Great Personalities of Jharkhand

Jharkhand has produced several famous personalities that have excelled in their field. These heroes have battled against all odds and have reached the pinnacle of success by their courage, determination and perseverance. Their lives have inspired a whole generation of Jharkhand State and continue to inspire youngsters.

Here are short biographies of few such heroes. These include people from all walks of life such as freedom fighters, leaders, litterateurs, writers, sport persons, Actors. Have a look at them:-

1. Great Birsa Munda

The life history of Birsa Munda will go down in the history of the tribals as a story of emancipation of his own people, who were subjected to prolonged suppression by the Britishers. He was an Indian freedom fighter, religious leader and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe. His achievements are even more remarkable for having been accomplished before the age of 25. His portrait hangs in the Central Hall of the Indian parliament, the only tribal leader till date to have been so honored.

His birth anniversary which falls on 15 November i.e. Jharkhand Divas, is still celebrated by tribal people in as far as Mysore and Kodagu districts in Karnataka, and official function takes place at his Samadhi Sthal, at Kokar Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.

 

2. Lance Naik Albert Ekka

Lance Naik Albert Ekka was a soldier in the Indian Army. He was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest award for valour in the face of the enemy. The son of Ranchi was honored by naming the major intersection in front of Firayalal store as Albert Ekka Chowk that also bears his statue.

On his name,  Rs. 3  stamp was released on the occasion of  India’s 50th Republic Day celebrations on 26th January 2000.  He died fighting in Indo-Pak battle of 1971.

He bayoneted the enemy holding the bunker and silenced the deadly weapon. This saved his company from further casualties and ensured success. Lance Naik Ekka died of the injuries suffered during this battle.

 

3. Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Here comes the Prince of Ranchi, I doubt if anybody doesn’t know Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

MS Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats. An attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket. Dhoni holds numerous captaincy records such as most wins by an Indian captain in Tests and ODIs, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs. He is the only captain in the world to have all the three ICC trophies on his crown. No doubt MSD is the pride of Ranchi and India.

 

4. Deepika Kumari

Deepika Kumari has already made Ranchi and India proud both on National and International Level by her Archery Skills. Yes, we are talking about this famous sports personality who is just 22 and currently World no. 5 in Women archery and she was also holding the 1st position at one point of time. She won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in the women’s individual recurve event.

She was conferred the Arjuna Award, India’s second highest sporting award in the year 2012 by President of India Pranab Mukherjee. Also, The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016.

 

5. R.Madhavan

Many of us don’t know that Jamshedpur is the birth place of famous Indian actor R.Madhavan. His father Ranganathan was a management executive in Tata Steel. He had a Tamil-speaking upbringing in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. He has been described as one of the few actors in India who is able to achieve pan-Indian appeal, appearing in films from seven different languages. He has won 2 Filmfare Awards.

 

6. Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay

Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay, a physician by profession, created the world’s second and India’s first child using in-vitro fertilisation. He was born in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand (then Bihar). He created history when working with Sunit Mukherji, a cryobiologist, and gynecologist Dr. Saroj Kanti Bhattacharya he became the first physician in India to perform the In vitro fertilisation resulting in a test tube baby “Durga” (alias Kanupriya Agarwal) on 3 October 1978.

Unfortunately, Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay was harassed by the state government(West Bengal Govt.), and not allowed to share his achievements with the international scientific community. Dejected, he committed suicide on 19 June 1981. His life and death has been the subject of countless newspaper reviews and inspired the Hindi movie Ek Doctor Ki Maut (Death of a doctor).

 

7. Aruna Mishra

Aruna Mishra is an Indian woman boxer. Mishra won gold in the World Championship in Norway in 2004 and also in the 10th and 11th Senior National Championships. She belongs to Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. Apart from Boxing, She is also a Police Inspector in Jharkhand Police.

 

8. Sailesh Kumar Bandopadhyay

Sailesh Kumar Bandyopadhyay was born at Chakradharpur, in the erstwhile Bengal, presently in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Sailesh Kumar Bandhopadyaya was a prolific writer and one of his books, Gandhi Parikrama, is prescribed by the University of Calcutta as text for the three year honors degree on Philosophy. He is awarded with Padma Bhushan in 2010.

 

9. Jaipal Singh Munda

Jaipal Singh Munda, born in Khunti, Jharkhand was a Munda tribal man, who captained the Indian field hockey team to clinch gold in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.

With a typical Munda ear for music, love for dance and theatre, the “man extraordinary” was destined to lead the Adivasi movement. A student of St John’s College, Oxford University, Jaipal graduated in 1926 with Honours in Economics. At Oxford he made a name as an all- rounder, excelling in studies, sports and in debating. He was an Oxford blue in hockey and a regular columnist on hockey in the London press. He was the president of the Junior Common Room at St John’s College, an honour not non-British student managed.

His dream came true on 15 November 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar. He is popularly known as “Marang Gomke” which means the Great Leader. This name was given to him by the tribal people of Chota nagpur region.

 

10. Premlata Agarwal

Premlata Agarwal is a mountain climber belongs to Jugsalai, Jamshedpur became the oldest Indian woman to have scaled the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest at the age of 48. She started mountaineering at the age of 37 and trained and mentored by Bachendri Pal. She currently works with Tata Steel and was named top Indian women achievers in 2012 by indiatimes.com.

 

There will be many more like the above individuals who are doing great at their respective domains and we are proud of them. 

Jai Jharkhand!!

Jai Hind!!