Founder Profile

Mr. Purnedu Mishra

Mr. Purnedu Mishra, a Post Graduate in Political Science from Delhi University, was born in Puri district in Orissa. A versatile personality, he was very popularly known as a writer, publisher, and speaker. He was the proprietor of Mishra Printers, Bhubaneswar.

As a great lover of children, he established an NGO named Sishu Mahotsav in 1996 and served as the secretary of the organization. He started a nursery school under the name Spring Doll School and served as the secretary of both the Children Festival and the Children's Book Fair.

In profession, he was a liaison officer in MESCO, but his love for literature made him a prolific writer of four short story books and one book of poetry in the Oriya language. In 1998, while actively dedicating himself to social and literary activities, destiny intervened: suffering from liver cancer, he left this world at the young age of 40.

About the Organization

Inspired by Spring Doll School, the founder decided to hold a state-level competition among school children and established an NGO named Sishu Mahotsav, taking a bold step forward to organize a Children's Book Fair. In 1996, the 1st Children Festival took place on 27th to 29th December at Kasturba Nari Mahal, Bhubaneswar, and in 1997, the 1st Children Book Fair was organized at Suchana Bhawan with ten book stalls — made possible through the tireless vision of late Sri Purnedu Mishra.

Following the untimely demise of the founder in 1998, a dedicated group of literate and multitalented women came forward to take care of the organization. The fair was rechristened Kalinga Book Fair and moved forward at Suchana Bhawan. While originally conceived as a children's event, the broader name attracted all kinds of publishers from across Odisha and all over India, growing from 10 to 50 stalls by the end of 2002.

In 2003, Kalinga Book Fair made a long jump over the narrow campus of Suchana Bhawan to the open environment of the Exhibition Ground, Bhubaneswar, expanding to over 100 stalls. Through all these successful years, the fair has never lost its core mission: encouraging talented children and recognizing literary greatness through the Purnedu Mishra Memorial Award honouring celebrated names in Odia literature, while awarding 80 to 100 students aged 4 to 20 years annually.