Orissa
Area: 155,707 sq km
Capital: Bhubaneswar
Language: Oriya
Districts: 30
Physiography:
Orissa lies on the east coast of India. It is surrounded by West Bengal on the north-east, Bihar on the north, Andhra Pradesh on the south-east, Madhya Pradesh on the west and Bay of Bengal on the the east. The whole state lies in the tropical zone and is divided into four distinct tracts, viz. the northern plateau, the eastern ghats, the central tract and the coastal plains.
The state is drained by three great rivers, the Mahanadi, the Brahmani and the Baitarani and some lesser rivers, all of which flow into the Bay of Bengal.The biggest and the most famous lake in Orissa is the Chilka lake. Originally, it was part of the Bay of Bengal, but was subsequently closed up by sand dunes. It is 64 km long and 16 to 20 km wide.
There are two beautiful islands in the lake namely Parikud and Malud. Two other lakes call for mention, the Ansupa Lake (Cuttack District), about 5 km long and 1.6 km broad, and the Sara Lake, (Puri District) about 5 km long and 3 km wide.
Orissa has an equable climate, neither too hot nor too cold. The average rainfall in the state is 150 cm.
History:
The earliest settlers of Orissa were primitive hill tribes. The people of the Dravidian stock inhabited the place at a later period. The Aryan impact took place at some stage during the age of the Vedas and Brahmanas and by the time of the Mahabharat, Kalinga, Utkal and Odra had entered into the Aryan polity as powerful kingdoms. By time of Mahavira and the Buddha, Kalinga and Utkal regions on the eastern coast of India had acquired due recognition and fame.Orissa was known as Kalinga in the ancient days.
In the third century B.C. (268 B.C.) Ashoka, the Mauryan emperor, sent a powerful force to conquer Kalinga which offered stiff resistance. Kalinga was subdued but the carnage which followed struck Ashoka with remorse. It is here, where Ashoka "the Terrible" was transformed to Ashoka "the Compassionate". After the death of Ashoka, Kalinga regained its independence.
In the second century B.C. Kalinga became a powerful country under its ruler Kharavela. He conquered many kingdoms and countries, namely King Satakarni in the west, defeated the Musikas and defeated king Brihaspati Mitra of Magadha. His army went as far as Mathura in the north and his kingdom was extended to the borders of Pandya kingdom in the south. With the death of Kharavela, Orissa passed into obscurity.
In the 4th century A.D. Samudragupta set out on his conquest of the south from Magadha. In A.D. 610, Orissa came under the sway of King Sasanka. After Sasanka's death Harsha conquered Orissa.In the 8th century AD the most remarkable feature of the Orissan history was culmination of Orissa's overseas activities in the establishment of the Sailendra Empire in Malayasia.
A number of busy sea ports such as Tamralipti, Dansapura, Kalinganagar, Chautra and Palur existed along the eastern sea coast.
Commercial relation with the far east and the south east Asia continued for many centuries side by side with settlement of colonies in Balli, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Malaya. By the end of the 8th century, the entire Malaya came under a powerful empire known as the Sailendras Empire.
The Sailendras were the emigrants from Orissa and are identified by scholars with the Sailodjajavas. During the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries a powerful dynasty known as Bhauma Kara ruled over Utkal. The Bhauma-Kara rule was followed by the rule of the Soma Dynasty in Orissa generally identified by scholars with the more renowed Keshari Dynasty of legends and traditions. The Soma Vansi rulers ruled during the 10th & 11th centuries.
From the 5th century AD the Eastern Gangas were stabilising their position in the Trikalinga region of Orissa on both sides of river Vansha-dhara. By the end of 11th century AD and in early 12th century the Gangas rose into prominence and brought the whole of Orissa under their sway. Anantavarma Ghodagangadeva (1078-1147) is credited to have ruled from Ganga to Godavari. He transferred his capital from Mukhalingam or Kalinganagar in Parlakimedi to Cuttack. He renovated an old temple and constructed the massive temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri which stands at present over the old site of the Lord. The temple was completed by the successor of Chodaganga notably Anangabhimadeva. It was because of the Ganga emperors that in the 13th and 14th centuries when Muslim invasion overran most parts of India, Orissa was able to defeat the invaders repeatedly and protect its frontiers perfectly.
In the 13th century Orissan architecture reached its climax in the constructioin of the famous Sun Temple of Konark by Narasimhadeva-I.The Ganga dynasty bequeathed its empire to a new dynastly known Surya Dynasty. The first Surya King, Gajapati Kapilendradeva (1435-1466) carried extensive war against his neighbouring powers both Hindu and Muslim. The Surya rule in Orissa came to an end in 1533-34.
The last independent king of Orissa Gajapati Mukunda Deva was killed by his own countrymen while engaged in a prolonged struggle with the Afghan power of Bengal. In 1568, Orissa lost its independence and fell to the Muslims.The Mughals ruled in Orissa for a very little over a century and after the death of Aurangazeb began the rapid decay of the Mughal empire and that process Orissa came under virtually independent Nawabs of Bengal. Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal had ceded Orissa to the Marathas in 1751 after 10 years ceaseless struggle between the Bhonsales of Nagpur and the Nawab of Bengal. The Marathas continued to hold administration of Orissa till the British took over Orissa in 1803.
Orissa was made into a separate province in 1936. With independence, the Princely states in and around Orissa surrendered their sovereignty to the Government of India. By the States Merger (Governor's Provinces) Order 1949, the Princely States of Orissa were completely merged with the State of Orissa on 19th August, 1949.
Administration:
The legislature is unicameral—the Legislative Assembly The state is divided into 3 revenue divisions:
Central, Northern and Southern and 30 districts. Until 1992 there were only 13 districts.
Districts
- Mayurbhanj
- Baleswar
- Bhadrak
- Keonjhar
- Jajpur
- Kendrapada
- Jagatsinghpur
- Cuttack
- Dhenkanal
- Angul
- Kandhamal
- Nayagarh
- Khurda
- Puri
- Ganjam
- Gajapati
- Rayagada
- Koraput
- Malkanagiri
- Nabarangpur
- Kalahandi
- Nuapada
- Balangir
- Sonpur
- Sundargarh
- Baragarh
- Sambalpur
- Boudh
- Deogarh
- Jharsuguda
Orissa has a high percentage of Scheduled Castes and Tribes which together make 9.78 million. The High Court is located at Cuttack.
Economy:
Orissa's agro-based economy is always upset by some natural calamities like flood, drought, tornado or cyclone. Flood and drought are common to many states but only a few states are subject to cyclones and tornado. Orissa is one of the few. Cyclone has in recent years become a regular feature like flood or drought. In 1980 an unprecedented flood caused widespread damage.
Over 76% of the people are dependent on agriculture. Out of the gross cropped area of 87.46 lakh hectares, 18.79 lakh hectares are irrigated. Rice, pulses, oil-seeds, jute, mesta, sugarcane, coconut and turmeric are important crops. The state contributes one-tenth of the rice production in India. Forests cover nearly 37% of the total area of the state.
The Central Sector Projects are: Steel Plant at Rourkela, SAND Complex at Chhatrapur, Heavy Water Project at Talcher, Coach Repairing Workshop at Mancheswar, Aluminium Complex at Koraput, Captive Power plant at Angul, Aluminium Smelter at Angul and Fertilizer Plant at Paradeep.Major thermal and hydel power stations are Talcher, Hirakud and Chiplima.
Other power projects are Upper Indravati, Upper Kolab, Rengali and Ib.Centre has cleared a 10,000 MW power project at Hirma, Orissa to be commissioned by 2008. Sambalpur recorded the highest temperature in 110 years on May 23, '98 at 47.5oC.
Universities:
Berhampur University, Berhampur, Pin: 760 007
Fakir Mohan University, Balasore
North Orissa University, Mayurbhauj
Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar, Pin: 751 003Sambalpur University, Sambalpur, Pin: 768 019
Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishwa Vidyalaya, Puri, Pin: 752 003
Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Pin: 751 009
Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar, Pin: 751 009.
Tourist Centres:
Bhubaneswar, the present capital of Orissa is known as the cathedral city of India on account of its numerous temples. A complete study of the "Kalinga Style" of architecture from its every inception to maturity spread over a period of about two thousand years is epitomised in the monuments of Bhubaneswar.
Places of interest are: Lingaraja Temple, Mukteswar Temple, Ananta Basudeva Temple and Rajarani Temple, the Jain and Buddhist rock-cut caves of Khandagiri, Udayagiri and Dhauli together with Ashoka's rock edict.Puri and Konark are major tourist attractions( See P. 571 for details). Hirakud Dam, the fourth largest in the world, on Mahanadi is another attraction. Chilka, the largest brackish water inland lake in Asia, stretches over an area of 1100 sq.km. The largest Lion Safari of India, and the only White Tiger Safari in the world, are located on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.Odissi, the dance form of Orissa, evolved in the shadow of the magnificent temples of the state. Labels: Orissa
