She was born on 19th June 1931 at Balibishi village of Kendrapara district.
As a child artiste she had started her acting career at the tender age of eight years after joining Annapurna Theatre.
She had acted in over 40 feature films (28 Odia films) and also acted in over 100 plays during her long and illustrious acting career.
And her 14 films have got the national award, with her debut film Sri Loknath in 1960.
As a leading actress she had performed in many well-known films like Bhai Bhauja, Laxmi, Malajanha, Kaa, Abhinetri and Suryamukhi, which also bagged a number of awards.
Awards and Honours:
The Odisha state՚s highest cine award Jayadev Purashkar for her lifetime achievements in 2000.
She also had served as accredited singer at All India Radio (AIR) , aka, Akashvani.
Manimala Devi was trained into Odissi dance by Kabichandra Kalicharan Patnaik.
In her entire career she had performed in at least 100 plays spanning over 50 years.