Odisha (Orissa)

Area : 1,55,707 sq. km
Population : 36,804,660
Capital : Bhubaneshwar
Principal Languages : Oriya

About Orissa

The name Orissa is derived from Sanskrit word "Odra Vishaya" or "Odra Desa". The ancient province of "Odra desa" or "Or-desa" was limited to the valley of the Mahanadi and to the lower course of the Subarnarekha River. It comprised the whole of the present districts of Cuttack and Sambalpur and a portion of Midnapore. It was bounded on the West by Gondwana, on the North by the wild hill states of Jashpur and Singhbhum, on the East by the sea and on the South by Ganjam.

The Orissa state, which was once a land of Kings and Kingdoms, now boasts of being rich source of natural resources. Its people, temple architecture, classical dance, religions, fairs and festivals, unique handlooms and handicrafts, green woodlands, rock caves, charming blue hills have always attracted historians, tourists and travellers from all over the world. Its rich history, revolutionary freedom movement, fascinatingly sculptured temples and monuments, tribal life characterized by dance, music, rituals, hunting, gaiety and wild ways have become important topics of research for great historians and scholars.

Orissa History

The Territory of Orissa formed a part of the ancient Kalinga of Mahabharata fame. Ashoka, the Mauryan King of Magadh, invaded Kalinga in 261 BC and this event has gone down in history as the Great Kalinga war. Even with lot of resistance from the people of Kalinga and King Priyadarshan, Ashoka won the battle and noted down the descriptions of this Great War in his thirteenth Rock Edict. This bloodshed converted Ashoka’s heart and he took up Buddhism. This became the last war of his life.

Kalinga came into prominence with Kharavela, a great conqueror and patron of Jainism, in the second half of the 1st century B.C. The other great rulers belonged to the Keshari dynasty and the Eastern Ganga dynasty. Flourishing maritime trade with South-East Asian countries i.e. Java, Bornio had brought in a golden era of affluence and opulence and the kingdom spanned from Ganga to Godavari. The Kalinga School of architecture flourished from the 7th to 13th century A.D. The Mukteswar Temple, the Sun Temple at Konark, the Lingaraj Temple and the Jagannath Temple of Puri are known all over the world for their architecture.

There were a number of heroes who were born in Kalinga before and during the British rule like Buxi Jagabandhu, Samudra Gupta and Harsha Siladitya. Budhism reached new heights with Prajna and Hieuen-Tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim came to the University of Puspagiri and Buddhist complex at Ratnagiri-Lalitgiri-Udayagiri can now be seen speaking about the bygone era. Prophets like Adi Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Sri Chaitanya made Puri the religious center. Jayadev composed his world famous lilting treatise "Gita Govinda". The Bhakti Cult came to Orissa in 16th century and Pancha Sakha i.e. Sri Jagannath Das, Sri Achyutananda Das, Sri Balaram Das, Ananta & Yasobanta were spiritual stalwarts and literary luminaries of the time. Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja , Kabi Surya Baladev Ratha, Radhanath Ray, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Pandit Gopabandhu Dash, Pandit Nilakantha Das, Godabaris Mishra, Kalandi Charan Panigrahi, Sachidananda Routray & many others have contributed substantially to the language & literature of Orissa. Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Sri Ram Chandra Bhnjadeo, Sri Biswanath Das, Sri Nabakrushna Chowdhury, Dr. Harekrishna Mahatab, Sri Bijayananda Patnaik were the creators of modern Orissa.

Origin of the name of the State

The name of Orissa is derived from the Sanskrit Odra Vishaya or "Odra Desa". Greek writers like Pliny and Ptolemy described the Odra people as Oretes. The Greek Oretes is probably the Sanskrit Odra and the Mount Maleus has been identified with Malayagiri near Pala Lahara. The ancient province of "Odra desa" or "Or-desa" was limited to the valley of the Mahanadi and to the lower course of the Subarnarekha River. It comprised the whole of the present districts of Cuttack and Sambalpur and a portion of Midnapore. It was bounded on the West by Gondwana, on the North by the wild hill states of Jashpur and Singhbhum, on the East by the sea and on the South by Ganjam.

The Gajapati Kings of Orissa ruled over a kingdom in the 15th century AD but the Oriya-speaking central region began a downfall with Vijaynagar coming to prominence in 16th century and Ganjam was conquered. In the early 17th century, the districts north to the river Subarnarekha were annexed to the Bengal Subah of the Mughal Empire and the Marathas. The East India Company had no intention of unifying the Oriya-speaking territories which it had conquered piece by piece. The Oriyas were administered by five separate political authorities, i.e. Bengal and its Orissa Division, Chota Nagpur, the Central Provinces, Madras and the Garhjat Mahals of feudatory states of Orissa.

The formation of the linguistic province of Orissa in 1936 may be regarded as one of the landmarks in the history of the evolution of the Indian Union and after the ’Na Anka’ famine of 1866. Raja Baikunthanath Dey of Baleshwar and Bichitrananda Das and the ’Ganjam Utkal Hitabadini Sabha’ with the Raja of Kalinga, Venkates Beu greatly advocated the amalgamation of united Orissa. On the 28th November, 1874, there was a vast congregation of all the Rajas, Zamindars, met and finally in July 1877 ’Utkal Sabha’ was formed under the leadership of Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das. Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das, Biswanath Kar, Nanda Kishore Bal and Gopal Chandra Praharaj met the eminent British officers and submitted memorandums to unite Orissa. The Utkal Union Conference at Cuttack on the 30th December, 1903 under the leadership of Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das played the most significant role for the amalgamation of the Oriya-speaking areas. Besides the Utkal Union Conference, the Oriya Peoples’ Association, the Balasore National Conference, the Udit Club of Singhbhum, the Utkal Milan Samaja and the Utkal Hitaisini Samaja of Ganjam also played leading roles for the union of the Oriya-speaking areas. A counter movement called the Ganjam Defence League was organized by the Telugus in Ganjam to oppose the Oriya movement.

In 1917 the Montagu-Chelmsford Commission visited India on the subject of self-Government and its report recognized the need for an administrative union of the Oriya-speaking people and recommended for a sub-province for the Oriyas. On the 20th February, 1920 Satchidananda Sinha and A.B. Latthe, supported by Brajasundar Das, moved a resolution in the imperial Council for the amalgamation of the Oriya-speaking tracts. On the 25th November, 1921, Viswanath Kar and Sasibhusan Rath moved resolutions of separate Orissa province. C.L. Philip and A.C. Duff Commission made positive remarks about Orissa. The report of the Simon Commission, under the Chairmanship of the Sir John Simon, led to the summoning of the Round Table Conference. Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Dev, the Maharaja of Paralakhemundi represented Orissa in the Conference. The Orissa Boundary Commission was appointed with D’Donnell as the Chairman. The Committee examined the claims of the Oriyas and finally recommended for inclusion of the plains in Orissa and the agency areas excluding Paralakhemundi, in the Ganjam district; and Khariar and Padmapur, excluding Phuljhar in the Central Provinces.

The "white paper" was published on the 17th March, 1933, containing the draft proposals for the reforms in the Indian Constitution. It proposed to create two new provinces, viz., Sind and Orissa. The Maharaja of Paralakhemundi, authorized Utkal Union Conference Committee, by his powerful arguments, convinced the Parliamentary Committee for the transfer of Jaypur (Jeypore) agency and a portion of Paralakhemundi to Orissa. The union also recommended that a portion of the Jaypur estate which the O’Donnell Committee proposed to transfer to Orissa, the Paralakhemundi and Jalantar Maliahs and a small portion of the Paralakhemundi estate including Paralakhemundi town would also be added to the Orissa Province. But no step was taken for the transfer of Oriya-speaking areas from Bengal and Bihar. By this recommendation the total area was raised from 55,799 to 84,677 sq. km. (21,545 to 32,695 sq. miles). The Government of India Bill 1935 was passed by the Parliament and the new province of Orissa as an administrative unit came into being on the 1st April, 1936 with the following areas as per the Government of India (Constitution of Orissa ) Order,1936.

Education

The state of Orissa has become a centre of learning in the eastern India after it became a separate state on 1st April 1936. After Independence a lot of reforms have been made in the education system of Orissa to make it appreciated. Because of the reforms the standard of education in Orissa is qualitative. Subsequent Governments have taken a lot of initiatives to make the standard of education more attractive. The education system of Orissa has given base to a lot of Engineering and professional institutes. The students of various faculties of Orissa are earning reputation globally because of a sound infrastructure of education in Orissa. In recent years students from different part of India are coming to Orissa for higher education. It can be said that a revolution in the sphere of education has been started in Orissa after 90s. Orissa now a day is providing best infrastructure for general education, technical education, professional education and vocational education. So many institutes of national and international reputation are eagerly choosing Orissa as their destinations because education in this soil has a bright and prosperous future. The education system in Orissa is very much well designed.

Agriculture & Irrigation

Orissa is primarily an agrarian economy having nearly 30% contribution to the Net State Domestic product (NSDP) with 73 percent of the work force engaged in this sector. The cropped area is about 87.46 lakh hectares out of which 18.79 lakh hectares are irrigated. Climate and soil play a vital role in Orissa’s agriculture economy. The total cultivable land exploited for cropping is about 40% of the total geographical area and the exploitation is comparatively more in the coastal districts of Orissa i.e. Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Ganjam, Jajpur, Jagatasinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri etc.

Minerals in Orissa

The mineral resources of Orissa form a very important constituent of India’s mineral wealth. Her possession includes a wide variety of ores and minerals such as Iron-ore, Chromite, Manganese-ore, Bauxite, Non-coking Coal, Limestone, Dolomite, Nickel- ore, Vanadium-ore, Copper ore, Lead ore, Fireclay, China clay, Graphite, Quartz and Quartzite, mineral sands like Limonite, Sillimanite, Zircon and Tin ore.

Industries

Orissa is one of the important states of India which is endowed with varieties of mineral resources. The mineral resources of Orissa have reputation for being qualitative for industries. The mineral resources of Orissa include Iron ore, Manganese, Coal, Bauxite, Dolomite, Tin, etc. Mineral resources have played an important role to make Orissa hot destinations for industries. Because of mineral resources big industries, like Rourkela Steel Plant, National Aluminum Company, National Thermal Power Corporation, have established their positions not only in India but also in world market. Besides those, reforms in infrastructure in recent years have created an atmosphere conducive for major industries of the world to look forward to Orissa as an epi-centre for industrial growth. In Eastern India, Orissa is really growing in real sense to become an industrial hub in the coming years.

Government of Orissa aims at creating and industry-enabling and investor friendly climate in the state with a view to accelerate industrial developments, employment opportunities and economic growth. IPR-2001 and Orissa Industries (facilitation) Act 2004 embodies the above objectives of Govt. Orissa has already emerged as a major investment destination for national as well as transborder national investors, especially in steel, aluminum, petrochemicals, power, IT and ITES, food processing industries, tourism and other such sectors. With the passing of times journey of industrial growth has taken a momentum within the Geographical periphery of Orissa. On the basis of investment the industries of Orissa are classified into following categories:

1. Large Scale Heavy Industries
2. Large Scale Industries
3. Small and Medium Industries
4. Handicraft and Cottage Industries
5. Khadi and Village Industries

Infrastructure Development

Government is in the process of formulating a robust public- private-partnership (PPP) policy to promote private investments in infrastructure development. Some successful efforts to initiate PPP projects include Paradeep Haridaspur Railway Link, Dhamra Port and Gopalpur Port etc. The state has already taken the initiative of promoting Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for attracting exports oriented industries and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Transport

Roads : Roads are considered the most important component of infrastructure, to which nation’s economy either directly or indirectly connected. Constructing high quality roads of international standard has come to reality in the soil of Orissa because of the potential will of the Government of Orissa. The State is connected to other neighboring states like west Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, through all weather high standard roads. Major roads of the state are covered by Pradhan Mantri Bharat Jodo Pari Yojana (PMBJP). The approaching roads to the main roads have qualitatively improved. In recent years the internal roads connecting villages, hamlets have become R.C.C roads. The roads connecting to Gram Panchayat Road and Taluka (Block) Road have also been constructed through R.C.C. In recent days attempts have been made for constructing roads through Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Rails : Orissa is well-connected with the national rail network. It has rail lines of 2287km, including 91km of narrow gauge. The Orissa railway network is a part of the East Coast Railway, which is the largest carrier of commercial load in both freight as well as passenger traffic in the country.

1. Orissa is a link between Eastern and Western India through the railway network of South- Eastern and East-Coast Railways.
2. With the commissioning of the Talcher-Sambalpur railway line, a vital link has been established between Coastal and Western Orissa.
3. While construction of the Koraput-Rayagada line has been completed, work on the Daitari-Banspani (expected completion is by 2006) and Khurda Road- Bolangir railway links are in progress
4. Development of Haridaspur - Paradeep and Angul-Duburi- Sukinda Road rail links, currently being planned, will connect the resource base to the industries.

The government of Orissa has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited for the Haridaspur-Paradeep link. The project cost is expected to be Rs.540crore and is expected to be complete by 2008. Out of the total of 942 acres, 770 acres have already been handed over to the railways. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited will also take up the Angul- Duburi- Sukinda Road link under PPP, estimated to cost around Rs.344 crore.

Ports : Orissa is endowed with a long coast line of 480 kms. along the Bay of Bengal interspersed with numerous ports like Dhamra (Chand Bali), Bahabalpur etc. Pradeep is the deepest port in India and is the main entry/ exit point for sea borne trade in Eastern India, catering particularly to Orissa, Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. It is emerging as a primer port of the country. The cargo profile of the port includes iron ore, coal, other minerals, food grains, petroleum products etc. A Modern fishing harbour has recently been commissioned at Paradeep. The port handles up to 12mtrs. draught and has a mechanized iron ore berth in addition to other cargo berths, 4 wharf cranes of 13.2mt capacity is 500 tone slip way and requisite cargo handling and storage facilities. The port has its own railway system and connected to East Coast Railways. It is also connected to NH5 A and State Highway 42. The Gopalpur Port of Ganjam district is a fair weather sea port with a current handling capacity of 2000-2500 tone per day. The port is ear marked for conversion to an on weather deep water port with augmented and fully mechanized. Cargo handling capacity and additional services for which a MOU has bee signed and the project is slated to be fully operational soon.

Fairs and Festivals

The state of Orissa is considered unique apart from other states of India due to a reason, i.e., here people celebrate more than 13 festivals in twelve months. The festivals of Orissa are designed in such a manner that it has relevance with science, spiritualism, history, mythology etc. One of the most amazing acts is that festivals and fairs of Orissa differ from one region to another. This also means that every festival is uniquely celebrated and makes the Oriya bonding even tighter. In the temple of Lord Jagannath many festivals and fairs are celebrated where people of each caste, color and creed get a chance to participate. It is the Jagannath cult, which has shown the seeds fellow-feeling, not only in the soil of Orissa but also in soil of India. Through a number of fairs and festivals, Orissa gets a chance to extend its hands to human society for brotherhood, because Orissa soil believes in "Vasudheiba Kutumbakam".

Tourism

On the eastern coast of India, perpetually washed by the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, lies the many splendour of State of Orissa. Endowed with a rich cultural heritage of old world charms and bestowed liberally with the bounties of nature, sometimes tender, sometimes awe-inspiring, it is a kaleidoscope of past splendours and present glamour, a fascinating state with unspoiled beaches, sprawling lakes, luxuriant forests, teeming wildlife, superb monuments, exotic handicrafts, traditional tribes, colorful fairs and festivals, scintillating music and dances. It is a land of unforgettable memories and hidden treasures. Many parts of this fascinating land remain relatively unexplored.

Traditionally known as the land of Lord Jagannath, Orissa is a potential State for tourists of various interests. The legend of Nilamadhab associated with Kantilo is thought provoking. The lush green forests of Ushakothi and Similipal filled with the chirping of birds and rich wild life are much-needed oasis. The biosphere reserve of Nandankanan, only 20 kms. from Bhubaneswar can be interesting for any visitor regardless of age and sex. The lion safari and white tiger safari have added news features.

The majestic Mahanadi gorge at Tikarapara with the added attraction of the Crocodile Sanctuary is a must for the wild life lovers. Millions of Olive Ridley turtles come to Gahirmatha twice a year to lay eggs. Orissa has a paradise for the birds as well as in the Chilika Lake which is the largest brackish Water Lake in Asia. The Lake is dotted with a host of Islands with their romantic names like Honeymoon Island, Breakfast Island etc. Dancing Dolphins are an added attraction of the place. The perennial and precipitous water falls at a number of places like Bagra, Duduma, Harishankar, Nrusimhanath, Pradhanpat, Khandadhar, Berehipani, Joranda, etc. formed against enthralling hills of scenic beauty provide the tired travellers with a cool breeze and ice cold water to relieve them off the clutches of the scorching sun in the summer.

More refreshing in the winter are the hot sulphur springs at Atri, Taptapani, Deulajhari and Tarabalo. The lovely beaches of Orissa stretching over 400 kms. from Chandaneswar to Gopalpur are still virgin and rated among the best in the world. The beach at Chandipur in the district of Balasore has a unique individuality of its own. To break the monotony of travelling, Orissa offers to the tourists numerous traditional fairs and festivals which are observed with colorful pomp and ceremony. The grandest among which is the Ratha Yatra at Puri. Other festivals include Dhanu Yatra at Bargarh, Sitala Sasthi at Sambalpur, Nila Parva at Chandaneshwar, Chhou dance at Baripada etc.