P. K. Mahanandia
Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, born in 1949 in Kandhapada, Athmallik, Odisha, India, is an Indian-born Swedish artist. He grew up in an Odia weaving family and faced caste discrimination because his father belonged to the Pano caste and his mother was from the Khond tribe. He studied art in India, gaining fame for his portraits, including one of Indira Gandhi.
In 1975 he met Swedish student Charlotte Von Schedvin in Delhi. They married, and she returned to Sweden. When he could not afford a plane ticket, he decided to travel by bicycle to join her. On January 22, 1977, he set off, riding about 44 kilometers a day and earning money by drawing portraits for people along the way. His route went through Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, reaching Europe on May 28, 1977, before taking a train to Gothenburg.
They have two children, Siddharth and Emelie. Mahanandia became a respected artist in Sweden and has served as an adviser on art and culture for the government. His work has been shown worldwide and appeared on UNICEF greeting cards. He received an honorary doctorate from Utkal University of Culture in 2012 and was named the Odia Cultural Ambassador to Sweden by the Odisha government. In 2010, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali planned a film about their love story.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:38 (CET).