diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index b9a34960646..1a9cbcaf7e1 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -290,6 +290,7 @@ Release 0.91.0 - Unreleased
    HBASE-4003  Cleanup Calls Conservatively On Timeout (Karthick Sankarachary)
    HBASE-3516  Coprocessors: add test cases for loading coprocessor jars
                (Mingjie Lai via garyh)
+   HBASE-4036  Implementing a MultipleColumnPrefixFilter (Anirudh Todi)
 
   TASKS
    HBASE-3559  Move report of split to master OFF the heartbeat channel
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/MultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/MultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b9ff17ae8e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/MultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.filter;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.DataInput;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Comparator;
+import java.util.TreeSet;
+
+/**
+ * This filter is used for selecting only those keys with columns that matches
+ * a particular prefix. For example, if prefix is 'an', it will pass keys will
+ * columns like 'and', 'anti' but not keys with columns like 'ball', 'act'.
+ */
+public class MultipleColumnPrefixFilter extends FilterBase {
+  protected byte [] hint = null;
+  protected TreeSet<byte []> sortedPrefixes = createTreeSet();
+
+  public MultipleColumnPrefixFilter() {
+    super();
+  }
+
+  public MultipleColumnPrefixFilter(final byte [][] prefixes) {
+    if (prefixes != null) {
+      for (int i = 0; i < prefixes.length; i++) {
+        if (!sortedPrefixes.add(prefixes[i]))
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException ("prefixes must be distinct");
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  public byte [][] getPrefix() {
+    int count = 0;
+    byte [][] temp = new byte [sortedPrefixes.size()][];
+    for (byte [] prefixes : sortedPrefixes) {
+      temp [count++] = prefixes;
+    }
+    return temp;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public ReturnCode filterKeyValue(KeyValue kv) {
+    if (sortedPrefixes.size() == 0 || kv.getBuffer() == null) {
+      return ReturnCode.INCLUDE;
+    } else {
+      return filterColumn(kv.getBuffer(), kv.getQualifierOffset(), kv.getQualifierLength());
+    }
+  }
+
+  public ReturnCode filterColumn(byte[] buffer, int qualifierOffset, int qualifierLength) {
+    byte [] qualifier = Arrays.copyOfRange(buffer, qualifierOffset,
+                                           qualifierLength + qualifierOffset);
+    TreeSet<byte []> lesserOrEqualPrefixes =
+      (TreeSet<byte []>) sortedPrefixes.headSet(qualifier, true);
+
+    if (lesserOrEqualPrefixes.size() != 0) {
+      byte [] largestPrefixSmallerThanQualifier = lesserOrEqualPrefixes.last();
+      
+      if (Bytes.startsWith(qualifier, largestPrefixSmallerThanQualifier)) {
+        return ReturnCode.INCLUDE;
+      }
+      
+      if (lesserOrEqualPrefixes.size() == sortedPrefixes.size()) {
+        return ReturnCode.NEXT_ROW;
+      } else {
+        hint = sortedPrefixes.higher(largestPrefixSmallerThanQualifier);
+        return ReturnCode.SEEK_NEXT_USING_HINT;
+      }
+    } else {
+      hint = sortedPrefixes.first();
+      return ReturnCode.SEEK_NEXT_USING_HINT;
+    }
+  }
+
+  public void write(DataOutput out) throws IOException {
+    out.writeInt(sortedPrefixes.size());
+    for (byte [] element : sortedPrefixes) {
+      Bytes.writeByteArray(out, element);
+    }
+  }
+
+  public void readFields(DataInput in) throws IOException {
+    int x = in.readInt();
+    this.sortedPrefixes = createTreeSet();
+    for (int j = 0; j < x; j++) {
+      sortedPrefixes.add(Bytes.readByteArray(in));
+    }
+  }
+
+  public KeyValue getNextKeyHint(KeyValue kv) {
+    return KeyValue.createFirstOnRow(
+      kv.getBuffer(), kv.getRowOffset(), kv.getRowLength(), kv.getBuffer(),
+      kv.getFamilyOffset(), kv.getFamilyLength(), hint, 0, hint.length);
+  }
+
+  public TreeSet<byte []> createTreeSet() {
+    return new TreeSet<byte []>(new Comparator<Object>() {
+        @Override
+          public int compare (Object o1, Object o2) {
+          if (o1 == null || o2 == null)
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException ("prefixes can't be null");
+
+          byte [] b1 = (byte []) o1;
+          byte [] b2 = (byte []) o2;
+          return Bytes.compareTo (b1, 0, b1.length, b2, 0, b2.length);
+        }
+      });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..527d1416936
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.filter;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseTestingUtility;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HColumnDescriptor;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HRegionInfo;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HTableDescriptor;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValueTestUtil;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Put;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Scan;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.HRegion;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver.InternalScanner;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Bytes;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter {
+
+  private final static HBaseTestingUtility TEST_UTIL = new
+      HBaseTestingUtility();
+
+  @Test
+  public void testMultipleColumnPrefixFilter() throws IOException {
+    String family = "Family";
+    HTableDescriptor htd = new HTableDescriptor("TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter");
+    htd.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(family));
+    // HRegionInfo info = new HRegionInfo(htd, null, null, false);
+    HRegionInfo info = new HRegionInfo(htd.getName(), null, null, false);
+    HRegion region = HRegion.createHRegion(info, HBaseTestingUtility.
+        getTestDir(), TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration(), htd);
+
+    List<String> rows = generateRandomWords(100, "row");
+    List<String> columns = generateRandomWords(10000, "column");
+    long maxTimestamp = 2;
+
+    List<KeyValue> kvList = new ArrayList<KeyValue>();
+
+    Map<String, List<KeyValue>> prefixMap = new HashMap<String,
+        List<KeyValue>>();
+
+    prefixMap.put("p", new ArrayList<KeyValue>());
+    prefixMap.put("q", new ArrayList<KeyValue>());
+    prefixMap.put("s", new ArrayList<KeyValue>());
+
+    String valueString = "ValueString";
+
+    for (String row: rows) {
+      Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      for (String column: columns) {
+        for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
+          KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
+              valueString);
+          p.add(kv);
+          kvList.add(kv);
+          for (String s: prefixMap.keySet()) {
+            if (column.startsWith(s)) {
+              prefixMap.get(s).add(kv);
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      region.put(p);
+    }
+
+    MultipleColumnPrefixFilter filter;
+    Scan scan = new Scan();
+    scan.setMaxVersions();
+    byte [][] filter_prefix = new byte [2][];
+    filter_prefix[0] = new byte [] {'p'};
+    filter_prefix[1] = new byte [] {'q'};
+    
+    filter = new MultipleColumnPrefixFilter(filter_prefix);
+    scan.setFilter(filter);
+    List<KeyValue> results = new ArrayList<KeyValue>();  
+    InternalScanner scanner = region.getScanner(scan);
+    while(scanner.next(results));
+    assertEquals(prefixMap.get("p").size() + prefixMap.get("q").size(), results.size());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testMultipleColumnPrefixFilterWithManyFamilies() throws IOException {
+    String family1 = "Family1";
+    String family2 = "Family2";
+    HTableDescriptor htd = new HTableDescriptor("TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter");
+    htd.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(family1));
+    htd.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(family2));
+    HRegionInfo info = new HRegionInfo(htd.getName(), null, null, false);
+    HRegion region = HRegion.createHRegion(info, HBaseTestingUtility.
+        getTestDir(), TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration(), htd);
+
+    List<String> rows = generateRandomWords(100, "row");
+    List<String> columns = generateRandomWords(10000, "column");
+    long maxTimestamp = 3;
+
+    List<KeyValue> kvList = new ArrayList<KeyValue>();
+
+    Map<String, List<KeyValue>> prefixMap = new HashMap<String,
+        List<KeyValue>>();
+
+    prefixMap.put("p", new ArrayList<KeyValue>());
+    prefixMap.put("q", new ArrayList<KeyValue>());
+    prefixMap.put("s", new ArrayList<KeyValue>());
+
+    String valueString = "ValueString";
+
+    for (String row: rows) {
+      Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      for (String column: columns) {
+        for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
+          double rand = Math.random();
+          KeyValue kv;
+          if (rand < 0.5) 
+            kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family1, column, timestamp,
+                valueString);
+          else 
+            kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family2, column, timestamp,
+                valueString);
+          p.add(kv);
+          kvList.add(kv);
+          for (String s: prefixMap.keySet()) {
+            if (column.startsWith(s)) {
+              prefixMap.get(s).add(kv);
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      region.put(p);
+    }
+
+    MultipleColumnPrefixFilter filter;
+    Scan scan = new Scan();
+    scan.setMaxVersions();
+    byte [][] filter_prefix = new byte [2][];
+    filter_prefix[0] = new byte [] {'p'};
+    filter_prefix[1] = new byte [] {'q'};
+    
+    filter = new MultipleColumnPrefixFilter(filter_prefix);
+    scan.setFilter(filter);
+    List<KeyValue> results = new ArrayList<KeyValue>();  
+    InternalScanner scanner = region.getScanner(scan);
+    while(scanner.next(results));
+    assertEquals(prefixMap.get("p").size() + prefixMap.get("q").size(), results.size());
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testMultipleColumnPrefixFilterWithColumnPrefixFilter() throws IOException {
+    String family = "Family";
+    HTableDescriptor htd = new HTableDescriptor("TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter");
+    htd.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(family));
+    HRegionInfo info = new HRegionInfo(htd.getName(), null, null, false);
+    HRegion region = HRegion.createHRegion(info, HBaseTestingUtility.
+        getTestDir(), TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration(),htd);
+
+    List<String> rows = generateRandomWords(100, "row");
+    List<String> columns = generateRandomWords(10000, "column");
+    long maxTimestamp = 2;
+
+    String valueString = "ValueString";
+
+    for (String row: rows) {
+      Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      for (String column: columns) {
+        for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
+          KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
+              valueString);
+          p.add(kv);
+        }
+      }
+      region.put(p);
+    }
+
+    MultipleColumnPrefixFilter multiplePrefixFilter;
+    Scan scan1 = new Scan();
+    scan1.setMaxVersions();
+    byte [][] filter_prefix = new byte [1][];
+    filter_prefix[0] = new byte [] {'p'};
+ 
+    multiplePrefixFilter = new MultipleColumnPrefixFilter(filter_prefix);
+    scan1.setFilter(multiplePrefixFilter);
+    List<KeyValue> results1 = new ArrayList<KeyValue>();  
+    InternalScanner scanner1 = region.getScanner(scan1);
+    while(scanner1.next(results1));
+    
+    ColumnPrefixFilter singlePrefixFilter;
+    Scan scan2 = new Scan();
+    scan2.setMaxVersions();
+    singlePrefixFilter = new ColumnPrefixFilter(Bytes.toBytes("p"));
+ 
+    scan2.setFilter(singlePrefixFilter);
+    List<KeyValue> results2 = new ArrayList<KeyValue>();  
+    InternalScanner scanner2 = region.getScanner(scan1);
+    while(scanner2.next(results2));
+    
+    assertEquals(results1.size(), results2.size());
+  }
+  
+  List<String> generateRandomWords(int numberOfWords, String suffix) {
+    Set<String> wordSet = new HashSet<String>();
+    for (int i = 0; i < numberOfWords; i++) {
+      int lengthOfWords = (int) (Math.random()*2) + 1;
+      char[] wordChar = new char[lengthOfWords];
+      for (int j = 0; j < wordChar.length; j++) {
+        wordChar[j] = (char) (Math.random() * 26 + 97);
+      }
+      String word;
+      if (suffix == null) {
+        word = new String(wordChar);
+      } else {
+        word = new String(wordChar) + suffix;
+      }
+      wordSet.add(word);
+    }
+    List<String> wordList = new ArrayList<String>(wordSet);
+    return wordList;
+  }
+}
+