Career
Bhima Bhol was a bhakta (Oriya: devotee) of Mahima Swamy (commonly referred to as Mahima Gosain and whose birth name is said to have been Mukunda Das). Bhima Bhoi was born in Kaliapali in 1850, though various sources have cited different years as well as different places of birth. Bhima Bhoi"s family belonged to the Khond tribe, a Dravidian-language speaking people found throughout Orissa and neighboring Andhra Pradesh.
Bhoi"s family was not well off and by most accounts his early life was not a happy one.
His father died when he was quite young.