Krushna Chandra Gajapati, honorably known as Maharaja Sir Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Dev KCIE, was a key personality and regarded as the architect of an Independent united Odisha State.
. Gajapati was a scion of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty of Paralakhemundi, a Freedom Fighter, the first Prime Minister of Odisha and one of the founding fathers of the Indian Constitution, being a Member of the Constituent Assembly of India. The present-day Gajapati District of Odisha which was earlier a part of the historic Ganjam district was named after him.
He was interested in Odia culture including its literature, art and music. He was also interested in sporting, in particular, horse-riding.
Gajapati received his elementary education at the local Maharaja High School of Paralakhemundi and then entered the exclusive Newington College in Madras for higher studies. During his studies in Madras, he lost his father Shri Goura Chandra Gajapati. After completing his studies at Madras he returned to Paralakhemundi. Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapathi demanded a separate Odisha state with an amalgamation of Oriya speaking areas in the then Orissa-Bihar-Bengal province.

Finally, with the effort of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati and Utkal Sammilani, the separate state of United Odisha was formed on 1 April 1936. He was the Prime Minister of Odisha for the second time from 24 November 1941 to 30 June 1944.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Utkal University, the SCB Medical College, the famous Central Rice Research Institute in Bidyadharpur, Cuttack,and later MKCG Medical College & Hospital in Berhampur. He set up many hospitals, schools, colleges, industrial institutions, modern agricultural farms and provided a record number of 1281 irrigation sagars or water-tanks in his agriculturally dominant native taluk. Under Gajapati, scholarships were awarded to thousands of poor and meritorious students in humanities, science, agriculture, medicine, and engineering, among others.