Swayam Padhi

Early life and education

A 2018 OrissaPOST profile names his parents as Aarati and Santosh Kumar Padhi of Berhampur. He won district-level singing competitions at school and later studied at the Apex Institute of Technology and Management. His training covered classical music with Guru Krushna Maharana, Western music with Sharmi Chakraborty, and further lessons with Chitta Pani.

Music career

Padhi worked as a software engineer with Tata Consultancy Services in Bhubaneswar while building a following online with covers of Hindi songs. According to OrissaPOST, his version of a song from the Hindi film Padman drew more than three million views on YouTube. He was first runner-up in the third season of Voice of Odisha and reached the top 20 of Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

His first film songs included "Tu Nua Shayari" in Sundergarh ra Salman Khan, and by mid-2018 he had work lined up in further Odia films. Our film database lists him in more than 50 Odia films from 2018 onwards, among them Sriman Surdas (2018), Premare Rakhichi 100 Ru 100 (2019), Chirkut (2019), Ladhei (2025) and Chhaki Suna (2026).

He continued to release music independently. In January 2021 Odisha Bytes reported the release of "Bewajah Ishq", his first Hindi song, a romantic video featuring the actor Prakruti Mishra, which came out on his YouTube channel.

Awards and honours

Padhi was named best male playback singer at the 31st Odisha State Film Awards, announced in November 2021, for "Bhija Bhija Prema Chhita" from Dekhahela Premahela. When the state's awards for 2020–2022 were announced in November 2024, he won best male singer for 2021 for "Anabana Baatasabu Lage Aapana" from Trushna.

Personal life

OrissaPOST reported in 2018 that Padhi had married Eppsita Panigrahy, a fellow singer whom he knew from college.