Everything about Orissa totally explained
Orissa (
Oriya: ଓଡ଼ିଶା Oṛiśā), is a
state located on the east coast of
India.
Orissa is a
littoral state of India with a long coastline and a storehouse of mineral wealth. Because of its mineral wealth and strategic location it attracts foreign investment in steel, aluminum, power, refineries, and infrastructure. Many foreign steel companies, such as
Arcelor Mittal and
POSCO, have invested money to make steel plants in the state. Orissa is also emerging as a player in the outsourcing
IT (Information Technology) and IT services industry. The total planned investment in the state is projected to be 90 billion
U.S. dollars. However, there are environmental concerns and land acquisitions for some of these projects have been opposed by the local people.
The relatively unindented coastline (about 200 mi/320 km long) lacks good
ports, except for the deepwater facility at
Paradip. The narrow, level coastal strip, including the
Mahanadi River
delta, is exceedingly fertile. Orissa is home to the
Hirakud Dam, one of the longest dams in the world. Rainfall is heavy and regular, and two crops of rice (by far the most important cereal) are grown annually.
The coastal
alluvial plain is inhabited by the non-tribal speakers of the Oriya language. The interior, inhabited largely by the
indigenous people known as
Adivasis, is hilly and mountainous. Orissa is subject to intense
cyclones; in October 1999,
Tropical Cyclone 05B caused severe damage and some 10,000 deaths.
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
Oriya is an anglicised version of
Odia, which itself is a modern name for the
Odra or
Udra tribes that inhabited the central belt of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the
Kalinga and
Utkal nations 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 hadn't 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 famous
Kalinga War that led emperor
Ashoka to embrace non-violence and the teachings of
Buddha was fought here in 261 BCE. 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 bettle 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.
In 1803, the British under the
British East India Company occupied Orissa after the
Second Anglo-Maratha War. In 1823, Orissa was divided into the three districts of
Cuttack,
Balasore and
Puri, and a number of native
tributary states. Orissa was administered as part of the
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.
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. But unfortunately the
Oriya speaking princely states of
Saraikela and
Kharsawan (now in the state of
Jharkhand) and Oriya speaking regions of
Singhbhum of
Jharkhand,
Medinipur of
West Bengal,
Raigarh,
Sarangarh,
Bindhranawagarh and parts of
Bastar district of
Chhattisgarh and
Srikakulam and parts of
Vizianagarm and
Vishakhapatnam districts of
Andhra Pradesh, remained outside the territory of the State of
Orissa. 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
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 just 29 kms from Bhubaneswar.The city of
Puri is nearby, at a distance of around sixty kilometers on the coast of the
Bay of Bengal.
Puri is a famous 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) occurs 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. 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.
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 hasn't 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, Hexaware Technologies,
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.
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. In the state setup industrial estate
Kalinga Nagar 13 men, women and children were shot dead because they were opposed to a factory on their land. In Jagatsinpur police and armed goons attacked villagers proteseting peacefully. Crude bombs were hurled at an assembly of elderly women also. In Kashipur three tribal people were shot dead by police because they were opposing an aluminium factory on their lands. On 6th November last year 50,000 farmers joined hands to take over Hirakud dam for a day and stop diversion of water to industry.
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 and with the world 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 Airbase
Non-operational
Jayapur Airport
Utkela Airport
Berhampur Airport
Gotma Airport Nuapada
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 32 million. About 87% of the population live in the villages and one third of the rural population doesn't own any land other than homesteads. 25% of Orissa's population is tribal.
Orissa is an Hindu majority state with Hindus forming 94.35% of the population. This places Orissa as the 3rd most Hindu majority state (in terms of percentage) in India. Christianity is practiced by 2.4% of the population, followed by Islam practiced by 2.0% of the population, . Other faiths comprise less than 1.0%. (External Link
)
The religion of ancient Kalinga was Jainism. Rishabhnath and Parshvanath the first among the Jaina tirthankars preached and were revered in this land. Kalinga is also well mentioned and its history documented in Jain texts. Kalinga's Jain traditions were a major cause for inciting the attacks first by Mahapadma Nanda and later by Ashoka who were egged on by courtiers and advisers. The Khandagiri and Udaygiri caves are among the only stone monuments dedicated to the Jain religion which still survive. They were constructed by Emperor Kharavela and his courtiers.
Nanda attacked Kalinga and looted several parts of the state. He also took away the idol of Lord Rishabhdev to Magadha. But when Kharvela came in power he convulsed Nanda and brought back the idol of Lord Rishabdev, the symbol of pride for Kalinga. Jain texts have praised him as "Mahamegh Vahana Jain Raja Paramarhat Kharvela". These inscriptions are there in the jain caves of Udai Giri & Khanda Giri.
Perhaps the most well-known temple in Orissa is the Konark Temple. This is also known as the Sun Temple and is famous for its exquisite Orissan style of architecture. The Konark temple was built in the 13th century CE. It includes in its decoration many vignettes of military life. The thousands of elephants marching around the base of the temple demonstrate pride in the superb war elephants for which Orissa was famous.
Another well known temple in Orissa is the Jagannath Temple, which was built in the 12th century CE. It is located in Puri and is associated with the Ratha Jatra (Chariot Festival) celebrated all over northern India. Every year millions of devotees come to Puri during the Ratha Jatra. It is a festival during which the three deities, Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra, are brought out of the Jagannath temple in chariots to tour the streets, providing a glimpse to the thousands of devotees who throng the street.
The capital city of Bhubaneswar has some magnificent temples, including the Lingaraja temple, and the Mukteswar temple. Not surprisingly, it's called the "Temple City" of India.
Literature
The history of Oriya Literature has been mapped by historians along the following stages, Old Oriya (from the 10th century CE to 1300 CE), Early Middle Oriya (from 1300 CE to 1500 CE), Middle Oriya (from 1500 CE to 1700 CE), Late Middle Oriya (from 1700 CE to 1850 CE) and Modern Oriya (from 1850 CE till the present day). But this rude categorization couldn't skillfully draw the real picture on account of development and growth of Oriya Literature. Here, in this article, we'd try to 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's 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're known as Panchasakhas 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's 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.
Culture
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 Orissi music is usually classified as a kind of Hindustani classical music of northern India, although some aspects of Odissi are quite distinct. 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 splendor.
Religion
Orissa is home to Hindu saints of all castes. A few important figures include Sant Bhima Bhoi was an important sage in the Mahima sect movement and an Adivasi, Sarala Dasa was a writer of the Mahabharata in Oriya and several mantras and a Shudra, and Chaitanya Dasa was a Buddhistic-Vaishnava writer of the Nirguna Mahatmya and a Brahmin.
Sant Jaidev was the writer of the Gita Govinda and is renowned by the Sikhs as one of their most important bhagats.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati is a modern-day Hindu saint of Adivasi heritage. Another well-known modern-day saints is Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Maharaj.
Education
The ruins of a major ancient university and center of Buddhist learning, Ratnagiri, were recently discovered in 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.
Entry to various institutes of higher education 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 famous for its excellent infrastructure and state-of-art teaching methodology.
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's 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 lerning and research on the picturesque Puri-Konark marine drive in Orissa. It will have about 1,00,000 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 two IITs in Orissa, one of which possibly was planned to have been accomplished by upgrading the prestigious University College of Engineering, Burla, under the 11th five year plan. Unfortunately, the ministry shifted the IIT to Andhra Pradesh. As of now, Orissa receives the lowest per capita investment of all 28 states from the central government towards human resource development. This has led to widespread protest throughout Orissa.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Orissa'.
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