ODISHA - The Land of Jagannath Rich in Art and Culture

This state was formerly known as Kalinga, the capital city is Bhubaneswar. This city is famous for its temples, there are almost 700 temples devoted to lord Shiva. This is located in eastern India and touches the boundary of Bay of Bengal. It is also   known for its beaches, traditional food, music, dance. Apart from this there are various tribes across the state with unique culture and traditions.



Medieval and Modern History: -

Earlier the peninsular India, including Odisha, was a part of the Gondwana supercontinentMahapadma Nanda the ruler of Magadha is presumed to have conquered Kalinga (Odisha)during his reign. The Hathigumpha inscriptions mentions the suzerainty of the Nandas in the Kalinga region.

Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty conquered Kalinga in the bloody Kalinga War. About 1,000,000 people were killed, 1,500,000 were captured and several more were affected in this war. The resulting bloodshed and suffering of the war deeply affected Ashoka. He turned into a pacifist and converted to Buddhism.

Mahameghwana developed the Mahameghwana Dynasty in Kallinga. Kharavela was the third ruler of the dynasty.

The river Subarnarekha served as the border between Bengal and Maratha-controlled Odisha. Marathas used to collect a pilgrimage tax at Puri, which was exempt for paupers.  In 1803, the British conquered the region during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, when most of the Maratha forces were engaged elsewhere.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to build factories in Odisha. They had a settlement in Pipili in Puri district. In independent India  20 February 2014, the Odia language was given the status of a classical language of India, making it the sixth language to have the status.


CONNECTION TO THE STATE

Odisha shares boundary with Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal. Its coastline is 480km long it shares boundary with Bay of Bengal. Odisha consists of coastal plains, central plateaus, central hilly regions, flood plains, and uplands.


Climate and Festival’s: -

Odisha has hot and humid climate. Most of the part experience high temperature. Rainfall is also high and sometimes medium. Although the winter is very short. The average annual rainfall in the state is about 200 cm. Orissa experiences three main seasons, namely summer season, winter season and monsoons.

Odisha is very famous for its beautiful festivals namely Durga puja, Ratha yatra, Chhau, Kalinga Mahotsav, Konark Dance Festival, Gamha Purnima, Makar Mela, Chandan Yatra & many more for you to enjoy.


Off Beat Locations: - 

·        Puri

·        Konark

·        Cuttack

·        Jagannath temple

·        Lingaraj temple

·        Mukteswara temple

·        Rajarani temple

·        Simplipal national park

·        Bhitarkanika national park

·        Chilika wildlife sactuary

·        Khandagiri caves


River, Beaches and Lakes: -

·        Chilika lake

·        Anshupa lake

·        Kanjia lake

·        Pata lake

·        Hirakund dam

·        Bindu sarovar


FOLK SONGS, DANCES, LANGUAGES

Odisha in land of art and culture. Odiya dance, jatra, chahu, ravana Chaya are some of the folkdance forms of Odisha. Ghumura is also well known dance form of the state. Major population of Odisha speak Oriya language. Odissi music is the classical music famous in whole country. Odissi dance is performed in odissi music.


EDUCATION

Bhubneswar is emerging as a knowledge hub in India with several new public and private universities, including the establishment of an IIT after five decades of demand. overall literacy rate according to Census 2011 is 73.5%, which is marginally behind of the national average of 74.04%. In Odisha there are also many schools and colleges, maintained by government. The language used for education is Odiya, English, and Hindi.

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