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Rajendra Narayan Singhdeo

Oriya politician Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo was the 33rd Chauhan king of the Balangir-Patna Gadjat out of the 24 Gadjats. He later held the post of Chief Minister of Odisha (1967-1971). Rajendra Narayan was born on March 31, 1912 in the Sadeikala dynasty as the son of his father Aditya Prasad Singh and mother Padmini Kumari. On January 1, 1922, Prithviraj Singhdeo, the childless king of Balangir-Patna, adopted him as his adopted son. After graduating from Mayer College in Ajmer, he studied government work in Hazaribagh and Munger. At the age of 20, he married Kailash Kumari, the daughter of Patiala Maharaj.

Rule-- Rajendra Narayan took office on February 3, 1933.

Education and social development-- After becoming king, his main task was to settle all the lands of the state, to give priority to the improvement of education, and to establish many primary and secondary English schools. Titilagarh High School and Balangir College in 1944, which later became known as Rajendra College, were successful. In 1946, a teacher training center was set up in Balangir. Special scholarships for gifted students and Horizon students. He organized the Annapurna Orphanage, carrying all the education of the orphans. In order to eliminate the discrimination of gold and gold, he issued a monarchy ordering all ethnic children to attend one school and allowing Horizon children to use higher caste sangha.

Cultural love-- He founded the Koshal Kalamandal to promote art. Chaturang, a literary magazine, was published as a cover art for his art. In addition, he published a magazine called "Ghalan" on behalf of the royal court. His royal family housed a rich library of books in Indian and foreign languages. The books were later donated to the Rajendra College Library. He formed two departments, the Department of Archeology and the Society for Historical Research, to protect the ancient heritage. Historians such as Kedarnath Mohapatra and Purnachandra Rath received his patronage. Women's empowerment-- She set up a women's club in Balangir to raise awareness among women. He set up a maternity ward, which was inaugurated by his wife, Kailash Kumari Devi, to make treatment easier for women. She encouraged ordinary people as well to take part in solving this great task: "One of the things you and other people can do is keep up the pressure ... there are going to be some difficult decisions for government". Influenced by him, his sister Rani Ratnaprabha Devi of Dhenkanal and Ras Manjari Devi, the queen of Tigiria, joined in direct politics.

Improvements in health care-- He set up many health centers for the benefit of the people. Ranjan Rashmi was the first to set up a medical center in Balangir. It was relocated to Cuttack after independence. In addition to employing experienced doctors there, he also set up an Ayurvedic hospital in Balangir. The hospital was named after Shardeshwari, according to Ramakrishna Paramahansa's wife, Sharda Devi. He set up a cattle ranch in the town of Balangir and arranged for the celebration of a better cow festival there.

Righteousness and social reform-- He was a devout man. In memory of his mother Kishori Mohan Devi, he built the Neelkantheshwar Temple and the Sriraghunath Temple between the two pools inside the palace. He performed the seven-day 'Vishnu Mahayagya' in 1939. On the advice of Pandit Arjun Hota, he was able to remove the practice of sacrifice from many temples. In 1939, he convened a conference of scholars, attended by more than 5,000 scholars. He encouraged ordinary people as well to take part in solving this great task: "One of the things you and other people can do is keep up the pressure ... there are going to be some difficult decisions for government". Every Saturday and Wednesday, anyone could go to the palace and express their grief. On his birthday in 1936, he lifted the custom of beti and begari from the people.

Pure rule-- The Patna Gadjat of Balangir had a special judicial system at that time. There was a high court in Balangir with three wise judges, which was rare in any other provincial state at the time.

Development of agriculture-- From February 26, 1939, for 10 days, he organized an exhibition of agricultural products and pets in Balangir. He encouraged ordinary people as well to take part in solving this great task: "One of the things you and other people can do is keep up the pressure ... there are going to be some difficult decisions for government". He organized the Ramai Football Tournament to show his love for sports. He himself played for the town team. He never hesitated to play with others. Prof. C.R.D. Naidu taught him yoga and pranayama.

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