Ellora Patnaik, born on September 5, 1968, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a Canadian actress and accomplished Odissi dancer. She is the first child of Promod and Chitralekha Patnaik, who emigrated from Odisha, India, to Canada in the 1960s. Ellora has a younger brother, Devraj Patnaik. She began her acting journey at the age of three in a nursery school nativity play. Throughout her youth, she participated in numerous school plays and community theater productions. Her mother, a renowned Odissi dance guru, was her first instructor, and Ellora further honed her skills under esteemed mentors such as the late Padma Vibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra. She pursued acting studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1992 to 1994, becoming a member of the academy's company in her third year.