Laxman Nayak or Laxman Naik (November 22, 1899 – March 29, 1943) was a civil rights activist of South Orissa in eastern India. He belonged to Bhuyan tribe of Odisha.
Nayak, an Odia folk-hero of Koraput of southernmost part of Orissa and a cult-figure among its tribals, was born in Tentuliguma village of the Koraput district and his father Padlam Nayak was a tribal chief and 'Mustadaar' under 'Jeypore Samasthanam' in the then Madras Presidency.
Nayak organised the rebels successfully against exploitation by the officials of Jeypore Samasthanam. This brought him recognition as a potential tribal leader and the National Congress admitted Nayak into its fold.
Responding to the call of Mahatma Gandhi, Nayak led a procession on August 21, 1942 and demonstrated peacefully in front of Mathili Police Station. The police however fired at the demonstrators indiscriminately, which killed forty and injured more than two hundred people. The administration implicated Nayak in a case of murder and the death sentence was pronounced on him on November 13, 1942. He was hanged on March 29, 1943 in Berhampur Jail.
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