Mangesh Keshav Padgaonkar was an iconic Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India. Padgaonkar was Born on 10 March 1929 in Vengurla, Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra. He received a Master of Arts degree in Marathi and Sanskrit from the University of Bombay. He taught Marathi at Matushree Mithibai College in Mumbai for several years, and then during the 1970–1990 period served as an editor at the US Information Service (USIS), both in Mumbai. He also worked as an assistant editor at the Sadhana (weekly) for some time. In 1983-84, he also penned University of Pune’s theme song Punyamayee De Amha Akshar Vardaan. It was Pu La Deshpande who had asked Mr. Padgaonkar to write this song in one day. It was then composed by music director Bhaskar Chandavarkar. In 2012, he was also honoured with Jeevan Sadhana Gaurav Puraskar by University of Pune for his contributions in the field of literature. He was President of the second Vishwa Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Dubai in 2010 and organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal. Mr. Padgaonkar received several awards, including the Sahitya Academy Award in 1980 for his collection of poems Salam, the MP Literary Conference Award in 1956, and the Maharashtra State Award in 1953 and 1955. In 2008, Mr. Padgaonkar was awarded with Maharashtra Bhushan Award. In 2013, he received Padma Bhushan Award.