and Mohanty families – from brothers and the sisters – were present. Bijay and Priyambada’s grandsons – Ayananshu and Amrutanshu – recited Vedic hymns as the Statues were unveiled by the three hon’ble Judges.
Senior members of extended family such as Ullas Kanungo, Birendra Kumar Kanungo, Smt. Charulata Kanungo, Jagdish Kanungo, and Rituraj Kanungo were facilitated.
Felicitations were also offered to members of the younger generation of the family such as Adwiteeya Mohapatra, (granddaughter of Sabitarani and Subhas Chandra Pattanayak from their daughter Suchismita), Sujot Mohanty (grandson of Gitarani and Shisir Ranjan Mohanty through their 2nd son Jyotiranjan), and Ayananshu as well as Amrutanshu (grandsons of Bijay and Priyambada through their son Suchit)
At the podium of the statues, a village park namely Dadhibabana Udyana was inaugurated to mark the event and a health check up camp was held by Star Club of Salagan in collaboration with Age Care Associate, Bhubaneswar. As many as 950 patients from nearby villages including Salagan received free medical check up and advice, particularly in endocrinology from a team of eminent physicians such as Dr. G. C. Nayak (Medicine) and Prof. Dr. Binaya Kumar Mohanty, Dr. Soumyasudha Mangaraj, Dr. Debarttan Jena and Dr.Pratap Mishra (all endocrinologists). The health camp was inaugurated by the President of District Board Prasanta Kumar Behera.
Chief Guest Justice Bimal Prasad Das paying a glowing tribute to the late couple, lauded the family unity witnessed on the occasion and praised the people of the locality for their pure participation in such inspiring programs.
Brilliants students of the locality were conferred with Kshirod Chandra Kanungo Memorial Award, Mahindramani Kanungo Memorial Award sand Minati Kanungo Memorial Award. For these three awards, Rasmi Ranjan Satapathy, Gnana Ranjan Mohapatra and Jaya Prakash Swain were selected respectively on basis of their school performances. Famous Singer Ms. Anindita Das sung a few songs in honor of the revered couple.
Volunteers such as Rajat ranjan Das, Lalatendu Das, Soumya ranjan Das, Shubham Panda, Kamalesh Sahu, Pintu Behera, Sunita Mohanty, Krushna Chandra Behera, Rakesh Das, Biswa Bimohan Das, Dharmendra Choudhury made the event a grand success under the leadership of Tusarakant Kanungo and Gutu Kanungo, President and Secretary respectively of the Star Club.
A few relevant pictures:
