Eminent neurosurgeon Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra passed away on the night of 2 November 2026 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. He was 74 and was undergoing treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The Padma Shri 2025 awardee was best known for leading the historic separation of Odisha conjoined twins Jaga and Kalia and for building AIIMS Bhubaneswar from scratch.
Who Was Ashok Kumar Mahapatra?
Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra was an eminent neurosurgeon from Odisha who served at AIIMS New Delhi for nearly 42 years. He was born on 29 December 1952 in Puri district, Odisha, and rose from a village school to become one of the most widely recognised brain surgeons in India.
Mahapatra completed his early schooling at Biranarasinghpur village in Puri district and his intermediate science course at S.C.S. College, Puri. He then joined Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital (MKCG) in Berhampur, where he completed his MBBS in 1975. After that, he moved to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, which was created by an Act of Parliament in 1956 to set standards for medical education in India. At AIIMS New Delhi, Mahapatra earned his MS in surgery in 1979, MCh in neurosurgery in 1982 and DNB in 1983. He joined the neurosurgery faculty at AIIMS in 1983 and later served as head of the neurosurgery department, chief of the Neurosciences Centre and dean of research.
Neurosurgery is the branch of medicine that deals with surgery of the brain, spinal cord and nerves. Within this field, Mahapatra specialised in complex brain surgery, paediatric neurosurgery (surgery of the nervous system in children) and neurotrauma (injuries of the brain and spine).
How Did Ashok Mahapatra Die?
Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra died on the night of 2 November 2026 at AIIMS New Delhi at the age of 74. He was undergoing treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive and fast growing form of brain cancer. He was survived by his wife and daughter.
Mahapatra had first complained of headache in Bhubaneswar and was admitted to a private hospital there. As his condition worsened, he was airlifted to AIIMS New Delhi in late September and early October 2026 for advanced care. Doctors performed surgery on 5 October 2026. His condition did not improve after the procedure.
His mortal remains were brought to Bhubaneswar on 3 November. A condolence meeting was held at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, attended by faculty, students, officers and staff. His last rites were performed at Swargadwar in Puri. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and leaders across parties expressed grief and recalled his service to health care and medical education.
What Made the Jaga and Kalia Surgery Historic?
The defining achievement of Dr Mahapatra’s career was the successful separation of conjoined twins Jaga and Kalia (also reported as Jagannath and Balaram, and Jaga and Balia) from Kandhamal district, Odisha, in 2017. The twins were joined at the head, a condition called craniopagus. In this rare condition, the babies share skull, brain tissue and the veins that carry blood from the brain to the heart.
Craniopagus is extremely rare. It occurs in about one in 25 lakh to 30 lakh live births. Any operation carries a very high risk to the life of one or both children. Before 2017, only a small number of such separations had succeeded in the world in the previous 50 years. The AIIMS operation was reported as the first successful craniopagus separation in India where both children survived, and it entered the Limca Book of Records.
Dr Mahapatra, then chief of the Neurosciences Centre at AIIMS New Delhi, headed the multidisciplinary team. The team included about 30 specialist doctors from neurosurgery, neuroanaesthesia, plastic surgery, cardiology, neurology, nephrology and paediatrics, supported by more than 50 nursing and support staff.
| Stage | Date | What Was Done |
|---|---|---|
| Admission and planning | July 2017 | Twins, then aged about two years, were admitted to AIIMS New Delhi. Doctors used 3D imaging and printed brain models to plan the operation. |
| First surgery | 28 August 2017 | Doctors created a venous bypass to separate the shared veins and carried out partial brain separation. The operation lasted more than 20 hours. |
| Final separation | 25 October 2017 | Doctors separated the brains and blood vessels. The twins were physically separated after an operation of about 11 to 20 hours. Plastic surgeons then covered the defects with skin grafts taken from other parts of the body. |
The Odisha government sanctioned ₹1 crore for the treatment and continued to support rehabilitation. After two years of observation in Delhi, the children were moved to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for further care. Doctors later reported that Jaga showed steady development, while Kalia needed long term rehabilitation support with intellectual impairment.
How Did Mahapatra Build AIIMS Bhubaneswar and Lead Other Institutions?
Dr Mahapatra combined surgery with institution building at three major centres.
As director of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, from 2006 to 2009, he completed more than 10 projects. These included the School of Telemedicine, Liver Transplant Centre, Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, Advanced Paediatric Centre and Trauma Centre. Six new departments were started during his tenure, including hospital administration, paediatric surgery, pulmonary medicine, maternity and reproductive health, neonatology and molecular medicine.
As the founder director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar from 2012 to 2016, he built the institute from scratch. AIIMS Bhubaneswar was one of the six new AIIMS institutions approved by the central government to reduce regional gaps in super specialty care. Within four years, Mahapatra started MBBS, BSc Nursing (Hons), postgraduate, DM and MCh super specialty courses and BSc Medical Technology courses. The institute began functioning with classrooms, laboratories, hospital services and faculty recruitment completed in a short period.
After returning to AIIMS New Delhi, he retired as dean of research. From 2020 to 2022, he served as Vice Chancellor of Siksha O Anusandhan (SOA) Deemed to be University in Bhubaneswar. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the SOA group under his medical guidance created more than 2,600 dedicated Covid beds across Odisha and supported testing and vaccine trials at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital. In his final role, he worked as Principal Advisor in Health Sciences and Medical Advisor to SOA.
What Was the Scale of His Research and Teaching?
Dr Mahapatra published about 870 research papers, wrote 16 books and contributed more than 140 book chapters. His work received more than 26,800 citations, with an H index of 64. The H index is a number that measures both the count and influence of a researcher’s papers. He guided 12 PhD scholars and led more than 20 research projects in 30 years.
He helped develop paediatric neurosurgery, neurotrauma, skull base surgery and peripheral nerve surgery in India. Peripheral nerves are the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. He was the founder president of the Neurological Surgeons Society of India set up in 2011 and the Indian Society of Peripheral Nerve Surgery set up in 2011.
Over four decades, he received about 75 awards, delivered 17 orations and earned several lifetime achievement honours. He was a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2022, he received the C.V. Raman Award for Scientific Excellence from the Odisha Bigyan Academy. He was counted among the top neurosurgeons in India and figured in global lists of highly cited scientists.
What Is the Padma Shri Award He Received in 2025?
The Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award of India, after the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan. It was instituted on 2 January 1954. The award recognises distinguished service in fields such as art, medicine, science, education, sports, social work and public affairs. The winners are announced on the eve of Republic Day every year and the awards are presented by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, usually in March or April.
Dr Mahapatra was named in the Padma Awards 2025 list announced on 25 January 2025. He was one of four Odisha personalities selected that year and one of 10 doctors honoured with the Padma Shri in medicine. President Droupadi Murmu conferred the award on him on 28 April 2025 at the Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The citation noted his four decades of service in neurosurgery, institution building and research.
In 2025, the President approved 139 Padma Awards, including 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards. As of 2025, a total of 483 persons had received the Padma Shri in medicine.
Key Takeaways
- Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra died on 2 November 2026 at AIIMS New Delhi at the age of 74 while under treatment for glioblastoma.
- He led the 2017 Jaga and Kalia craniopagus separation at AIIMS New Delhi, the first successful surgery of its kind in India.
- He served as founder director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar (2012 to 2016) and director of SGPGIMS Lucknow (2006 to 2009).
- He authored about 870 papers, 16 books and 140 chapters, with more than 26,800 citations and an H index of 64.
- President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Shri 2025 on him on 28 April 2025 for distinguished service in medicine.
