High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi (February 6, 1922 – January 17, 2011) was an Indian writer from Manipur, a Southeast Himalayan state in North-east India and a member of the erstwhile royal family of Manipur. She was notable for bridging the two worlds of ancient royalty and modern art. Born as a princess into a palace life which she lovingly recalled in a series of late essays, she made her name in the wider world as a novelist and a writer of short stories, essays, plays and award-winning screenplays, lyrics and ballet scripts. She received the Padma Shri in 1976, one of India’s highest civilian awards, followed by Sahitya Akademi Award given by Sahitya Akademi, India`s National Academy of letters) in 1979 for her novel Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi (The Princess and the Political Agent) based on the true life story of a Manipuri princess, daughter of Maharaj Surchandra Singh. However, she returned the Padma Shri to protest the alleged rape and killing of Thangjam Manorama by 17 Assam Rifles personnel in 2004.