P K Mahanandia

Early life and education

P.K. Mahanandia was born on 1949 in an Odia weaver family, in Kandhapada village of Athmallik Sub-division in the district of Dhenkanal, Odisha, India. He attended the Mahendra High School, Athmallik and then joined Visva-Bharati to study art, despite his selection at the art school, it became impossible to pay the fee and he had to return home. He later joined Government College of Art and Crafts Khallikote, Odisha to study art. To satisfy his quest for art he joined College of Art, Delhi to study Fine Arts in 1971.

Portraiture and meeting Charlotte

While studying in Delhi College of Art, he shot into fame as portraiture by drawing the portrait of Indira Gandhi. He sought permission from the authorities to sit under the holy fountain at Connaught Place and draw portraits. It is here that he met Charlotte. She was a student in London who had driven all the way to India on a van in 22 days went to visit PK, to have her portrait made. The making of that portrait changed their lives as they fell in love with each other and married. Charlotte had to return to Sweden and asked Pradyumna to come with her, but he decided that one day he would go on his own. After she left, the two kept in touch through letters.

Later life

PK and Lotta (the nickname given by PK to Charlotte. Lotta is the Swedish shortname for Charlotte) married again in 1979. They have a son Siddharth (Karle) and a daughter Emelie. They are currently living in Charlotte's home town of Borås.

My tribe worshiped the forces of nature – fire, air, water - we did not personify them. My blues are the real sky; my greens are the nature as she is. To my motherland’s people, the sun is the highest God, the God of creation and life. The faces? Faces fascinate me. In every face there are a million different faces, a million different expressions. I want to penetrate this mystery – why are there all these expressions? What is the true nature of man? Art can reveal it to us.

Recognition

Pradyumna is well known in Sweden as an artist and is working as an Adviser, Art and Culture, under the Swedish Government. His paintings have been exhibited in major cities of the world and have found places in the prestigious UNICEF greeting cards. On 4 January 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree (Degree of Honoris Causa) from Utkal University of Culture (UUC) in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha state, India. He was also designated as the Oriya Cultural ambassador to Sweden by the Government of Odisha. Bollywood film maker Sanjay Leela Bhansali is planning to make a film on the love story of PK Mahanandia and Charlotte.