Odisha

Odisha Orissa
state
• Rank	9th
Population
• Total	36,706,920
• Rank	11th
Website	orissa.gov.in

Orissa (Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଶା), is a state located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It was established on 1 April 1936 as a province in British India, and consists, predominantly of Oriya speakers. 1 April is therefore celebrated as Utkal Divas (Orissa Day).

Orissa is the ninth largest state by area and the eleventh largest by population. Oriya is the official and most widely spoken language. Orissa has a relatively unindented coastline (about 480 km long) and lacks good ports, except for the deepwater facility at Paradip. The narrow, level coastal strip, including the Mahanadi River delta supports the bulk of the population. The interior of the state is mountainous and sparsely populated. Deomali at 1672 m is the highest point of the state.

Orissa is subject to intense cyclones. The most intense one, in October 1999, Tropical Cyclone 05B caused severe damage and some 10,000 deaths.

Orissa is home to the Hirakud Dam, one of the longest dams in the world. Orissa has several popular tourist destinations. Puri, with the Jagannatha's temple near the sea, and Konark, with the Sun Temple, are visited by thousands of tourists every year. The Lingaraja Temple of Bhubaneswar, the Jagannatha Temple of Puri, the Sun Temple of Konark and the Barabati Fort of Cuttack are important in the archaeological history of India.

History

Main article: History of Orissa

See also: Historic sites in Orissa

Orissa has a history spanning a period of over 3,000 years. The history of Orissa is in many ways atypical from that of the northern plains, and many of the common generalizations that are made about Indian history do not seem to apply to the Oriya region. The word Oriya is an anglicised version of Odia, which itself is a modern name for the Odra or Udra tribes that inhabited the central belt (Angul, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Baudh, Balangir) of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the Kalinga and Utkal that played a particularly prominent role in the region's history, and one of the earliest references to the ancient Kalingas appears in the writings of Vedic chroniclers. In the 6th century BCE, Vedic Sutrakara Baudhayana mentions Kalinga as being beyond the Vedic fold, indicating that Brahminical influences had not yet touched the land. Unlike some other parts of India, tribal customs and traditions played a significant role in shaping political structures and cultural practices right up to the 15th century, when Brahminical influences triumphed over competing traditions and caste differentiation began to inhibit social mobility and erode what had survived of the ancient republican tradition.

A major turning point in world history took place in Orissa. The Kalinga War that led emperor Ashoka to embrace non-violence and the teachings of Buddha was fought here in 261 BC. Ashoka's military campaign against Kalinga was one of the bloodiest in Mauryan history on account of the fearless and heroic resistance offered by the Kalingas to the mighty armies of the expanding Mauryan empire. Perhaps on account of their unexpected bravery, emperor Ashoka was compelled to issue two edicts specifically calling for a just and benign administration in Kalinga. Later on, Asoka was instrumental in spreading Buddhist philosophy all over Asia.

In the third century BCE, Kalinga flourished as a powerful kingdom under the Jaina king, Kharavela. He ruled all the way down south to include parts of the Tamil country . He built the superb monastic caves at Udayagiri and Khandagiri. Subsequently, the kingdom was ruled under various monarchs, such as Samudragupta and Sasanka. It also was a part of Harsha's empire. In 795 AD, the king Yayati Kesari I of Kesari or Soma dynasty united Kalinga, Kosala and Utkala into a single empire. He is also supposed to have built the first Jagannath Temple at Puri, although the current structure of the temple is entirely different and was built by Kings Choda Gangadeva and Ananga Bhimadeva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty in the 12th century. The famous Lingaraja temple in Bhubaneshwar was started by Keshari dynasty king Yayati Keshari III and completed by his son Lalatendu Keshari in the 10th century. King Narasimha Dev is reputed to have built the magnificent Sun Temple at Konark. Although now largely in ruins, the temple may have once rivaled the Taj Mahal in splendour.

The Mughals conquered Orissa in 1576. The last Hindu Emperor of Orissa, Gajapati Mukunda Deva, was defeated and was killed in the battle of Gohiratikiri. The Mughals divided Orissa into two parts, Garjat and Mughalbandi. The coastal plain of Orissa from Medinipur to Rajahmundry came under Mughalbandi rule, which was broadly divided into six parts as Jaleshwar Sarkar, Bhadrakh Sarkar, Cuttack Sarkar, Chicacole (Srikakulam) Sarkar, Kalinga Dandapat and Rajamundry Sarkar or Godavari Province. The Garjat areas of Orissa's Central, Northern, Western and Southern hilly areas were ruled independently by the Hindu kings. These Hindu kings were paying their tribute to the Mughal Subahdar of Orissa who was residing at Cuttack. The Nizam of Hyderabad occupied the area between Rajahmundry to Srikakulam in 16th century. The remaining parts of Orissa, including the Mughalbandi and Garjat areas, were subsequently ceded to the Marathas in 1751.

The British occupied the Northern Circars comprising the southern coast of Orissa as a result of the Carnatic Wars in the 1750s and incorporated them into the Madras Presidency. In 1803, the British under the British East India Company annexed the Maratha province of Orissa after the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The northern and western districts of Orissa were incorporated into Bengal Presidency. Following famine and floods in 1866, large scale irrigation projects were undertaken in the last half of the 19th century. The coastal section was separated from Bengal and made into the Province of Bihar and Orissa in 1912, in response to local agitation for a separate state for Oriya-speaking peoples. In 1936, Bihar and Orissa were split into separate provinces. The district of Ganjam was transferred from Madras to the new province of Orissa.

Following Indian independence, the area of Orissa was almost doubled and the population was increased by a third by the addition of 30 former princely states. In 1950, Orissa became a constituent state in the Union of India.

Districts

Code	District	Headquarter(s)	Population (2001)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
AN	Angul	Angul	1,139,341	6,347	180
BD	Boudh (Bauda)	Boudh	373,038	4,289	87
BH	Bhadrak	Bhadrak	1,332,249	2,788	478
BL	Bolangir (Balangir)	Balangir	1,335,760	6,552	204
BR	Bargarh (Baragarh)	Bargarh	1,345,601	5,832	231
BW	Baleswar (Balasore)	Baleswar	2,023,056	3,706	546
CU	Cuttack	Cuttack	2,340,686	3,915	598
DE	Debagarh (Deogarh)	Debagarh	274,095	2,781	99
DH	Dhenkanal	Dhenkanal	1,065,983	4,597	232
GN	Ganjam	Chhatrapur	3,136,937	8,033	391
GP	Gajapati	Paralakhemundi	518,448	3,056	170
JH	Jharsuguda	Jharsuguda	509,056	2,202	231
JP	Jajapur (Jajpur)	Jajpur Town	1,622,868	2,885	563
JS	Jagatsinghpur	Jagatsinghpur	1,056,556	1,759	601
KH	Khurdha	Khurdha	1,874,405	2,888	649
KJ	Kendujhar (Keonjhar)	Kendujhar	1,561,521	8,336	187
KL	Kalahandi	Bhawanipatna	1,334,372	8,197	163
KN	Kandhamal	Phulbani	647,912	6,004	108
KO	Koraput	Koraput	1,177,954	8,534	138
KP	Kendrapara	Kendrapara	1,301,856	2,546	511
ML	Malkangiri	Malkangiri	480,232	6,115	79
MY	Mayurbhanj	Baripada	2,221,782	10,418	213
NB	Nabarangpur	Nabarangapur	1,018,171	5,135	198
NU	Nuapada	Nuapada	530,524	3,408	156
NY	Nayagarh	Nayagarh	863,934	3,954	218
PU	Puri	Puri	1,498,604	3,055	491
RA	Rayagada	Rayagada	823,019	7,585	109
SA	Sambalpur	Sambalpur	928,889	6,702	139
SO	Subarnapur (Sonepur)	Subarnapur	540,659	2,284	237
SU	Sundargarh (Sundergarh)	Sundargarh	1,829,412	9,942	184

Geography

Map of lake Chilka with near-by settlement of Puri.

The capital of Orissa is Bhubaneswar. It is famed for its magnificent temples, numbering around a thousand. Cuttack,which is the former capital of Orissa is 29 km from Bhubaneswar. With the rapid expansion of two cities and better road connectivity, the two cities are now almost conjoined and considered as twin cities. The city of Puri is nearby, at a distance of around 60 kilometers on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Puri is a holy city and the site of the annual festival of the deity Jagannath. It is one of the four Dhams (holy places) of Hinduism. The world-famous "car festival" (rath yatra) is celebrated in Puri.

The Chota Nagpur plateau occupies the western and northern portions of the state, while along the coast are fertile alluvial plains and the valleys of the Mahanadi, Brahmani, and Baitarani rivers, which empty into the Bay of Bengal. These alluvial plains are home to intensive rice cultivation.

Although much of Orissa's forest cover has been denuded lately, one of the greatest attractions of Orissa is its still vast expanses of unspoiled natural landscape that offer a protected yet natural habitat to the state’s incredible wildlife. There are many wildlife sanctuaries in Orissa. The Simlipal National Park Tiger Reserve is a huge expanse of lush green forest with waterfalls, inhabited by tigers, elephants, and other wildlife. The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary has been protecting estuarine crocodiles since 1975.

Chilka Lake, a brackish water coastal lake on the Bay of Bengal, south of the mouth of the Mahanadi River, is the largest coastal lake in India. It is protected by the Chilka Lake Bird Sanctuary, which harbors over 150 migratory and resident species of birds.

The highest mountain peak in the state is Deomali (1672 m), which is situated in Koraput district in southern Orissa. It is also the tallest peak of the Eastern Ghats. It is part of the Chandragiri-Pottangi mountain system. Location: 18°40'3"N 82°58'59"E (Deomali on Wikimapia).

Politics

The state is governed by a chief minister and cabinet responsible to an elected unicameral legislature and by a governor appointed by the president of India. Biju Janata Dal (BJD)and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) form the current government with the Indian National Congress (INC)as the main opposition.

• Assembly Election Results of Orissa
• List of political parties in the state

The major political parties in Orissa are Biju Janata Dal, Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party.

Economy

Macro-economic trend

This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Orissa at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Gross State Domestic Product
1980	37,080
1985	68,230
1990	109,040
1995	271,180
2000	387,280

Orissa's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $18 billion in current prices.

Following India's independence, Orissa has not been a focus of investment by the central government, causing its infrastructure and educational standards to lag behind the rest of the nation. For instance, only about 20% of the road network is paved. In rural areas over 65% of the population have no access to safe drinking water. This has led to a widespread belief among the local population that Orissa is a neglected state.

Industrial growth

Orissa has abundant natural resources and a large coastline. It contains a fifth of India's coal, a quarter of its iron ore, a third of its bauxite reserves and most of the chromite. Rourkela Steel Plant was the first integrated steel plant in the Public Sector in India. It receives unprecedented investments in steel, aluminium, power, refineries and ports. India's topmost IT consulting firms, including Satyam Computer Services, TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), MindTree Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Infosys have large branches in Orissa. IBM, Syntel, Bosch and Wipro are setting up development centers in Orissa. So far, two of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Orissa, for example, National Aluminium (2005 gross income Rs.51,162 million) and Tata Sponge Iron (2005 gross income Rs.2,044 million).

Orissa is notable as one of the first Indian states to have tackled its structural problems during the post-1994 Indian economic reforms. Orissa was the first state in India to begin to privatise its electricity transmission and distribution businesses. Over the period between 1994 and 2000 Orissa's former state electricity board (SEB) was restructured to form Gridco. This corporation was then divided into Transco and a collection of distribution companies. Attempts were then made to sell the distribution companies to the private sector. Like many other states, in 1996 Orissa was losing over 50% of the electricity it was delivered. The scale and importance of these reforms is notable and an important milestone in India's dramatic economic development.

Performance of Indian states in providing basic social services like education, healthcare, etc., in 2001. Darker states have done better.

Recently the number of companies who have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to set up steel plants in the state has gone up to 50, including Posco of South Korea which has agreed to construct a mammoth $12 billion steel plant near Paradip port. It would be the largest single investment in India's history. Arcelor-Mittal has also announced plans to invest in another mega steel project amounting to $10 billion. Russian major Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Company (MMK) plans to set up a 10 MT steel plant in Orissa too. The state is attracting an unprecedented amount of investment in aluminum, coal-based power plants, petrochemicals, and information technology as well. In power generation, Reliance Industries (Anil Ambani Group) is putting up the world's largest power plant with an investment of US $13 billion at Hirma in Jharsuguda district. Vedanta Resources’ 1.4 million tonne alumina project in Kalahandi district is the largest investment in aluminium. Vedanta has also announced a $3.2 billion dollar huge private University project on the lines of the Ivy League Universities, which is unprecedented in the history of education in India.

The Central Government has agreed to accord SEZ (Special Economic Zone) status to eight sites in Orissa, among which are Infocity at Bhubaneswar and Paradip. But all these plans are facing massive resistance from the people of the state who mainly depend on agriculture for livelihood. Some vested interests are pushing ahead projects of Mittal, Tata, Vedanta, Birlas causing many human rights violations. Flood and cyclone are the major hurdle in Orissa's development as the important districts are situated nearer to the Bay of Bengal.

Infrastructure development

Although Paradip is Orissa's only large port, the coastal towns of Dhamra and Gopalpur are being developed into major ports as well. The government of India has selected the coastal region of Orissa, stretching from Paradip in the north to Gopalpur in the south, to be developed as one of the five or six Special Economic Regions (SERs) of the country. The government of India and the state government of Orissa would work together to erect world class infrastructure in this region along the lines of the Rotterdam, Houston, and Pudong regions. This would stimulate further private investment in petrochemicals, steel, and manufacturing. A recent Morgan Stanley report forecasts that Orissa would be flooded with massive investments for manufacturing related activities in the same manner that Bangalore had attracted software investment in the 1990s. The scale of the investments in Orissa would, however be much higher. As of July 2006, the total planned investment in the state is a whopping $90 billion. This includes some investment in research, education, hospitals, roads, ports, airports, and hotels. There are many multi-state irrigation projects in development, including Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects.

Transportation

Orissa is connected to India through roads, railways, airports, and seaports. Bhubaneswar is well connected by air, rail and road with the rest of India. The Biju Patnaik airport is being expanded to accommodate wide bodied aircraft.

Airports

Operational

• Biju Patnaik Airport
• Jharsuguda Airport
• Keonjhar Airport
• Rourkela Airport

Defence

• Charbatia Air Base

Non-operational

• Jayapur Airport
• Utkela Airport
• Berhampur Airport
• Gotma Airport Nuapada
• Birasal Airport
• Rasgobindpur Airport

Seaports

• Port of Paradip
• Port of Dhamara (Work has been started.)
• Port of Gopalpur (Commenced Operation From January 2007 As Seasonal Port)

Demographics

Orissa has a population of 36.7 million. About 87% of the population live in the villages and one third of the rural population does not own any land other than homesteads. 25% of Orissa's population is tribal.

A large majority of the population, 94.35%, are Hindus, giving Orissa the third-largest proportion of Hindus in India. Christianity is practiced by 2.4% of the population, followed by Islam (2.0%); others comprise less than 1.0%. [1]

Literature

Main article: Oriya literature

The history of Oriya Literature has been mapped by historians and linguists along the following stages, Old Oriya (900-1300 AD), Early Middle Oriya (1300-1500 AD), Middle Oriya (1500-1700 AD), Late Middle Oriya (1700 AD-1850 AD) and Modern Oriya (from 1850 AD till the present). But this rude categorization could not skillfully draw the real picture on account of development and growth of Oriya Literature. Here, we split the total periods in different stages such as: Age of Charya Literature, Age of Sarala Das, Age of Panchasakha, Age of Upendra Bhanja, Age of Radhanath, Age of Satyabadi, Age of Marxism or Pragati yuga, Age of Romanticism or Sabuja Yuga, Post Independent Age.

The beginnings of Oriya poetry coincide with the development of Charya Sahitya, the literature thus started by Mahayana Buddhist poets..This literature was written in a specific metaphor named "Sandhya Bhasha" and the poets like Luipa, Kanhupa are from the territory of Orissa.The language of Charya was considered as Prakrita. The first great poet of Orissa is the famous Sarala-Das who wrote the Mahabharata, not an exact translation from the Sanskrit original, rather an imitation of the same . Among many of his poems and epics, he is best remembered for his Mahabharata. Chandi Purana and the Vilanka Ramayana are also two of his famous creations.Arjuna Das , a contemporary to Sarala Dasa , wrote Rama-Bibha , a significant long poem in Oriya. Towards the 16th century, five poets emerged , though there are hundreds year gap in between them .But they are known as Panchashakhas as they believed to same school of thought , Utkaliya Vaishnavism.The poets are :Balaram Das ,Jagannath Das,Achyutananada Das,Ananta Das and Jasobanta Das . The Panchasakhas are very much Vaishnavas by thought . In 1509 Chaitanya came to Orissa with his Vaishnava message of love. Before him Jaydev had prepared the ground by heralding the cult of Vaishnavism through his Geetagovinda.Chaitanya’s path of devotion was known as Raganuga Bhakti Marga , but the Panchasakhas differed from Chaitanyas and believed in Gyana Mishra Bhakti Marga , which has similarities with the Buddhist philosophy of Charya Literature stated above. At the end of age of Panchasakha , the prominent poets are Dinakrushna Das,Upendra Bhanja and Abhimanyu Samanta Simhar. Verbal jugglery, obscenity and eroticism as the characteristics of Shringara Kavyas, became the trend of this period to which Upendra Bhanja took a leading role.His creations were Baidehisha Bilasa,Koti Brahmanda Sundari,Lavanyabati were proved land mark in Oriya Literature.Upendra Bhanja was conferred with the title Kabi Samrat of Oriya literature for the aesthetic poetic sense and verbal jugglery proficiency.Dinakrushna Das’s Rasokallola and Abhimanyu samanta Simhara’s Bidagdha Chintamani are prominent kavyas of this time. The first Oriya printing typeset was cast in 1836 by the Christian missionaries which made a great revolutions in Oriya literature. Instead of palm leaf inscription. The books were being printed and the periodicals and journals were published. The first Oriya Magazine of 'Bodha Dayini' was published from Balasore in 1861. The main object of this magazine was to promote Oriya literature and to draw attention to the lapses in government policy. The first Oriya paper, 'The Utkal Deepika' made its appearance in 1866 under the editorship of late Gouri Sankar Ray with the help of late Bichitrananda. The publication of these papers during the last part of the 19th century encouraged the modern literature and acted as a media to provide a wide readers range for the writers, The educated intellectuals came in contact with the English Literature and got influenced.Radhanath Ray (1849-1908) is the prime figure , who tried to write his poems with the influence of Western Literature. He wrote Chandrabhaga,Nandikeshwari,Usha, Mahajatra,darbar and Chilika wee the long poems or Kavyas. Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918), the prime figure of modern Oriya Fiction Prose is the product of that generation. He was considered the Vyasakabi or founder poet of Oriya language. Fakir Mohan Senapati is well known for his novel Chha Maana Atha Guntha .it is the first Indian novel to deal with the exploitations of landless peasants by the feudal Lord. It was written much before the October revolution of Russia or much before the emerging of Marxist ideas in India.

With rise of freedom movement, a literary though was emerged with the influence of Gandhiji and idealistic trend of Nationalism formed as a new trend in Oriya Literature.Much respected personality of Orissan culture and history, Utkalmani Gopabandhu Dash (1877-1928) has founded a school at avillage Satyabadi near Sakshigopal of Orissa and an idealstic literary movement influenced the writers of this age . Godabarisha Mohapatra, Kuntala-Kumari Sabat the other renowned name of this age.

With the emergence of soviet Russia in 1935, Communist party was formed in Orissa and a periodicals named "Adhunika" was published by the party. Bhagawati Charan Panigrahi and Sachidananda Routray were the founder member and writer/poets of the party. Bhagwati turned to a fiction writer and though Sachidananda Routray (who is more known as "Sachi Routra" or Sachi Babu) has written some of the short stories but was actually remembered for his poems. Influenced by the romantic thoughts of Rabindranath tagore, during the thirties when the progressive m Marxian movements was in full flow in Oriya Literature, Kalindi Charan panigrahi, the brother of Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi,the founder of Marxian Trend in Orissa , formed a group circa 1920 called "Sabuja Samiti." Mayadhar Mansingh was a renowned poet of that time though he was considered as a romantic poet, but he kept the distance away from the influence of rabindranath successfully. As the successor of Sachi babu, two poets Guruprasad Mohanty(popularly known as Guru Prasad ) (1924-2004) and Bhanuji rao came with T.S.Eliot and published their co authored poetry book "Nutan Kabita" Later, Ramakanta Rath modified the ideas . Sitakanta Mohapatra,soubhagya kumar mishra,Rajendra kihore Panda , Brajanath Rath, Jayanta Mahapatra, Kamalakant Lenka, J P Das, Brahmotri Mohanty, Mamata Dash, Amaresh Patnaik, Hrushikesh Mallick, Sunil Kumar Prusty, Sucheta Mishra, Aparna Mohanty, Pritidhara Samal, Basudev Sunani,Gajanan Mishra, ,Bharat Majhi are some poets of this contemporary age. In the Post-Independence Era Oriya fiction assumed a new direction.The trend which Fakir Mohan has started actually developed more after 50’s of last century. Gopinath Mohanty(1914-1991),Surendra Mohanty and Manoj Das (1934- ) are considered as three jewels of this time. The other significant fiction writers are Chandrasekhar Rath, Shantanu Acharya,Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo,Rabi Patnaik, Jagadish Mohanty,Kanheilal Das.Satya Mishra, Ramchandra Behera,Padmaja Pal, Yashodhara mishra and Sarojini Sahoo are few writers whose writings have created a new age in the field of fiction. After 1970, the women wing of Oriya writers emerged as a prime voice of feminism. Jayanti Ratha,Susmita Bagchi.Paramita Satpathy,Hiranmayee Mishra, Chirashree IndraSingh Supriya Panda, Gayatri Saraf , Mamata Chowdhry are few fiction writer in this period ,But among all the women writers Sarojini Sahoo played a significant role for her feministic and sexuality approach in fiction.For feminism she is considered as the Simone de Beauvoirof India, though theoretically she denies the Hegelian theory of "Others" developed by Simone in her The Second Sex. Unlike to Simone, Sarojini claims the women are "Others" from masculine perspective but as a human being, she demands for similar right as Plato recommended. In the field of drama, the traditional Oriya theatre is the folk opera, or Jatra, which flourishes in the rural areas of Orissa. Modern theatre is no longer commercially viable. But in the 1960, experimental theatre made a mark through the works of Manoranjan Das, who pioneered the new theatre movement with his brand of experimentalism. Bijay Mishra,Biswajit Das,Kartik Rath, Ramesh Chandra PanigrahRatnakar Chaini, Ranjit Patnaik continued the tradition. As a whole, we can say, now days Oriya literature is a strong wing of Indian Literature to represent in world forum.

Further information: Oriya language, Indian literature, and List of Oriya Writers

Culture

Konark Temple

The official language of the state, spoken by the majority of the people is Oriya. Oriya belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family, and is closely related to Bengali and Assamese. A few tribal languages belonging to the Dravidian and Munda language families are still spoken by the Adivasis (original inhabitants) of the state. The state has a very opulent cultural heritage, one of the richest in India. The capital city of Bhubaneswar is known for the exquisite temples that dot its landscape. The famous classical dance form, Odissi originated in Orissa. Contemporary Orissa has a proud cultural heritage that arose due to the intermingling of three great religious traditions - Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Orissa is also known as Odisha. The culture of the Adivasis (the original inhabitants of India) is an integral part of modern Orissan heritage.

Dance

Odissi or Orissidance and music is classified as a classical music of India. Odissi has a long, unbroken tradition of 2,000 years, and finds mention in the Natyashastra of Bharatamuni, possibly written circa 200 BC. However, the dance form nearly went extinct during the British period, only to be revived after India's independence by a few proponents, such as Guru Deba Prasad Das, Guru Mayadhar Raut, Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Mahadev Rout, Guru Raghu Dutta, and Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra. Odissi classical dance is about the divine love of Krishna and his consort Radha, mostly drawn from compositions by the notable Oriya poet Jayadeva, who lived in the twelfth century AD.

Structural art

Other cultural attractions include the Jagannatha Temple in Puri, known for its annual Rath Yatra or Car Festival, the unique and beautiful applique artwork of Pipili, silver filigree ornamental works from Cuttack, the Patta chitras (palm leaf paintings), famous stone utensils of Nilgiri (Balasore) and various tribal influenced cultures. The Sun temple at Konark is famous for its architectural splendour while the 'Sambalpuri textiles' equals it in its artistic grandeur.

Religion

Orissa is home to several Hindu saints. Sant Bhima Bhoi was a leader of the Mahima sect movement. Sarala Dasa, an adivasi, was the translator of the epic Mahabharata in Oriya. Chaitanya Dasa was a Buddhistic-Vaishnava and writer of the Nirguna Mahatmya. Jaidev was the author of the Gita Govinda. Orissa has also struggled with religious violence. At the turn of the 21st century violence against Christians by Hindu radicals was claimed to result in over 200 deaths. See also, Religious violence in Orissa.

Oriya Cinema

Main article: Oriya Film Industry

The Oriya film production in the initial years was very slow. After first Oriya film Sita Bibaha, only two films were produced till 1951. A joint consortium of landlords and businessmen who collected fund after 1948 produced those two movies.The 1951 production Roles to Eight was the first Oriya film having an English name. It was released after 15 years of the first Oriya film Sita Bibaha. It was the fourth Oriya film produced by Ratikanta Padhi.The eleventh Oriya film Sri Lokenath was the first Oriya film, which got National Award in 1960 directed by Prafulla Sengupta.

The same year, Prasantha Nanda wan National Award as best actor for the film Nau Bau with his debut film.The name of Prasantha Nanda would always come while dealing with Oriya Film Industry. He was present in Oriya films since 1939, but he became super active only after 1976. Nanda served Oriya Film Industry as an actor, director, screenplay writer, and lyricist and even as a playback singer. Such a versatile genius is quite rare in Indian cinema history. Nanda alone carried Oriya films into the national honor list by winning National Awards for three times in 1960, 1966 and 1969 for his acting in Nua Bou, Matir Manisha and Adina Megha.Uttam Mohanty, whose debut film Abhiman won accolade, is now the ruling hero of the Oriya Film Industry. His wife Aparajita Mohanty is also a roaring heroine.

Education

The ruins of a major ancient university and center of Buddhist learning, Ratnagiri, were recently discovered in the Jajpur district of Orissa. Scholars from far away lands, such as Greece, Persia and China used to study philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and science at this famed University. Taxila, Nalanda and Ratnagiri are amongst the oldest universities in the world. The ruins of Ratnagiri University have not been fully excavated yet.

The modern higher education system in Orissa is the legacy of the British Raj. There are ten recognised universities or deemed universities viz. Utkal University (at Bhubaneswar), Sambalpur University at Sambalpur, Berhampur University at Berhampur, North Orissa University at Baripada, Balasore University at Balasore, Orissa University of Agricultural Technology (OUAT) at Bhubaneswar, Utkal University of Culture at Bhubaneswar, Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Ravenshaw University at Cuttack and KIIT Deemed University in Bhubaneswar. Many of these universities have numerous constituent colleges some of which are autonomous such as BJB College at Bhubaneswar, N.C. College at Jajpur, G.M College in Sambalpur, Khalikote college at Berhampur, F.M.College in Balasore among others.

Entry to various institutes of higher education especially into engineering degrees is through a centralised Joint Entrance Examination, conducted by the Biju Patnaik University of Technology and more recently through the Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted by Orissa Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) & Orissa Private Medical College Association (OPMCA), where seats are provided according to order of merit.

One of the prestigious institutions of India, NIT Rourkela. National Institute of Technology was upgraded from Regional Engineering College and is an Institute of National Importance. Another premiere college of Orissa is the University College of Engineering, Burla, which is the first engineering college in Orissa and is famous for its excellent infrastructure and state-of-art teaching methodology.

Orissa is also home to one of the two Indian Institute of Mass Communication IIMC situated in Dhenkanal. This is a premier institute for mass communication and journalism.

The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) is a premier business school of national and international significance located in the state capital. The National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar (NISER) is another premier educational cum research institution that is being set up. It will be built along the lines of the reputed IISc, Bangalore. The idea of building a national level medical school and hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), as well as an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in the state capital, Bhubaneswar have also been mooted. Meanwhile Vedanta University Project, a not-for-profit initiative by the Anil Agarwal Foundation, is an epoch-making dream to have a world class centre for learning and research on the picturesque Puri-Konark marine drive in Orissa. It will have about 100,000 students with an international mix of students pursuing around 95 diverse streams of learning in a sprawling campus of around 56 million sq. ft built up area supported by state of the art, IT & Communications systems. Even more recently, Reliance industries has expressed its intention of establishing a new Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT), as well as a health city for medical education and research in Bhubaneswar. The Indian Ministry of Human Resources Development had also announced its intention of creating an IITs in Orissa,which will be set up at Bhubaneswar, under the 11th five year plan. Some of the research institutes of Orissa includes Institute of Physics at Bhubaneswar, Institute of Life Sciences at Bhubaneswar, Central Rice Research Institute at Cuttack, Central Institute of Fresh water Aquaculture (CIFA)at Bhubaneswar, Regional Medical Research centre at Bhubaneswar, Institute of Minerals and Material Technology at Bhubaneswar and Regional Plant Resource Centre at Bhubaneswar. As of now, Orissa receives the lowest per capita investment of all 28 states from the central government towards human resource development.

Eco-care and Aware is a premier institution providing training, technical support/consultancy to Developmental Sector. Support services includes planning and formulation of developmental projects, technical support during implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation, Training and Capacity building, Research & Study, Micro planning & PRA(Participatory Rural Appraisal). The Organisation caters its best services for the judicious use of Natural, Human and Physical resources.

Further information: Colleges and Universities in Orissa, India; Higher education in Orissa; and Orissa IIT Controversy

External links

• Official Website of the State Government of Orissa
• Official Website of Orissa State Tourism