Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
INCRDIBLE ORISSA
Orissa stations Asia's largest free education residential school for three thousand tribal children. Designed by KIIT under guidance of Sri. Achyuta Samanta the founder of the KIIT Deemded university.
The Jagannath temple kitchen at Puri is reputed to be the largest kitchen in the world, with 400 cooks working around 200 hearths to feed over 10,000 people each day.
The world's oldest coins were discovered in Sonepur, in western Orissa. These priceless silver punch marked coins could be as old as 1000 BC. They are preserved in the Orissa State Museum.
Bhubaneswar, the capital city was the home of over 600 magnificent temples in medieval times. It is called the "temple city" of India. The only city in the world with such highest number of temples inside.
"Abadha", the famous prasad of Lord Sri Jagannath temple, is cooked in a hearth on which pots of rice are kept in a stack. Amazingly the top pot gets cooked first then the one below that. Surprising but true. something where science surrenders.
World’s highest electrified track ( at a height of 7.45 metres for running of Double Stack Container (DSC) goods trains ) is situated at Orissa in Jakhapura-Daitari section. Constructed by East Coast Railway of Orissa. Second to this is in China is 6.6 metre and 7.1 metre in USA.
The city of Sambalpur in western Orissa was one of the world's most prominent centers of diamond production. Travelers from lands as far away as Greece used to visit the city.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, was born and grew up in Cuttack city in Orissa.
Puri is one of the four Dhams - Hindu centers of pilgrimage. Every year, millions throng all over Puri to witness the famous Rath Yatra.
World’s biggest metal bell sized three feet and ten inches high with a circumference of 13 feet and four inches made of copper, zinc, nickel, iron, tin, aluminium and traces of gold and silver worth Rs 10 lakh, weighing 11.5 quintals is installed at Satya Mahima Dharma Dhama Samaj, Joranda, Orissa. Architected by Jitendra Kumar Sahu, a science graduate, who designed and moulded the metals in his foundry to shape the bell. world’s heaviest metal bell weighs 14.25 quintal bell, comprising the alloy of eight metals including half kilo of gold, was recently built to replace the old bell at Mahimagadi weighing 2.50 quintal provided by the Tata Company in 1934. The new bell with a height of 4 feet and 9 inches, was built by a team of 20 skilled artisans of Balakati led by Jitendra Sahu.
The Sinhala (people of Sri Lanka) are named after Raja Jai Sinha, an ancient Oriya king.
Rasgolla, the sweet delicacy enjoyed all over India, originated from Puri, Orissa. It became popular in Kolkata in the nineteenth century and eventually spread across the rest of the country.
A 23-feet giant Estuarine crocodile in Orissa has been crowned the world's largest. The reptile, named Baula Kumbhira (crazy crocodile), lives in Bhitarkanika sanctuary and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records.
Largest Brackish Water Lagoon. Chilka lake in Orissa, the largest water body in Asia, has an area of 916 sq km now. It used to be 1, 165 sq km.
Hirakud Dam, the fourth largest in the world, 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 in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
The southwestern part of Orissa contains the largest concentration of tribal people in the sub continent. There are more than 62 distinct tribal groups of indigenous people in Orissa. They have retained their tradition inspite of the onslaught of the modern civilization. They consist of more than 1/4 of the state's population. It is the largest collection of tribal people in a single state in the country.
Orissa hosts the largest arribada, or turtle nesting ground, in the world.
The world’s largest black rock, stretching over a radius of 3 km is located at Daringibari, Orissa.
Oldest Lady of India belongs to Orissa. CNN-IBN first reported about Fulla who was 120 years old and died recently at her resident at Kanarpur village in the coastal district of Kendrapada.
The world’s “longest” Santa was designed On Monday, December 25, 2006 at the Golden Beach of Puri by internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik. A 100-ft long, 30 ft wide and 15 ft high Santa Claus amazingly in just 40 hours assisted by 15 students, including 7 girls of his Golden Sand Art Institute, using 1,000 tons of sand
World's largest pant was stitched by tailor AV Giri of Jeypore. It measured 17.75 metre length and 11.83 metre width.
Orissa – highest producer of hematite ore. Orissa Produced about 30.2 Metric tons of iron ore in 2003-04 with a share of over 25 percent of India’s total production of hematite plus magnetite ore. Orissa’s hematite ore production recorded a growth of about 82 percent between 2001-02 and 2003-04. In 2003-04, Orissa produced highest hematite ore in the country.
A city still ancient to Ethens was discovered in Orissa. In an archeological survey on the out skirts of Bhubaneswar an ancient infrastructure older than Ethens has been discovered.
World's largest egg, with approximate dimension of 13 inches and width of 9.5 inches is of the gigantic herbivorous flightless elephant bird (zoologically termed as Aepyornis maximus) that lived last till 1650 AD, is preserved at Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhubaneswar.[Absar Beuria, a former Ambassador to Madagascar,donated to the museum ]
Maharaj Ranjit Singh wanted to present the Koh-i-noor diamond to Lord Jagannath.
on his death bed when he suffered from paralysis
The Jagannath temple kitchen at Puri is reputed to be the largest kitchen in the world, with 400 cooks working around 200 hearths to feed over 10,000 people each day.
The world's oldest coins were discovered in Sonepur, in western Orissa. These priceless silver punch marked coins could be as old as 1000 BC. They are preserved in the Orissa State Museum.
Bhubaneswar, the capital city was the home of over 600 magnificent temples in medieval times. It is called the "temple city" of India. The only city in the world with such highest number of temples inside.
"Abadha", the famous prasad of Lord Sri Jagannath temple, is cooked in a hearth on which pots of rice are kept in a stack. Amazingly the top pot gets cooked first then the one below that. Surprising but true. something where science surrenders.
World’s highest electrified track ( at a height of 7.45 metres for running of Double Stack Container (DSC) goods trains ) is situated at Orissa in Jakhapura-Daitari section. Constructed by East Coast Railway of Orissa. Second to this is in China is 6.6 metre and 7.1 metre in USA.
The city of Sambalpur in western Orissa was one of the world's most prominent centers of diamond production. Travelers from lands as far away as Greece used to visit the city.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, was born and grew up in Cuttack city in Orissa.
Puri is one of the four Dhams - Hindu centers of pilgrimage. Every year, millions throng all over Puri to witness the famous Rath Yatra.
World’s biggest metal bell sized three feet and ten inches high with a circumference of 13 feet and four inches made of copper, zinc, nickel, iron, tin, aluminium and traces of gold and silver worth Rs 10 lakh, weighing 11.5 quintals is installed at Satya Mahima Dharma Dhama Samaj, Joranda, Orissa. Architected by Jitendra Kumar Sahu, a science graduate, who designed and moulded the metals in his foundry to shape the bell. world’s heaviest metal bell weighs 14.25 quintal bell, comprising the alloy of eight metals including half kilo of gold, was recently built to replace the old bell at Mahimagadi weighing 2.50 quintal provided by the Tata Company in 1934. The new bell with a height of 4 feet and 9 inches, was built by a team of 20 skilled artisans of Balakati led by Jitendra Sahu.
The Sinhala (people of Sri Lanka) are named after Raja Jai Sinha, an ancient Oriya king.
Rasgolla, the sweet delicacy enjoyed all over India, originated from Puri, Orissa. It became popular in Kolkata in the nineteenth century and eventually spread across the rest of the country.
A 23-feet giant Estuarine crocodile in Orissa has been crowned the world's largest. The reptile, named Baula Kumbhira (crazy crocodile), lives in Bhitarkanika sanctuary and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records.
Largest Brackish Water Lagoon. Chilka lake in Orissa, the largest water body in Asia, has an area of 916 sq km now. It used to be 1, 165 sq km.
Hirakud Dam, the fourth largest in the world, 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 in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
The southwestern part of Orissa contains the largest concentration of tribal people in the sub continent. There are more than 62 distinct tribal groups of indigenous people in Orissa. They have retained their tradition inspite of the onslaught of the modern civilization. They consist of more than 1/4 of the state's population. It is the largest collection of tribal people in a single state in the country.
Orissa hosts the largest arribada, or turtle nesting ground, in the world.
The world’s largest black rock, stretching over a radius of 3 km is located at Daringibari, Orissa.
Oldest Lady of India belongs to Orissa. CNN-IBN first reported about Fulla who was 120 years old and died recently at her resident at Kanarpur village in the coastal district of Kendrapada.
The world’s “longest” Santa was designed On Monday, December 25, 2006 at the Golden Beach of Puri by internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik. A 100-ft long, 30 ft wide and 15 ft high Santa Claus amazingly in just 40 hours assisted by 15 students, including 7 girls of his Golden Sand Art Institute, using 1,000 tons of sand
World's largest pant was stitched by tailor AV Giri of Jeypore. It measured 17.75 metre length and 11.83 metre width.
Orissa – highest producer of hematite ore. Orissa Produced about 30.2 Metric tons of iron ore in 2003-04 with a share of over 25 percent of India’s total production of hematite plus magnetite ore. Orissa’s hematite ore production recorded a growth of about 82 percent between 2001-02 and 2003-04. In 2003-04, Orissa produced highest hematite ore in the country.
A city still ancient to Ethens was discovered in Orissa. In an archeological survey on the out skirts of Bhubaneswar an ancient infrastructure older than Ethens has been discovered.
World's largest egg, with approximate dimension of 13 inches and width of 9.5 inches is of the gigantic herbivorous flightless elephant bird (zoologically termed as Aepyornis maximus) that lived last till 1650 AD, is preserved at Regional Museum of Natural History, Bhubaneswar.[Absar Beuria, a former Ambassador to Madagascar,donated to the museum ]
Maharaj Ranjit Singh wanted to present the Koh-i-noor diamond to Lord Jagannath.
on his death bed when he suffered from paralysis
BANDE UTKAL JANANI
BANDE UTKALA JANANI
Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra
BANDE UTKALA JANANI
CHARU HASMAYI CHARU BHASAMAYI
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
PUTA-PAYODHI-BIDHYOTA-SHARIRA
TALATAMALA-SUSOBHITA-TIRA
SHUBHRA TATINIKULA-SHIKARA-SHAMIRA
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
GHANA BANA BHUMI RAJITAANGE
NILA BHUDH ARAMALA SAJE TARANGE
KALAKALA MUKHRITA CHARU BIHANGE
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
SUNDARASHALI-SUSOBHITA-KSHETRA
GNYANA BIGNYANA-PRADARSHITA-NETRA
JOGI RUSHIGANA UTAJA-PABITRA
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
SUNDARA MANDIRA MANDITA-DESHA
CHARU KALABALI-SHOBHITA-BESHA
PUNYA TIRTHACHAYA-PURNA PRADESHA
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
UTKALA SURABARA-DARPITA-GEHA
ARIKULA-SHONITA-CHARCHITA-DEHA
BISWA BHUMANDALA-KRUTABAR-SNEHA
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
KABIKULAMOULI SUNANDANA-BANDYA
BHUBANA BIGHOSHITA-KIRTI ANINDYA
DHANYE, PUNYE, CHIRA SHARANYE
JANANI, JANANI, JANANI
( In English )
(Glory to thee, Mother Utkal)
I adore Thee, O’Mother Utkal
How loving are Thy smile and voice !
O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
Bath’d art Thou by the sacred Sea,
Thy shores adorned with trees tall and green,
Balmy breeze blowing by beauteous streams,
O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
Thy body bedeck’d with dense woodlands,
Arrayed with verdant hills plaited like waves,
Thy sky ringing with choirs of singing birds,
O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
How charming are Thy rich fields of corn !
Thou art Eye to Erudition enow,
Sacred Abode to saints and seers,
O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
Thy land bejewelled with splendid shrines,
Richly dress’d art Thou in varied arts,
Thy limbs studded with sacred sites,
O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
Thou Home to the valiant heroes of Utkal,
Thy frame crimsoned with enemies’ blood,
Prime Darling of the whole universe,
O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
Greeted by Thy great sons, the crowning bards,
Thy untarnished glory proclaimed all around,
Blessed art Thou, the Holy, the Unfalling Abode,
I adore Thee, O’Mother, Mother, Mother !
NATIONAL ANTHEN
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CENSUS 2001
he population of Orissa which was 316.60 lakh in 1991 increased to 368.05 lakh in 2001. This accounted for a decennial growth rate of 16.25% against 20.06% in the previous decade, which is lower than the corresponding growth rates of 21.34% and 23.86% at the national level. The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) in Orissa in 2002 was 23.2 which is lower than the All-India figure of 25 but the Crude Death Rate (CDR) in the State (9.8) is much higher than the All-India figure (8.1).
The density of population which was 203 per sq. km. in 1991 has increased to 236 per sq. km. in 2001, which is lower than the All India average of 313 per sq. km. Out of the total population, 85.01% live in rural areas and depends mostly on agriculture for their livelihood. Urban population constitutes 14.99%.
The sex-ratio (i.e number of females per thousand males) in Orissa has marginally increased from 971 in 1991 to 972 in 2001 and this is much higher than the All India average of 927 in 1991 and 933 in 2001. In respect of SC and ST population also the State fared better sex ratio. As per 2001 Census, the sex ratio among SC and ST was 979 and 1003 respectively as against 936 and 978 at the All India level.
As per the 2001 Census, the rural population in Orissa is 31,287,422 and urban population is 5,517,238. The percentage of urban population to total population in Orissa at 14.99% is much below the national average of 27.78%. The projected population of Orissa for the year 2005, 2010 and 2015 will be in the order of 386.04 lakh 406.99 lakh and 425.70 lakh respectively.
As per the 2001 Census, the ST & SC population constitute 22.13% and 16.53% respectively of the total State population. Together they constitute 38.66% of the State population. This is comparatively higher than the All India figures 16.20% SC and 8.19% ST population. However it is interesting to note that although the percentage of SC population in the State has been increasing since 1981, that of ST population though marginally has been declining. The ST population which constituted 22.43% of the State population in 1981 fell to 22.21% in 1991 and further to 22.13% as per the latest 2001 Census. Between the decades 1991-2001, while the SC population has increased by 0.33% the ST population has decreased by 0.08%. Considering heavy concentration of ST and SC population in as many as 13 districts of the State a total 69613.80 sq. km area which constitutes 44.70% of the total State area have been declared as Scheduled Area as per 1991 Census.
As per NSSO Survey, against a 1.88 prevalence of disability in rural areas at national level in 1981, the prevalence was over 2% in Orissa. In 1991, the prevalence of disability in rural areas was close to 2-2.5% in Orissa. (National Human Development Report, Planning Commission, 2002)
Census 2001 data shows that 38.79% of the total State population constitutes workers. The percentage of main workers and marginal workers are respectively 67.2% and 32.8% of the total workers. Women still lag behind their male counterparts in respect of working population. The proportion of male workers to male population and female workers to female population in 2001 Census stood at 53% and 25% respectively. Pressure on agriculture still continues to be high in Orissa as revealed from the category-wise working population figures of 2001 Census. Out of the total workers 24.1% are cultivators, 14.7% are agricultural labourers, 2.8% engaged in household industries and 25.6% were other workers. However, there is wide disparity among the districts in the State in respect of major demographic sections.
The census results of 2001 reveals that the rank (ordered from highest value to lowest value) of Orissa among the 35 States and Union Territories of India is 11th in population size, 29th in decadal growth rate, 8th in sex ratio, 22nd in density of population, 26th in literacy and 16th in per cent of urban population.
T
The density of population which was 203 per sq. km. in 1991 has increased to 236 per sq. km. in 2001, which is lower than the All India average of 313 per sq. km. Out of the total population, 85.01% live in rural areas and depends mostly on agriculture for their livelihood. Urban population constitutes 14.99%.
The sex-ratio (i.e number of females per thousand males) in Orissa has marginally increased from 971 in 1991 to 972 in 2001 and this is much higher than the All India average of 927 in 1991 and 933 in 2001. In respect of SC and ST population also the State fared better sex ratio. As per 2001 Census, the sex ratio among SC and ST was 979 and 1003 respectively as against 936 and 978 at the All India level.
As per the 2001 Census, the rural population in Orissa is 31,287,422 and urban population is 5,517,238. The percentage of urban population to total population in Orissa at 14.99% is much below the national average of 27.78%. The projected population of Orissa for the year 2005, 2010 and 2015 will be in the order of 386.04 lakh 406.99 lakh and 425.70 lakh respectively.
As per the 2001 Census, the ST & SC population constitute 22.13% and 16.53% respectively of the total State population. Together they constitute 38.66% of the State population. This is comparatively higher than the All India figures 16.20% SC and 8.19% ST population. However it is interesting to note that although the percentage of SC population in the State has been increasing since 1981, that of ST population though marginally has been declining. The ST population which constituted 22.43% of the State population in 1981 fell to 22.21% in 1991 and further to 22.13% as per the latest 2001 Census. Between the decades 1991-2001, while the SC population has increased by 0.33% the ST population has decreased by 0.08%. Considering heavy concentration of ST and SC population in as many as 13 districts of the State a total 69613.80 sq. km area which constitutes 44.70% of the total State area have been declared as Scheduled Area as per 1991 Census.
As per NSSO Survey, against a 1.88 prevalence of disability in rural areas at national level in 1981, the prevalence was over 2% in Orissa. In 1991, the prevalence of disability in rural areas was close to 2-2.5% in Orissa. (National Human Development Report, Planning Commission, 2002)
Census 2001 data shows that 38.79% of the total State population constitutes workers. The percentage of main workers and marginal workers are respectively 67.2% and 32.8% of the total workers. Women still lag behind their male counterparts in respect of working population. The proportion of male workers to male population and female workers to female population in 2001 Census stood at 53% and 25% respectively. Pressure on agriculture still continues to be high in Orissa as revealed from the category-wise working population figures of 2001 Census. Out of the total workers 24.1% are cultivators, 14.7% are agricultural labourers, 2.8% engaged in household industries and 25.6% were other workers. However, there is wide disparity among the districts in the State in respect of major demographic sections.
The census results of 2001 reveals that the rank (ordered from highest value to lowest value) of Orissa among the 35 States and Union Territories of India is 11th in population size, 29th in decadal growth rate, 8th in sex ratio, 22nd in density of population, 26th in literacy and 16th in per cent of urban population.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
ORIYA MUSIC
http://as01.cooltoad.com/music/category.php?id=10486
http://odiamusic.com/
http://www.musicsofindia.com/MovieList.aspx?lan=4&cat=1
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ssahoo2/shared/songs/oriya/oriya-songs.tar.gz
http://www.purionline.com/entertainment
www.oriyatube.com
http://www.esnips.com/web/OINST
http://www.esnips.com/web/OLLYWOODREMIX
http://www.esnips.com/web/luvz-Bhajans
http://www.esnips.com/web/OriyaFilmSongs
www.fullorissa.com
http://www.desilassi.com/AtoZ.php?lid=9
http://www.harsamay.com/SongDetails/7468/Manini.aspx
JAGANATH BHAJANS
http://nilachakra.org/songs.htm
http://odiamusic.com/
http://www.musicsofindia.com/MovieList.aspx?lan=4&cat=1
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ssahoo2/shared/songs/oriya/oriya-songs.tar.gz
http://www.purionline.com/entertainment
www.oriyatube.com
http://www.esnips.com/web/OINST
http://www.esnips.com/web/OLLYWOODREMIX
http://www.esnips.com/web/luvz-Bhajans
http://www.esnips.com/web/OriyaFilmSongs
www.fullorissa.com
http://www.desilassi.com/AtoZ.php?lid=9
http://www.harsamay.com/SongDetails/7468/Manini.aspx
JAGANATH BHAJANS
http://nilachakra.org/songs.htm
ORIYA SOFTWARE FONTS
http://oriya.sarovar.org/developer_download.html
http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/history/people/language/oriya.html
http://dplus.en.softonic.com/ud-client/62000/62515/SoftonicDownloader62515.exe
http://cid-06da3ca7789f501a.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Lipikar%203.0.0%20RC2/Lipikar300RC2Setup.zip
http://members.tripod.com/~sushantdash/odiafont/ormnfnt1.zip
http://www.baraha.com/
http://www.cdac.in/html/gist/down/ileap_d.asp
ORIYA SEARCH ENGINE:http://www.oriyanet.com/
ORIYA E-MAIL:http://www.indianlanguages.com/oriya/index.htm
http://www.oriyamail.com/index.htm
http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/software/iitmed.php
http://odia.org/learn/learn.php#Softwares
http://odia.org/downloads/odiphon.zip
http://eodissa.com/software/eOdissaBOX.zip
http://odiascrap.blogspot.com
http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/history/people/language/oriya.html
http://dplus.en.softonic.com/ud-client/62000/62515/SoftonicDownloader62515.exe
http://cid-06da3ca7789f501a.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Lipikar%203.0.0%20RC2/Lipikar300RC2Setup.zip
http://members.tripod.com/~sushantdash/odiafont/ormnfnt1.zip
http://www.baraha.com/
http://www.cdac.in/html/gist/down/ileap_d.asp
ORIYA SEARCH ENGINE:http://www.oriyanet.com/
ORIYA E-MAIL:http://www.indianlanguages.com/oriya/index.htm
http://www.oriyamail.com/index.htm
http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/software/iitmed.php
http://odia.org/learn/learn.php#Softwares
http://odia.org/downloads/odiphon.zip
http://eodissa.com/software/eOdissaBOX.zip
http://odiascrap.blogspot.com
NEWSPAPERS
SYNONYMS
Kalinga, Utkal, Utkalraata, Udra, Odra, Odrabisha, Oda, Odrarashtra, Trikalinga, Koshala, Kangoda, Toshali, Chedi and Matsa
http://orissamatters.com/2008/06/11/orissa-in-peril/
Udisa is derived from the word Udra Desa or Uddiyana. King Indrabhuti of Uddiyan of 8th century, founder of Vajrayana, the Uddiyana Tantra, was the first to have propitiated Gurudev Buddha as Jagannatha in his canon Jnana Siddhi following which the cult of Jagannatha has evolved.
http://orissamatters.com/2008/06/11/orissa-in-peril/
Udisa is derived from the word Udra Desa or Uddiyana. King Indrabhuti of Uddiyan of 8th century, founder of Vajrayana, the Uddiyana Tantra, was the first to have propitiated Gurudev Buddha as Jagannatha in his canon Jnana Siddhi following which the cult of Jagannatha has evolved.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
LITERATURE
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Oriya_script
http://www.fullorissa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2770
http://orissa.gov.in/oriyaclassics/saralamahabharat/adi1content.htm
http://orissa.gov.in/oriyaclassics/oriyabhagabat/index.htm
http://orissa.gov.in/oriyaclassics/
http://www.odia.org/books/allBooks.php
LAXMIPURANA:http://www.odia.org/books/LaxmiPurana.pdf
ODIYA AUDIO BOOKS:http://www.odia.org/av/odiaAudio.php
TAPASWINI :http://www.iopb.res.in/~somen/GMeher/index.html this great work of gangadhar meher is avialable as pdf chapters
UPSC EXAM BOOK COLLECTION:http://upscportal.com/civilservices/Download/NCERT-BOOKS
JAGGANATH
Jagannatha Svami
Nayana-patha-gami
Bhavatu me
The celebrated Temple of Lord Jagannath now existent at Puri was constructed by Raja Ananta Varman Chodaganga Dev in 12th century A.D. The wooden images of Jagannath Balabhadra and Subhadra were installed in that temple. The management of the temple continued under the Hindu rulers till 1558, when the State of Orissa was conquered by the Afghan Nawab of Bengal and the temple was attacked by the Afgan General ‘Kalapahad’. Then, an independent Khurda kingdom was established by Ramachandra Deb, who assumed the management of the temple. He consecrated the temple and reinstalled the deities. Raja Mansingh, a General of the Mughal King Akbar, defeated the Afghans and annexed Orissa in to the Mughal dominion. It remained under the Mughals till 1751 A.D. Till 1760, the temple continued under the Khurda Raja, who was paying tribute to Mughals and Marhattas. Marhattas took up direct management of the temple till 1803. The Britishers annexed Orissa into British empire in 1803 and allowed Puri Raja to manage the temple. The position continued till 1947.
more:
he Jagannath Temple in Puri is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath (Krishna) and located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. The name Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat (Universe) and Nath (Lord of). The temple is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindu traditions, particularly worshippers of Krishna and Vishnu, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages that a Hindu has to be visited in one's lifetime .
The temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated chariots. Since medieval times, it is also associated with intense religious fervour . The temple is sacred to the Vaishnava traditions and saint Ramananda who was closely associated with the temple. It is also of particular significance to the followers of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism whose founder, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was attracted to the deity, Jagannath, and lived in Puri for many years.
Origins of the temple
Ritual chakra and flags at the top shikhara of Puri temple of Jagannatha also related to Sudarsana chakra. The red flag denotes that Jagannath is within the building.
According to recently discovered copper plates from the Ganga dynasty(reference required), the construction of the Current Jagannath temple was initiated by the ruler of Kalinga, Anantavarman Chodaganga Dev . The Jagamohana and the Vimana portions of the temple were built during his reign (1078 - 1148 CE). However it was only in the year 1174 CE that the Orissan ruler Ananga Bhima Deva rebuilt the temple to give a shape in which it stands today .
Jagannath worship in the temple continued until 1558, when Orissa was attacked by the Afghan general Kalapahad. Subsequently, when Ramachandra Deb established an independent kingdom at Khurda in Orissa, the temple was consecrated and the deities reinstalled .
Legend surrounding the temple origin
The traditional story concerning the origins of the temple is that the original image of Jagannath (a deity form of Krishna) was found near a fig tree in the form of an Indranila or the Blue Jewel. It was so dazzling that Dharma wanted to hide it in the earth. King Indradyumna of Malwa wanted to find the image and to do so he performed harsh penances to obtain his goal. Vishnu then instructed him to go to the Puri seashore and find a floating log to make an image from its trunk. The King found the log of wood. Vishwakarma appeared in the form of artist and prepared images of Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra from the tree.
Buddhist Origins
Some archaeologists theorize that there existed a Buddhist stupa at the site of the present one, which may have housed the tooth relic of the Buddha before it was transported to its present location in Kandy, Sri Lanka.[10] Around that period Buddhism was assimilated within the Vaishnava fold, whence Jagganath worship gained popularity. This was in the tenth century, during the reign of the Somavamsi kings of Orissa.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the great Sikh emperor, had donated massive amounts of gold to this temple, (even more than he gave away to the Golden Temple at Amritsar). In his last will, he also ordered that Kohinoor, the most precious and greatest diamond in the world, to be donated to this temple, but the diamond could never actually make its way to the temple because the British, by that time, had annexed the Punjab and all its royal possessions.
Cultural Integrity
Shrikshetra of Puri Jagannath, as is commonly known, can verily be said to be a truthful replica of Indian culture. To understand this culture, one has to have some idea of the history of this land, which again is different from that of other countries of the world. Indian history does not contain accounts of imperialistic aggressions or invasions into the territorial integrity of any nation.
Starting from Lord Jagannath himself, history has it that he was a tribal deity, adorned by the Savaras, as a symbol of Narayan. Another legend claims him to be Nilamadhava, an image of Narayana made of blue stone and worshipped by the aboriginals. He was brought to Nilagiri (blue mountain) or Nilachala and installed there as Jagannath in company with Balaram(Balabhadra) and Subhadra. The images made of wood are also claimed to have their distant linkage with the aboriginal system of worshipping wooden poles. To cap it all the Daitapatis, who have a fair share of responsibilities to perform rituals of the Temple, are claimed to be descendants of the aboriginals or hill tribes of Orissa. So we may safely claim that the beginning of the cultural history of Shrikshetra is found in the fusion of Hindu and Tribal Cultures. This has been accepted as a facet of our proud heritage. The three deities came to be claimed as the symbols of Samyak Darshan, Samyak Jnana and Samyak Charita usually regarded as Triratha (of the Jaina cult), an assimilation of which leads to Moksha (salvation) or the ultimate bliss.
Lord Jagannath is worshipped as Vishnu or Narayan or Krishna and simultaneously regarded as the Vairava (Shiva the formidable) with Vimala (the Vairavi or the consort of Shiva) installed in the campus of the temple. So ultimately we find a fusion of Saivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism of the Hindu religion with Jainism and Buddhism in the culture of Jagannath and the cultural tradition so reverently held together in Shrikshetra.
Structure
Shree Jagannath temple is a ‘Rekha Deula’ with curvilinear tower on a ‘Pancha Ratha’ plan. The height of the temple is 214 feet 8 inch from the ground level and 181 feet from inner base (ANTARVEDI). It stands on an elevated platform of stone measuring about 9.83 acres. The temple is bounded by two enclosures. The inner enclosure is 420' x 315 ' size and known as Kurma Bedha, which made between 1467-1494. The outer enclosure is of 665' x 644' size with the height varying from 20 ' to 24 ' and known as Meghanad Prachir.
here are four major temples in a row, named ‘Viman’ (The main temple where Lord Jagannath is worshipped with brother Balabhadra, sister Subhadra and Sudarshan), Jagamohan (Audience hall), Natamandap (Dance hall) and the Bhoga Mandap (offering hall). The height of Jagamohan is 120 feet and the base area is 80 feet x 80 feet. The base area of Nata Mandap is 80 feet x 80 feet and the base area of Bhogo Mandap is 58 feet x 56 feet.
The temple has four gates at the Eastern – Lion Gate (Singha Dwara – The main entrance), Southern – Horse Gate, Western – Tiger Gate, and Northern – Tiger Gate at midpoints of the Meghanad Prachir (Outer Wall).
The huge temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2), and is surrounded by a high fortified wall. It contains at least 120 temples and shrines. With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Orissan style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India.
The main temple is a curvilinear temple and crowning the top is the 'srichakra' (a eight spoked wheel) of Vishnu. Also known as the "Nilachakra", it is made out of Ashtadhatu and is considered sacrosanct. The temple tower was built on a raised platform of stone and, rising to 214 feet (65 m) above the inner sanctum where the deities reside, dominates the surrounding landscape. The pyramidal roofs of the surrounding temples and adjoining halls, or mandapas, rise in steps toward the tower like a ridge of mountain peaks.
The main shrine is enclosed by a 20 feet (6.1 m) high wall. Another wall surrounds the main temple.
The Singhadwara
The Bada Danda or the Grand Avenue
The Singahdwara, which in Sanskrit means The Lion Gate, is one of the four gates to the temple and forms the Main entrance. The Singhadwara is so named because two huge statues of crouching lions exist on either side of the entrance. The gate faces east opening on to the Bada Danda or the Grand Road.The Baisi Pahacha or the flight of twenty two steps leads into the temple complex. An idol of Jagannath known as Patita Pavana, which in Sanskrit, means the "Saviour of the downtrodden and the fallen" is painted on the right side of the entrace. In ancient times when untouchables were not allowed inside the temple, they could pray to Patita Pavana. The statues of the two guards to the temple Jaya and Vijaya stand on either side of the doorway [15]. Just before the commencement of the Rath Yatra the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken out of the temple through this gate.On their return from the Gundicha Temple they have to ceremonially placate Goddess Mahalakshmi, whose statue is carved atop the door, for neglecting to take her with them on the Yatra. Only then the Goddess allows them permission to enter the temple. A magnificent sixteen-sided monolithic pillar known as the Arun stambha stands in front of the main gate. This pillar has an idol of Arun, the charioteer of the Sun God Surya, on its top. The pillar originally installed in the Sun temple of Konarak was shifted to Puri by the Raja of Khurda.
Other Entrances
The Singhadwara in 1870 showing the Lion sculptures with the Arun Stambha Pillar in the foreground
Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra in Padma Besha or the Lotus Garb
Apart from the Singhadwara, which is the main entrance to the temple, there are three other entrances facing north, south and west. They are named after the sculptures of animals guarding them. The other entrances are the Hathidwara or the Elephant Gate, the Vyaghradwara or the Tiger Gate and the Ashwadwara or the Horse Gate.
[edit] The Mandapas
There are many Mandapas or Pillared halls on raised platforms within the temple complex meant for religious congregations. The most prominent is the Mukti Mandap the congregation hall of the Sevayats or the temple servitors. Here important decisions regarding conduct of daily worship and festivals are taken. The Dol Mandap is noteworthy for a beautifully carved stone Torana or arch which is used for constructing a swing for the annual Dol Yatra festival. During the festival the idol of Dologobindo is placed on the swing. The Snana Bedi is a rectangular stone platform where idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are placed for ceremonial bathing during the annual Snana Yatra
Deities
The central forms of Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra constitute the trinity of deities sitting on the bejewelled platform or the Ratnavedi in the inner sanctum. The Sudarshan Chakra, idols of Madanmohan and Bishwadhatri are also placed on the Ratnavedi. The idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan Chakra are made from sacred Neem logs known as Daru Bramha.Depending on the season the deities are adorned in different garbs. Worship of the deities pre-date the temple structure and may have originated in an ancient tribal shrine.
Minor Temples
There are numerous smaller temples and shrines within the Temple complex where active worship is regularly conducted. The temple of Mahalakshmi has an important role in rituals of the main temple.It is said that preparation of food as offering for Jagannath is supervised by Goddess Mahalakshmi.[citation needed] The Kanchi Ganesh Temple is dedicated to Ganesh. Tradition maintains that the idol of Ganesh was brought from Kanchipuram in present day Tamil Nadu by the legendary King Purushottam after he defeated the King of Kanchipuram in ancient times.
Festivals
Devotees visiting the Jagannath Temple in Puri on the occasion of Snana Yatra
There are elaborate daily worship services. There are many festivals each year attended by thousands of people. The most important festival is the Rath Yatra or the Chariot festival in June. This spectacular festival includes a procession of three huge chariots bearing the idols of Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra through the Bada Danda meaning the Grand Avenue of Puri till their final destination the Gundicha Temple.
In a year that has two months of Ashadh which is usually once in twelve years the wooden idols of the deities are replaced during the Nabakalevara ceremony.On Akshaya Tritiya every year the Chandan Yatra festival marks the commencement of the construction of the Chariots of the Rath Yatra. On the Purnima of the month of Jyestha the Gods are ceremonially bathed and decorated every year on the occasion of Snana Yatra.Many other festivals like Dolo Yatra and Jhula Yatra are celebrated by devotees every year.
Temple today
The Rath Yatra in Puri in modern times showing the three chariots of the deities with the Temple in the background
In modern times the temple is busy and functioning.The temple is selective regarding who is allowed entry into the grounds. Most non-Hindus are excluded from its premises,
as are Hindus of non-Indian origin. Visitors not allowed entry may view the precincts from the roof of the nearby Raghunandan Library. There is some evidence that this came into force following a series of invasions by foreigners into the temple and surrounding area. Buddhist, and Jain groups are allowed into the temple compound if they are able to prove their Indian ancestry.[20] The temple has slowly started allowing Hindus of non-Indian origin into the area, after an incident in which 3 Balinese Hindus were denied entry, even though Bali is 90% Hindu.
The temple kitchen
The temple's kitchen is considered as the largest kitchen in India. Tradition maintains that all food cooked in the temple kitchens are supervised by the Goddess Mahalakshmi herself. It is said that if the food prepared has any fault in it a dog appears near the temple kitchen.The temple cooks or Mahasuaras take this as a sign of displeasure of Mahalakshmi with the food which is promptly buried and a new batch cooked. All food is cooked following rules as prescribed by Hindu religious texts. Cooking is done only in earthen pots with water drawn from two special wells near the kitchen called Ganga and Jamuna. The food after being offered to Jagannath is distributed as mahaprasad to devotees in the Ananda Bazar located to the North of the Singhadwara inside the temple complex.
rituals:
Ritual or Neeti signifies a particular religious rites. The daily and periodical rituals observed and performed since time immemorial. Lord Jagannath, Sri Devi Bhudevi and Sudarsana are worshiped by the same Puja Panda, 'Nilamadhava'. Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra is worshipped by two different Puja Panda. The timing and the methods of Rituals which are performed daily basis at Sree Mandir are given below.
1. "DWARPHITA & MANGAL ALATI" AT 5 A.M.
(Opening of the Temple door & auspicious lamp offering)
The doors of the sanctum are to be opened early morning by 5 A.M. During the month of Kartika(October-November) and Pausa(Dec-Jan) and on certain specific days, the doors are to be opened much before 5A.M. i.e. between 2 to 3 A.M. . Presence of five servitors(Bhitarchha Mahapatra, Pratihari, Muduli, Akhanda Mekap and Palia Mekap) is necessary for performance of 'dwarphita neeti' (Opening of the temple door). The doors are opened after Bhitarchha Mahapatra examines the "seal", placed on the padlocks in the last night by another servitor known as Talichha Mahapatra.
On some days, extra rituals or delay in completion of rituals leads to not to do "Pahada"(closing the temple doors after the final ritual is over in the night). On such occasions, it become impossible to opening of the doors on the following morning and only from 'Mangalaalati' onwards the rituals commence.
The subsequent ritual after 'Dwarapitha' is Mangalaalati i.e. the offering of sacred lamps to the deities. Bhitarchha Mohapatra and two other Puspalak servitors perform the rituals standing below the RatnaVedi(Pedestral).
2. "MAILAM" AT 6 A.M.
(Removal of dress,flowers etc.)
The scheduled time for Mailam is 6 a.m. , but it depends upon the time taken for Mangala alati. "Mailam" is a word used in Shri Jagannath Temple, which means change or removal of dresses and flowers etc. The servitors associated with this particular ritual are Puspalak (3 persons), khuntia, Changada Mekap and Dhoba.
Three Puspalak servitors change the clothes, flowers, Tulasi Leaves of the Deities, worn on the last night. After removal of clothes, another clean or washed set of clothes known as 'Tadapa' and 'Uttariya' like towels are worn by the Deities. These clothes are washed by servitor Dhoba who is actually brahmin by caste.
3. "ABAKASH" - 6 A.M. TO 6.30 A.M.
(Purification rites of the Deities)
Purificatory rites like brushing of teeth and bath of Deities is known as "Abakash". This ritual takes place between 6 to 6.30 in the morning. These rites are performed by servitors like Puspalaks, Suarbadu, Paniapat, Mukhapakhal and Khuntia, Darpania Mukhapakhal, Padhiary, Amla Ghatuary, Bhandar Mekap, Mahabhoi and Khuri Nayak.
Three Puspalaks perform a simple worship sitting on the floor below the Ratnavedi. They sprinkle water mixed with camphor, curd amala and sandal paste on three brass mirrors, each about two feet high, symbolizing the bath. Before that, they also show the tooth sticks and tongue scrappers to the Deities, symbolising brushing of the teeth. During such rites, the temple Jyotisha (Astrologer) reads out the tithi (Timing) and other astrological details of the day.
4. "MAILAM" AT 6.45 A.M.
(Removal of dress and flowers etc.)
At this time 6.45 A.M. deities change their clothes (Tadap & Uttariya) and wear another set of clothes. A servitor known as "Akhanda Mekap" keeps in the sanctum Akhanda Baitha. This lamp is not extinguished and burns till 'pahada' i.e. the time of retirement of the Deities to beds. The servitors associated with this ritual are Puspalak, Changada Mekap, Suar Badu, Dhaba etc.
5. "SAHANAMELA" - 7A.M. TO 8 A.M.
(Emergence to public)
The time of Sahanamela of the Deities is 7 a.m. Though this is not a part of the rituals, but about one hour is spent to facilitate pilgrims to go up to "Ratnavedi" or inner sanctums to have a Darshan, without paying fees for it. General public get opportunity to see the Deities at a very close distance. Sahanamela is usually conducted for one hour. Though there is provision for 'Sahanamela' twice a day, but in practice, it is being held only once. On certain festive day, Sahanamela is held after 'Sandhyadhupa' (evening puja). During the month of Kartika it is held in the evening after Sandhyaalati and in the month of Pausha it is held after 'Sakaldhupa'. Sometimes it is held after 'morning dhup' and on certain festive days, there is no provision for Sahanamela. It is not treated as a part of rituals but is held only to enable ordinary public to go near the Deities.
6. "BESHALAGI" AT 8 A.M.
(Dressing of Deities)
Beshlagi is performed at 8 a.m. The Deties are again dressed up which can be witnessed from a little distance i.e. "Bhitara Katha". At this time, Deities are also adorned with gold and precious stones to suit diffeerent festive occasions.
7. "ROSHA HOMA" - 8 A.M. to 8.30 A.M.
(Sacrifing fire to the deities)
At the time 8 to 8.30 a.m. While some sevayats are busy with 'Beshalagi' of the Deities, Pujapanda servitors at that time perform "Rosha Homa" (Fire Sacrifice) at the sacred kitchen. Here now starts the cooking of holy food (Maha prasad). Previously 'Deula Purohita' sevaks (The temple priests) were performing such rituals. The other servitors engaged in the ritual are Dhopakhalia and Mekap.
8. "SURYA PUJA"
(Sun Worship)
Next follows SURYA PUJA (Sun Worship). The Sun God in the Surya Temple near the "Mukti Mandap" in the inner enclosure is worshipped by the servitor puja Panda.
9. "DWARAPALA PUJA"
(Worship of the divine gatekeepers)
Then The Divine gatekeepers "Jaya" and "Vijaya" on the entranfe of the Jagamohan of the Temple gate are worshipped by the servitor known as puja Panda.
10. "GOPALA BALLAVA PUJA" AT 9 A.M.
(Breakfast of the God)
The time for breakfast of the deities is at 9 A.M. At this time sweet popcorn (Khei), Khualadus, Coconuts sweets (Kora), Ripe banana, Curd, and chipped coconuts etc. are offered as bhogas. Puja is performed in a brief manner with pancha upachar only.
11. "SAKALA DHUPA" AT 10 A.M.
(Morning food offering)
12. "MAILAM & BHOGA MANDAP" AT 11 A.M.
13. "MADHYANHA DHUPA" - 11A.M. to 1 P.M.
(Afternoon food offering)
14. "MADHYANHA PAHUDHA" - 1 P.M. to 1.30 P.M.
15. "SANDHYA ALATI"
16. "SANDHYA DHUPA" - 7 P.M. to 8 P.M.
17. "MAILAM AND CHANDANA LAGI"
18. "BADASINGHAR VESHA"
19. "BADASINGHARA BHOGA"
20. "KHATA SEJA LAGI AND PAHUDA" AT 12.00 A.M.
LORD ON THE WEB
http://www.orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/jul2005/engpdf/jainism_budhism_in_joga-culture.pdf
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx3kdJRc4eo
http://www.lordjagannath.com/
http://oldindianphotos.blogspot.com/2009/01/jagannath-temple-puri-orissa-part-i.html
http://jagannathnet.wordpress.com/
http://vedicempire.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=27
http://www.shreekhetra.com/
http://nilachakra.org/
JAGANNATH ASHTAKAM
Shri-Shrila-Jagannathashtakam
rupanuganam pravaram sudantam
shri-gauracandra-priya-bhakta-rajam
shri-radhika-madhava-citta-ramam
vande jagannatha-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, the foremost of the followers of Srila Rupa Goswami, the king of Gauranga’s dear devotees, who takes pleasure in remembering Radhika and Madhava.
shri-surya-kundashrayinah kripalor
vidvad-vara-shri-madhusudanasya
preshtha-svarupena virajamanam
vande jagannatha-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, who was the dearest associate of the most merciful resident of Surya Kund, Sri Madhusudana Das Babaji.
shridhama-vrindavana-vasi-bhakta-
nakshatra-raji-sthita-soma-tulyam
ekanta-namashrita-sangha-palam
vande Jagannath-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, who stood out from the rest of the devotees of Sri Dham Vrindavan just like the moon amongst the stars. He was the protector of the association of Vaishnavas who are uniquely dedicated to the chanting of the Holy Name.
vairagya-vidya-hari-bhakti-diptam
daurjanya-kapatya-vibheda-vajram
shraddha-yuteshv adara-vrittimantam
vande Jagannath-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, aglow with devotion to Hari combined with knowledge and renunciation, a veritable thunderbolt to those who are wicked and pretenders and ever affectionate to the faithful.
samprerito gaura-sudhamshuna yash
cakre hi taj-janma-griha-prakasham
devair nutam vaishnava-sarvabhaumam
vande Jagannath-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, who was directed by Gauranga himself to point out the place where he appeared on this earth. He is worshiped by even the gods as the sovereign of the Vaishnavas on this earth.
saïcarya sarvam nija-shakti-rashim
yo bhakti-purne ca vinoda-deve
tene jagatyam hari-nama-vanyam
vande Jagannath-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, who infused the devoted Bhaktivinoda Thakur with all of his own potency, and through him unleashed the flood of Harinama throughout the universe.
shri-nama-dhamnoh prabala-pracare
ihaparam prema-rasabdhi-magnam
shri-yoga-pithe krita-nritya-bhangam
vande Jagannath-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, always immersed in the ocean of sacred rapture and engaged in forcefully preaching the Holy Names and the Lord’s abode. He danced ecstatically in the Yoga-pitha at Mayapur.
mayapura-dhamani sakta-cittam
gaura-prakashena ca moda-yuktam
shri-nama-ganair galad-ashru-netram
vande Jagannath-vibhum varenyam
I venerate great Jagannath, the best of the Vaishnavas, who is totally attached to the Holy Dhama of Mayapur, who is joyful from the vision of Gauranga, whose eyes flow with tears from the chanting of the Holy Names.
he deva he vaishnava-sarvabhauma
bhaktya parabhuta-mahendra-dhishnya
tvad-gatra-vistara-kritim supunyam
vande muhur bhaktivinoda-dharam
O Lord! O sovereign of the Vaishnavas! Through your devotion you have overcome even the heavens. I constantly venerate the most pious line of Bhaktivinoda Thakur which has developed from your body and works.
PAITA MANTRA OR THREAD MANTRA :http://odiaorg.tripod.com/odiabooks/paitamantra/paitaMantra.htm
ODISHA SHLOKAS:http://www.odia.org/sanskrit/allSansBooks.php
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS
HEALTH:
HIGH INFANT MORTALITY IN COUNTRY
http://spo-nipi.blogspot.com/
With the inspiration of Yashoda in Mahabharata who cared and brought up lord Krishna, the Central Government with the help of Norway (Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI)) has launched “Yashoda Scheme” at Sambalpur for the first time in country. NIPI wouldl contribute Rs.1.5 core for Orissa for implementation of the scheme. The Scheme was launched in the country after the success of 'Janani Surakshya Yojana with an objective to bring a change in the post natal care. NIPI Director and former union Health Secretary P K Hota informed about the scheme.
1. Under the schemes the ''Yoshodas'' would be recruited to look after the ''Bal Krishnas'' on a monthly honorium of Rs 3000.
2. Yashodas'' would stay in hospitals for 48 hours and take care of the new born children
3. The 'Yashodas' would also look after the mothers of the new born children
MALARIA:HIGHEST OCCURRENCE & HIGH DEATH RATE
CAUSED BY
GLOBAL SITUATION
INDIA
ORISSA
LIFE CYCLE
SYMPTOMS
CONTROL
SANITATION MEASURES: AVOID WATER TO COLLECT IN NEIGHBORHOOD
GAMBUSIA FISH
MOSQUITO NET
IRS SPRAY
DIAGNOSIS:
THICK AND THIN BLOOD SMEAR : CHEAP
RAPID DIAGNOSTIC KITS : MORE VALUABLE
TREATMENT : EARLY AND PROMPT
QUININE , CHLOROQUINE ,ARTISUNATE
WEB RESOURCES
http://www.mrcindia.org/publication.htm
http://www.malariasite.com
http://nvbdcp.gov.in/malaria-new.html
http://helid.desastres.net/?e=d-0who--00-1-0--010---4----0--0-10l--1en-5000---50-help-0---01131-0011al1ByTN%6042f94161000000004af86a14-0utfZz-8-0-0&a=d&c=who&cl=CL1.8&ld=Jwho02e
http://www.shoklo-unit.com/lab.shoklo-unit.com/labman/labman_e.html
ENEMIES OF ORISSA :
http://nilachakra.org/documents/News%20Letters/Enemies%20of%20Orissa.htm
SUPER CYCLONE 1999
HIGH INFANT MORTALITY IN COUNTRY
http://spo-nipi.blogspot.com/
With the inspiration of Yashoda in Mahabharata who cared and brought up lord Krishna, the Central Government with the help of Norway (Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI)) has launched “Yashoda Scheme” at Sambalpur for the first time in country. NIPI wouldl contribute Rs.1.5 core for Orissa for implementation of the scheme. The Scheme was launched in the country after the success of 'Janani Surakshya Yojana with an objective to bring a change in the post natal care. NIPI Director and former union Health Secretary P K Hota informed about the scheme.
1. Under the schemes the ''Yoshodas'' would be recruited to look after the ''Bal Krishnas'' on a monthly honorium of Rs 3000.
2. Yashodas'' would stay in hospitals for 48 hours and take care of the new born children
3. The 'Yashodas' would also look after the mothers of the new born children
MALARIA:HIGHEST OCCURRENCE & HIGH DEATH RATE
CAUSED BY
GLOBAL SITUATION
INDIA
ORISSA
LIFE CYCLE
SYMPTOMS
CONTROL
SANITATION MEASURES: AVOID WATER TO COLLECT IN NEIGHBORHOOD
GAMBUSIA FISH
MOSQUITO NET
IRS SPRAY
DIAGNOSIS:
THICK AND THIN BLOOD SMEAR : CHEAP
RAPID DIAGNOSTIC KITS : MORE VALUABLE
TREATMENT : EARLY AND PROMPT
QUININE , CHLOROQUINE ,ARTISUNATE
WEB RESOURCES
http://www.mrcindia.org/publication.htm
http://www.malariasite.com
http://nvbdcp.gov.in/malaria-new.html
http://helid.desastres.net/?e=d-0who--00-1-0--010---4----0--0-10l--1en-5000---50-help-0---01131-0011al1ByTN%6042f94161000000004af86a14-0utfZz-8-0-0&a=d&c=who&cl=CL1.8&ld=Jwho02e
http://www.shoklo-unit.com/lab.shoklo-unit.com/labman/labman_e.html
ENEMIES OF ORISSA :
http://nilachakra.org/documents/News%20Letters/Enemies%20of%20Orissa.htm
SUPER CYCLONE 1999
PEOPLE
http://krushna-patnaik.com/
http://www.naveenpatnaik.com/news.php
He is not very fluent in his mother tongue Oriya. He speaks little and is often reticent. But Naveen Patnaik's success in both parliamentary and state assembly elections has declared loud and clear that the Orissa chief minister is now one of India's strongest and most charismatic leaders.
The 62-year-old created history by leading the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) - named after his father Biju Patnaik - to victory and retaining power in the state for the third time in a row, but this time on his own strength.
The BJD beat anti-incumbency and cured more than 100 seats in the 147-member assembly and 14 of state's 21 Lok Sabha seats against 61 and 11 respectively in 2004.
The sweeping victory came as a surprise particularly after the former student of India's elite Doon school suddenly split from his 11-year-old political ally, the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP), in March over seat-sharing arrangements.
By breaking away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the communal conflict that rocked the state last year, in which 38 people, mostly Christians, were killed, Patnaik successfully managed to convey that he wanted development and peace but was being hobbled by his allies.
'The stand he took in the aftermath of the riots helped him emerge as a strong decision maker, which the people appreciated,' a political analyst said.
Internal bickering in the opposition Congress and BJP contributed to his success. Both the parties were busy sorting out their own internal problems rather than making attempts to capitalise on the real issues.
The poorer voters supported the chief minister for the rice the government provided them at two rupees per kg.At least 55 lakh (5.5 million) families are benefiting from this scheme,
'He also empowered nearly four million women, helping them to form self-help groups and engage themselves in economic activities.'
Pyarimohan Mohapatra, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who is also a BJD Rajya Sabha MP, worked behind the scenes without any official position in the party, said an analyst.
Above all, Patnaik's simplicity, honesty and devotion to work appear to have played a role. He never appeared to lead a life of luxury although he spent many years abroad before his father's death.
A white kurta and simple slippers were his routine wear. Patnaik, known as Pappu to his friends, is a bachelor and an alumni of the prestigious St. Stephen's College of Delhi University.
He is also the author of three internationally-known coffee table books - 'A Second Paradise', 'A Desert Kingdom: The People of Bikaner' and 'Garden of Life: An Introduction to the Healing Plants of India'. One of these books was edited by Jacqueline Onassis.
budhia singh :Budhia singh. A Boy who is the youngest marathon runner in the world
PK MAHANANDIA
P.K.Mahanandia was born in a remote village Athamalik Subdivision of Orissa, has risen to eminence through his incessant efforts. He is well known not only for his paintings, but also his concern for nature and humanity."He is currently a sitting parliamentarian in Sweden.
http://www.pkmahanandia.com/index2.html
CULTURE
Orissi, or Odissi, is a classical dance form from the state of Orissa. Orissi is characterized by fluidity of the upper torso (the waves of the ocean on the shores of Puri) and gracefulness in gestures and wristwork (swaying of the palms), juxtaposed with firm footwork (heartbeat of Mother Earth). All classical Indian dance forms include both pure rhythmic dances and acting or story dances. The rhythmic dances of Odissi are called batu/sthayi (foundation), pallavi (flowering), and moksha (liberation). The acting dances are called abhinaya. Although incorporating a range of emotions and mythologies, the eternal union of Radha and Krishna (Gita Govinda) is central to the abhinaya in Odissi Dance. Either Odissi or Orissi may be considered acceptable in writing.
ODISSI
http://humanitieslab.stanford.edu/117/868
http://amandageroy.blogspot.com/
http://www.odissinilanjana.com/odissi.htm
http://odissi.blogspot.com/2007/09/shreelina-ghosh.html
HAND WASHING
we odiya people come poor in personal hygiene .open air deification in fields and road side is not so healthy phenomenon.lets begin with proper hand hygiene
LEGENDS OF ODISHA
Legends of Orissa
Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918)
A Master in the art of writing short stories, he injected a new life in Oriya literature in an environment of gloom and despair. His sence of humour remains unsurpassed in Oriya literature. Discarding romantic themes, he wrote about the common man and his problems. Senapati could rightly be compared with the 20th Century great novelist like Premchand and Bibhutibhusan Banerjee. Eventhough he had no formaleducation, he proved to be an enlightened teacher, painter and a great administrator. In his writings,
Fakir Mohan Senapati
Oriya Nationalism was the dominant theme. As a recognised literary poet, Senapati has made his place secure as a great prose writer in Oriya.
Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das (1848-1934)
First Oriya to get the Degree of M.A. B.L. from Calcutta University. Took a valiant stand for unification of scattered Oriya tracts. Emerged on the Eastern horizon as a symbol of new hope and aspiration of all Oriyas. Was the founder of Utkal Sammilani, architect of Oriya movement and pioneer in the field of industrial development. Acclaimed as a great Legislator and Journalist, he was the first Oriya to be the member of Legislative Council and Member of Central Legislative Assembly and was the first to sail overseas. He had the distinction of being the first Indian Minister.
Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das
Pandit Gopabandhu Das ( 1876-1928)
Aptly described as the Gandhi of Orissa, Pandit Gopabandhu Das played a pivotal role in the formation of a separate province of Orissa. Born and brought up in an atomsphere of Brahminical orthodoxy, he shattered the shackles of narrow caste barriers. A Law Graduate from the Calcutta University. He was an active sentinal of Oriya Movement, Freedom Fighter and a great social reformer. As an educationist he was responsible for establishment of Satyabadi School at Satyabadi in the Puri District.
Pandit Gopabandhu Das
Imbued with patriotic fervour the students of Satyabadi School were known as indefatigable fighters against British Imperialism. Gopabandhu regarded politics as an instrument of service to the people. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, Gopabandhu was one of the Noblest Sons of Orissa. His spirit of service and sacrifice finds an apt echo in his following lines.
“Let my body mingle in the dust of my motherland and let my countrymen walk across it”.
Nilakantha Das (1884-1969)
Secured M.A. Degree in Philosophy from Calcutta University. Spurned an offer of a lucrative job by the British Govt. and preferred to serve as the Mead Master of Satyabadi High School. Endowed with a profound erudition he became a legendary figure in his life time. A powerful speaker, his speaches in Central Legislative Assembly and Orissa Legislative Assembly have left an indelible impression on Legislative history. He was a rare amalgam of a Writer, Editor, Speaker and Author. Author of an excellent commentary of Geeta. His epics are considered as Master piece of Oriya Language. A distinguished freedom fighter and a revolutionary, he inspired the youth to fight against untouchability and other social evils. Led the movement for amalgamation of outlying Oriya tracts and was a symbol of Oriya culture.
Biswanath Das (1989-1984)
An eminent Freedom Fighter, able Statesman, remarkable Administrator, astute politician and a Charismatic leader. He was elected as the president of the Ganjam District Board in the year 1920 and joined the Non-cooperation movement in response to the call of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 after giving up his lucrative law practice. Continued to be a member of Madras Legislative Assembly from 1921 to 1930. Gave up the membership of the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1931 and joined Salt Satyagraha. As a great Patriot led the peasant movement and fought for the creation of a separate Orissa Province. He had the distinction of being elected as Prime Minister of Orissa. Resigned from the Prime Ministership on 4th November 1939 at the bidding of Indian National congress. In 1950 got elected to Lok Sabha and became the President of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee. He was appointed as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. A noble son who has left an indelible impression on a resurgent Orissa.
Gajapati Maharaja Krushna Chandra Dev ( 1892-1974)
An Architect of modern Orissa. He attended the first Round Table Conference in London on 16th November 1930 wherein he made a fervent appeal for creating a separate province of Orissa on the basis of Language and homogeneity. As an eloquent spokesman of Oriyas, he was felicitated by Madhusudan Das, the father of modern Orissa. As a scion of illustrious Ganga Ruler he espoused the cause of the poor and downtrodden. Later played an important role in bringing together the vivisected parts of Orissa and laid the foundation of United Orissa. He was a member of old Madras Legislative Council, a member of royal commission of Agriculture and a member of Orissa Legislative Assembly.
Gajapati Maharaja Krushna Chandra Dev
He was twice elected as Prime Minister of Orissa. He was an Educationist, Freedp, Fighter, Social Reformer and a champion of the poor. He established a permanent theatre at Paralakhemundi for promoting cultural activities.
Raja Artatran Deo ( 1900-1946)
Enthroned as Raja of Khariar, (present day Nuapada district), in 1921. A great patron of Art, Culture and Education. Sportsman of distinction, member of many committees and Organisations. Sponsored Scholarships for deserving students for higher education. Patronised “Beer Bikram Theatre” of Khariar, the first permanent Oriya Stage in the State. Nominated member of Orissa Advisory Council. Elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly in 1937 and 1946 from Khariar Assembly Constituency. Played a pivotal role in formation of Orissa as a separate province in the year 1936. It was at his instance and under his enlightened leadership that Khariar Zamindari merged with the State of Orissa leading to full Statehood
Biju Pattanaik ( 1916-1997)
Biju Pattanaik was a trained pilot of acknowledged competence. Had special interest in Science and Technology and was responsible for instituting the prestigious International Kalinga Prize. He was the pioneer of Industrial movement in Orissa and was the head of Air Transport command during the war (1940-42). An indefatigable freedom fighter, he led the underground movement for freedom of the country along with Shri Jayaprakash Narayan, Dr. Ram Mohan Lohia and others. Landed first platoon of troops in Srinagar during attack by Pakistani raiders.
Biju Pattanaik
Suceeded in safely airlifting the Indonesia leaders during war. He was honoured by the Indonesia Govt. as “BHUMIPUTRA”. Elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1952. Chief Minister of Orissa from 1961-1963 and 1990-1995. Member, Rajya Sabha 1980-1984 and 11th Lok Sabha from 1996-1997. Union Minister of Steel from July 1977 to January 1980. He had the distinction of laying the basic infrastructure for development of Orissa. Special mention could be made of Paradeep Port, MIG Factory at Sunabeda, Ferro Silicon Complex at Theruvali, Hydro Electric Power Project Balimela. Thermal Power Station, Talcher, Engineering College, Rourkela, Engineering College and Medical College at Burla, Express High Way linking Dairari with Paradeep, Sainik School, Regional College of Education, Bhubaneswar, Regional Research Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology and many others.
He was a great visionary who worked relentlessly for the uplift of the people of Orissa.
Chandra Sekhar Behera ( 1873-1936)
Chandra Sekhar Behera of Sambalpur was a leading freedom fighter and an active participant in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He consolidated the National freedom movement in Sambalpur region and merged his activities with the Indian National Congress. He was a founding member of the National School of Sambalpur started on lines of Satyabadi Vana-Vidyalaya founded by Gopabandhu Das. As the chairman of Sambalpur Municipality, he received Gandhijee in Sambalpur in 1928. Organised a mass movement against illiteracy and untouchability.
Pathani Samanta Chandrasekhar (1835-1904)
Mahamahopadhyaya Chandra Sekhar Simha Samanta Harichandan Mohapatra, popularly in Orissa as Pathani Samanta, is an astronomer of the rank of Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya. He was born in 1835 A.D. in the princely state of Khandapara in Orissa. Away from the English education, he taught himself Sanskrit and attained scholarship in traditional Indian Astronomy. He fabricated ingenious instruments out of wooden sticks and bamboo chips and attained great accuracy in measurement. His scientific investigations are recorded in his astronomical treatise. “The Siddhanta Darpana” composed in Sanskrit Verse. This work was highly acclaimed even by the Western Press in 1899. The title of Mahamahoadhyaya was convered upon him by the British Govt. in 1893 in recognition of his contribution to astronomy. Samata Chandra Sekhar passed away in 1904. Even today most of the Oriya almanaces attribute their calculations to Samanta’s prescriptions.
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab (1899-1987)
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab was born with a silver spoon. He was deeply imbued with patriotic fervour from his school days. Left college education half way in response to the call of Mahatma Gandhi and played a pivotal role in freedom movement. Accompanied the entourage of Mahatma Gandhi during his visit to Orissa in the year 1921. Joined the Indian National Congress and organised satyagraha in Balasore district. Founded the popular Oriya daily “Prajatantra” under the aegis of “Prajatantra Prachara Samiti”.
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab
Joined the salt satyagraha movement of Mahatma Gandhi and courted imprisonment. Elected as the President of State Congress Committee 1937-1938. Nominated by Subhash Chandra Bose as the member of National Congress Working Committee in 1939. He was imprisoned in Ahamad Nagar jail along with other national leader. He was released in 1945. Took over the reins of administration as Chief Minister in 1946, and continued as such till 1950. Joined the Central Cabinet as Cabinet Minister and became the secretary general of Central Congress Parliamentary Party from 1952 to 1954. Later became the Governor of Maharastra State 1955-56. Became Chief Minister of Orissa in 1956 to 1960 and member, Lok Sabha 1961 to 1967. Later elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly. Protested against the emergency in 1976 and was imprisonment. Dr. Mahatab was a great literature, writer, historian and statesman of repute. He initiated a system of honouring distinguished writers in a special literary function annually held on Visubha Sankranti Day. He was honoured by a Doctorate from Andhra University, Dr. Mahatab was the prime mover for the integration of Indian states.
Dr. Radhanath Rath 1896-1998)
Dr. Radhanath Rath started his distinguished carrer in Journalism as Manager and Assistant Editor of the largest circulated Oriya daily “The Samaj” in 1919 and became its Editor in 1961. A powerful writer and speaker, journalism was closed to his heart. Responding to the call of Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das, he gave up a lucrative offer of employment by the British Govt. Member of Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1946-1977, but for a brief period from 1961 to 1967. Appointed cabinet Minister in charge of Finance, Education, Forestry and Agriculture from 1952 to 1961. Endowed with a phenomenal memory he was a great social reformer and fought for the upliftment of the down trodden. President Servants of the people Society ( Lok Sevak Mandal) and Chairman of its Orissa Branch. Gave new direction to the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology as its Pro-Chancellor. Chief Commissioner Orissa State Bharat Scouts and Guides and Ex-President of Bharat Sevak Samaj. He was associated with a large number of public bodies like Redcross, Panchayats, Divine Life Society, Indo-china Cultural Association, Indo Soviet Friendship Society and President of Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha.
A distinguished writer, he was awarded Orissa Sahitya Academy Award in 1967 and awarded Padmabhusan 1968. Received critic Circle of India award in 1987. All India Anubrata award in 1988. Utkal Ratna Samman in 1993. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the Berhampur University in 1976.
Gangadhar Meher ( 1862-1924)
Born on Sravan Purnima day of 1862 at Barapalli made monumental contribution to Oriya language and literature. A great poet he attempted to act as a path finder through his literary writings. An epiton of integrity, his literary creations emphasizes on the moral value. A great poet, social reformer, teacher and above all a person brimming with milk of humanity. Gangadhar Meher immortalised himself with his numorous literary creations particularly the epic “Tapaswini”. He will be ever remembered as a great poet with few parallels.
Gangadhar Meher
Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo (1912-1975)
Born on 31st March 1912. Educated at Mayo College Ajmeer and student Columbus College, Hazaribag. As an enlightened ruler, Patna State from 1933 to 1947 he was responsible for alround development of the state and won people’s love. He was associated with Chamber of Princess. He was the first ruler to sign the merger agreement with Indian Union, member of several institutions cultural, literary and research bodies. As the ruler of Patna State he banned forced labour. Later became the President of Utkal Sammilani in 1953. President of Ganatantra Parishad and Swatantra Party Orissa Unit. Member Lok Sabha 1951 to 1956. Elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly in 1957. Became Chief Minister Orissa 1967 to 1971. An unique combination of an erudite scholar, enlightened statesman and an able administrator who worked with a single minded devotion for development of Orissa.
Shri Ramachandra Bhanja Dev ( 1870-1912)
Shri Ramachandra Bhanja Dev created a name for himself as an enlightened ruler of princely state of Mayurbhanj. Accended the throne on 15th August 1892. He worked for allround development of Mayurbhanj state and implemented various welfare schemes designed to help the people. He was revered as a Philosopher king. Impressed with the nobel qualities of Utkal Mani Gopabandhu Das he made him his advocate. Gopabandhu turned out to be friend philosopher guide for the ruler. Constituted the state council for administration in the state. Brought about reforms in the sphere of language, health and administration. During his rein scientific operation of Iron mines were started for first time. Commissioned narrow gauge railway life from Rupsa to Baripada. Presided over the first meeting of Utkal Samilani on 3rd December 1933. a patriot and great patron of Oriya language. He helped in a big way in setting up of educational and medical institution for the larget benefit of the people
Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918)
A Master in the art of writing short stories, he injected a new life in Oriya literature in an environment of gloom and despair. His sence of humour remains unsurpassed in Oriya literature. Discarding romantic themes, he wrote about the common man and his problems. Senapati could rightly be compared with the 20th Century great novelist like Premchand and Bibhutibhusan Banerjee. Eventhough he had no formaleducation, he proved to be an enlightened teacher, painter and a great administrator. In his writings,
Fakir Mohan Senapati
Oriya Nationalism was the dominant theme. As a recognised literary poet, Senapati has made his place secure as a great prose writer in Oriya.
Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das (1848-1934)
First Oriya to get the Degree of M.A. B.L. from Calcutta University. Took a valiant stand for unification of scattered Oriya tracts. Emerged on the Eastern horizon as a symbol of new hope and aspiration of all Oriyas. Was the founder of Utkal Sammilani, architect of Oriya movement and pioneer in the field of industrial development. Acclaimed as a great Legislator and Journalist, he was the first Oriya to be the member of Legislative Council and Member of Central Legislative Assembly and was the first to sail overseas. He had the distinction of being the first Indian Minister.
Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das
Pandit Gopabandhu Das ( 1876-1928)
Aptly described as the Gandhi of Orissa, Pandit Gopabandhu Das played a pivotal role in the formation of a separate province of Orissa. Born and brought up in an atomsphere of Brahminical orthodoxy, he shattered the shackles of narrow caste barriers. A Law Graduate from the Calcutta University. He was an active sentinal of Oriya Movement, Freedom Fighter and a great social reformer. As an educationist he was responsible for establishment of Satyabadi School at Satyabadi in the Puri District.
Pandit Gopabandhu Das
Imbued with patriotic fervour the students of Satyabadi School were known as indefatigable fighters against British Imperialism. Gopabandhu regarded politics as an instrument of service to the people. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, Gopabandhu was one of the Noblest Sons of Orissa. His spirit of service and sacrifice finds an apt echo in his following lines.
“Let my body mingle in the dust of my motherland and let my countrymen walk across it”.
Nilakantha Das (1884-1969)
Secured M.A. Degree in Philosophy from Calcutta University. Spurned an offer of a lucrative job by the British Govt. and preferred to serve as the Mead Master of Satyabadi High School. Endowed with a profound erudition he became a legendary figure in his life time. A powerful speaker, his speaches in Central Legislative Assembly and Orissa Legislative Assembly have left an indelible impression on Legislative history. He was a rare amalgam of a Writer, Editor, Speaker and Author. Author of an excellent commentary of Geeta. His epics are considered as Master piece of Oriya Language. A distinguished freedom fighter and a revolutionary, he inspired the youth to fight against untouchability and other social evils. Led the movement for amalgamation of outlying Oriya tracts and was a symbol of Oriya culture.
Biswanath Das (1989-1984)
An eminent Freedom Fighter, able Statesman, remarkable Administrator, astute politician and a Charismatic leader. He was elected as the president of the Ganjam District Board in the year 1920 and joined the Non-cooperation movement in response to the call of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 after giving up his lucrative law practice. Continued to be a member of Madras Legislative Assembly from 1921 to 1930. Gave up the membership of the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1931 and joined Salt Satyagraha. As a great Patriot led the peasant movement and fought for the creation of a separate Orissa Province. He had the distinction of being elected as Prime Minister of Orissa. Resigned from the Prime Ministership on 4th November 1939 at the bidding of Indian National congress. In 1950 got elected to Lok Sabha and became the President of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee. He was appointed as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. A noble son who has left an indelible impression on a resurgent Orissa.
Gajapati Maharaja Krushna Chandra Dev ( 1892-1974)
An Architect of modern Orissa. He attended the first Round Table Conference in London on 16th November 1930 wherein he made a fervent appeal for creating a separate province of Orissa on the basis of Language and homogeneity. As an eloquent spokesman of Oriyas, he was felicitated by Madhusudan Das, the father of modern Orissa. As a scion of illustrious Ganga Ruler he espoused the cause of the poor and downtrodden. Later played an important role in bringing together the vivisected parts of Orissa and laid the foundation of United Orissa. He was a member of old Madras Legislative Council, a member of royal commission of Agriculture and a member of Orissa Legislative Assembly.
Gajapati Maharaja Krushna Chandra Dev
He was twice elected as Prime Minister of Orissa. He was an Educationist, Freedp, Fighter, Social Reformer and a champion of the poor. He established a permanent theatre at Paralakhemundi for promoting cultural activities.
Raja Artatran Deo ( 1900-1946)
Enthroned as Raja of Khariar, (present day Nuapada district), in 1921. A great patron of Art, Culture and Education. Sportsman of distinction, member of many committees and Organisations. Sponsored Scholarships for deserving students for higher education. Patronised “Beer Bikram Theatre” of Khariar, the first permanent Oriya Stage in the State. Nominated member of Orissa Advisory Council. Elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly in 1937 and 1946 from Khariar Assembly Constituency. Played a pivotal role in formation of Orissa as a separate province in the year 1936. It was at his instance and under his enlightened leadership that Khariar Zamindari merged with the State of Orissa leading to full Statehood
Biju Pattanaik ( 1916-1997)
Biju Pattanaik was a trained pilot of acknowledged competence. Had special interest in Science and Technology and was responsible for instituting the prestigious International Kalinga Prize. He was the pioneer of Industrial movement in Orissa and was the head of Air Transport command during the war (1940-42). An indefatigable freedom fighter, he led the underground movement for freedom of the country along with Shri Jayaprakash Narayan, Dr. Ram Mohan Lohia and others. Landed first platoon of troops in Srinagar during attack by Pakistani raiders.
Biju Pattanaik
Suceeded in safely airlifting the Indonesia leaders during war. He was honoured by the Indonesia Govt. as “BHUMIPUTRA”. Elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1952. Chief Minister of Orissa from 1961-1963 and 1990-1995. Member, Rajya Sabha 1980-1984 and 11th Lok Sabha from 1996-1997. Union Minister of Steel from July 1977 to January 1980. He had the distinction of laying the basic infrastructure for development of Orissa. Special mention could be made of Paradeep Port, MIG Factory at Sunabeda, Ferro Silicon Complex at Theruvali, Hydro Electric Power Project Balimela. Thermal Power Station, Talcher, Engineering College, Rourkela, Engineering College and Medical College at Burla, Express High Way linking Dairari with Paradeep, Sainik School, Regional College of Education, Bhubaneswar, Regional Research Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology and many others.
He was a great visionary who worked relentlessly for the uplift of the people of Orissa.
Chandra Sekhar Behera ( 1873-1936)
Chandra Sekhar Behera of Sambalpur was a leading freedom fighter and an active participant in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He consolidated the National freedom movement in Sambalpur region and merged his activities with the Indian National Congress. He was a founding member of the National School of Sambalpur started on lines of Satyabadi Vana-Vidyalaya founded by Gopabandhu Das. As the chairman of Sambalpur Municipality, he received Gandhijee in Sambalpur in 1928. Organised a mass movement against illiteracy and untouchability.
Pathani Samanta Chandrasekhar (1835-1904)
Mahamahopadhyaya Chandra Sekhar Simha Samanta Harichandan Mohapatra, popularly in Orissa as Pathani Samanta, is an astronomer of the rank of Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya. He was born in 1835 A.D. in the princely state of Khandapara in Orissa. Away from the English education, he taught himself Sanskrit and attained scholarship in traditional Indian Astronomy. He fabricated ingenious instruments out of wooden sticks and bamboo chips and attained great accuracy in measurement. His scientific investigations are recorded in his astronomical treatise. “The Siddhanta Darpana” composed in Sanskrit Verse. This work was highly acclaimed even by the Western Press in 1899. The title of Mahamahoadhyaya was convered upon him by the British Govt. in 1893 in recognition of his contribution to astronomy. Samata Chandra Sekhar passed away in 1904. Even today most of the Oriya almanaces attribute their calculations to Samanta’s prescriptions.
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab (1899-1987)
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab was born with a silver spoon. He was deeply imbued with patriotic fervour from his school days. Left college education half way in response to the call of Mahatma Gandhi and played a pivotal role in freedom movement. Accompanied the entourage of Mahatma Gandhi during his visit to Orissa in the year 1921. Joined the Indian National Congress and organised satyagraha in Balasore district. Founded the popular Oriya daily “Prajatantra” under the aegis of “Prajatantra Prachara Samiti”.
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab
Joined the salt satyagraha movement of Mahatma Gandhi and courted imprisonment. Elected as the President of State Congress Committee 1937-1938. Nominated by Subhash Chandra Bose as the member of National Congress Working Committee in 1939. He was imprisoned in Ahamad Nagar jail along with other national leader. He was released in 1945. Took over the reins of administration as Chief Minister in 1946, and continued as such till 1950. Joined the Central Cabinet as Cabinet Minister and became the secretary general of Central Congress Parliamentary Party from 1952 to 1954. Later became the Governor of Maharastra State 1955-56. Became Chief Minister of Orissa in 1956 to 1960 and member, Lok Sabha 1961 to 1967. Later elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly. Protested against the emergency in 1976 and was imprisonment. Dr. Mahatab was a great literature, writer, historian and statesman of repute. He initiated a system of honouring distinguished writers in a special literary function annually held on Visubha Sankranti Day. He was honoured by a Doctorate from Andhra University, Dr. Mahatab was the prime mover for the integration of Indian states.
Dr. Radhanath Rath 1896-1998)
Dr. Radhanath Rath started his distinguished carrer in Journalism as Manager and Assistant Editor of the largest circulated Oriya daily “The Samaj” in 1919 and became its Editor in 1961. A powerful writer and speaker, journalism was closed to his heart. Responding to the call of Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das, he gave up a lucrative offer of employment by the British Govt. Member of Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1946-1977, but for a brief period from 1961 to 1967. Appointed cabinet Minister in charge of Finance, Education, Forestry and Agriculture from 1952 to 1961. Endowed with a phenomenal memory he was a great social reformer and fought for the upliftment of the down trodden. President Servants of the people Society ( Lok Sevak Mandal) and Chairman of its Orissa Branch. Gave new direction to the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology as its Pro-Chancellor. Chief Commissioner Orissa State Bharat Scouts and Guides and Ex-President of Bharat Sevak Samaj. He was associated with a large number of public bodies like Redcross, Panchayats, Divine Life Society, Indo-china Cultural Association, Indo Soviet Friendship Society and President of Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha.
A distinguished writer, he was awarded Orissa Sahitya Academy Award in 1967 and awarded Padmabhusan 1968. Received critic Circle of India award in 1987. All India Anubrata award in 1988. Utkal Ratna Samman in 1993. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the Berhampur University in 1976.
Gangadhar Meher ( 1862-1924)
Born on Sravan Purnima day of 1862 at Barapalli made monumental contribution to Oriya language and literature. A great poet he attempted to act as a path finder through his literary writings. An epiton of integrity, his literary creations emphasizes on the moral value. A great poet, social reformer, teacher and above all a person brimming with milk of humanity. Gangadhar Meher immortalised himself with his numorous literary creations particularly the epic “Tapaswini”. He will be ever remembered as a great poet with few parallels.
Gangadhar Meher
Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo (1912-1975)
Born on 31st March 1912. Educated at Mayo College Ajmeer and student Columbus College, Hazaribag. As an enlightened ruler, Patna State from 1933 to 1947 he was responsible for alround development of the state and won people’s love. He was associated with Chamber of Princess. He was the first ruler to sign the merger agreement with Indian Union, member of several institutions cultural, literary and research bodies. As the ruler of Patna State he banned forced labour. Later became the President of Utkal Sammilani in 1953. President of Ganatantra Parishad and Swatantra Party Orissa Unit. Member Lok Sabha 1951 to 1956. Elected to Orissa Legislative Assembly in 1957. Became Chief Minister Orissa 1967 to 1971. An unique combination of an erudite scholar, enlightened statesman and an able administrator who worked with a single minded devotion for development of Orissa.
Shri Ramachandra Bhanja Dev ( 1870-1912)
Shri Ramachandra Bhanja Dev created a name for himself as an enlightened ruler of princely state of Mayurbhanj. Accended the throne on 15th August 1892. He worked for allround development of Mayurbhanj state and implemented various welfare schemes designed to help the people. He was revered as a Philosopher king. Impressed with the nobel qualities of Utkal Mani Gopabandhu Das he made him his advocate. Gopabandhu turned out to be friend philosopher guide for the ruler. Constituted the state council for administration in the state. Brought about reforms in the sphere of language, health and administration. During his rein scientific operation of Iron mines were started for first time. Commissioned narrow gauge railway life from Rupsa to Baripada. Presided over the first meeting of Utkal Samilani on 3rd December 1933. a patriot and great patron of Oriya language. He helped in a big way in setting up of educational and medical institution for the larget benefit of the people
LINKS
http://india_resource.tripod.com/orissa.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orissa
http://orissadiary.com/
http://mihirbehara.com
http://www.odisha.in/
http://sonalipanda.tripod.com/
http://www.orissalinks.com/
http://www.lordjagannath.com
ORISSA GOVERNMENT
ORISSA CALENDER 2010 : http://www.orissagov.ocac.in/portal/Calender-2010.pdf
ORISSA GOVT SERVICE MANUAL : http://orissa.gov.in/ga/servicemanual/contents.htm
CHIEF MINISTERS RELIEF FUND APPLICATION FORM :http://orissa.gov.in/ga/forms/cmrfform.doc
ORISSA GOVT :http://orissa.gov.in/Portal/default.asp
google cracking
http://xxx-rulez.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-get-your-blog-ranked-high-on.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orissa
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ORISSA GOVERNMENT
ORISSA CALENDER 2010 : http://www.orissagov.ocac.in/portal/Calender-2010.pdf
ORISSA GOVT SERVICE MANUAL : http://orissa.gov.in/ga/servicemanual/contents.htm
CHIEF MINISTERS RELIEF FUND APPLICATION FORM :http://orissa.gov.in/ga/forms/cmrfform.doc
ORISSA GOVT :http://orissa.gov.in/Portal/default.asp
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HISTORY OF ORISSA
The History of Orissa: An Introduction
The history of Orissa makes an interesting case-study in that it's history 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 of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the Kalinga and Utkal tribes 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 C. BC, 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 C. 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.
Kalinga
Very early in Kalingan history, the Kalingas acquired a reputation for being a fiercely independant people. 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.
Unsurprisingly, Mauryan rule over Kalinga did not last long. By the 1st C. BC, Kalinga's Jain identified ruler Kharavela had become the pre-eminent monarch of much of the sub-continent and Mauryan Magadha had become a province of the Kalingan empire. The earliest surviving monuments of Orissa (in Udaigiri near Bhubaneshwar) date from his reign, and surviving inscriptions mention that Prince Kharavela was trained not only in the military arts, but also in literature, mathematics, and the social sciences. He was also reputed to be a great patron of the arts and was credited with encouraging dance and theater in his capital.
Although the bravery of the Kalingas became legendary, and finds mention in the Sahitya Darpan, it is important to note that a hereditary warrior caste like the Kshatriyas did not take hold in the region. Soldiers were drawn from the peasantry as needed and rank in the military depended as much on fighting skills and bravery as on hereditary factors. In this (and other) respects, Oriya history resembles more the history of the nations of South East Asia, and may have been one of the features of Oriya society that allowed it to successfully fend off 300 years of raids initiated by numerous Islamic rulers untill the 16th century.
Metallurgy, Crafts and Trade
Owing to it's vast mineral resources, metallurgy developed quite naturally in ancient Orissa and may have been an additional factor in catapulting the region to considerable importance during the iron age. Iron tools were used in agricultural production, digging irrigation canals, stone-quarrying, cave excavation and later monumental architecture. Rice cultivation got a particular fillip and during the iron age irrigation works from Orissa spread to the regions of ancient Andhra and Tamil Nadu around 300 BC (See M.S. Randhawa: A history of agriculture in India, Vol. 1. New Delhi.) Orissa also became a major steel producing centre and steel beams were extensively used in the monumental temples of Bhubaneshwar and Puri.
Being a coastal region, maritime trade played an important role in the development of Oriya civilization. Cultural, commercial and political contacts with South East Asia, particularly Southern Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia were especially extensive and maritime enterprises play an interesting part in Oriya folk-tales and poetry. Historical records suggest that around the 7th C. AD, the Kongoda dynasty from central Orissa may have migrated to Malaysia and Indonesia. There is also evidence of exchange of embassies with China. Records of Oriya traders being active in the ports of South East Asia are fairly numerous and in his descriptions of Malacca, Portuguese merchant Tome Pires indicates that traders from Orissa were active in the busy port as late as the 16th C.
(There is evidence to suggest that trade contact between Eastern India and Thailand may date as far back as the 3rd or 4th C BC. Himanshu Ray (The Winds of Change - Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Early South Asia) suggests that at least eight oceanic routes linked the Eastern Coast of India with the Malayan pensinsula, and after the Iron Age, metals (such as iron, copper and tin), cotton textiles and foodstuffs comprised the trade. She also suggests that the trade involved both Indian and Malayo-Polynesian ships. Archealogical evidence from Sisupalgarh (near Bhubaneshwar) in Orissa suggests that there may also have been direct or indirect trade contacts between ancient Orissa and Rome dating to the 1st-2nd C AD (or possibly earlier). The chronicles of Huen Tsang refer to Orissa's overseas contacts in the 7th C, and by the 10th C, records of Orissa's trade with the East begin to proliferate.)
Adequate agricultural production combined with a flourishing maritime trade contributed to a flowering of Orissan arts and crafts especially textiles. Numerous communities of weavers and dyers became active throughout the state perfecting techniques like weaving of fine Muslins, Ikat, Sambalpuri and Bomkai silks and cottons, applique and embroidery. Orissa was also known for it's brass and bell metal work, lacquered boxes and toys, intricate ivory, wood and stone carvings, patta painting and palm leaf engraving, basket weaving and numerous other colorful crafts. Often, decorative techniques relied on folk idioms as in the painted, circular playing cards known as Ganjifas.
Later, Cuttack became the centre for lace-like exquisite silver filigree work, (known as Tarakashi) when Orissa was brought under Mughal rule.
Philosophy, Language and Idealogy
Both Buddhism and Jainism played an important role in the cultural and philosophical developments of early Oriya civilization. Most Buddhist and Jain texts were written in Pali-Prakrit and the Prakrita Sarvasva, a celebrated Prakrit grammar text was authored by Markandeya Das, an Oriya. Kharavela's Hatigumpha inscription is in Pali, leading to the speculation that Pali may have been the original language of the Oriya people.
By the 7th C. AD, Brahminism had also become influential, especially in the courts and Hiuen Tsang (the well-known Chinese chronicler) observed how Buddhist Viharas and Brahminic temples flourished side by side. And although royal inscriptions of this time were in Sanskrit, the most commonly spoken language was not, and according to Hiuen Tsang appeared to be quite distinct from the language of Central India, and may have been a precursor of modern day Oriya.
But even as the Bhauma Kings of the 6th-8th C issued edicts in Sanskrit, they patronized numerous Buddhist institutions and the art, architecture and poetry of the period reflected the popularity of Buddhism in the region.
Later, Orissa's Buddhism came to be modulated by strong Tantric influences, while a more traditional Vedic and Brahminical version of Hinduism was brought to Orissa by Brahmins from Kannauj. Shaivism from the South was institutionalized in Puri. In addition, the majority of Orissa's adivasis continued to practice some form of animism and totem-worship. Unifying all these different traditions was the Shiva-Shakti cult which evolved from an amalgamation of Shaivism (worship of Shiva), Shaktism (worship of the Mother Goddess) and the Vajrayana, or Tantric form of Mahayana Buddism.
What made possible this fusion was that apart from the formal distinctions that separated these different religious and philosophical trends, in practical matters, there was a growing similiarity between them. Whereas early Buddhism and the Nyaya school within Hinduism had laid considerable stress on rationalism and scientific investigation of nature, later Buddhism and the Shaivite schools both emphasized philosphical variants of concepts first developed in the Upanishads, along with mysticism and devotion. Tantrism had also developed along a dual track - on the one hand it had laid emphasis on gaining practical knowledge and a clear understanding of nature - on the other, it too came steeped in mysticism and magic.
At the same time, the Buddhist ethos had created an environment where compromise was preferred to confrontation. This allowed tribal deities and gods and goddesses associated with numerous fertility cults to be integrated into the Hindu pantheon. Tantric constructs also met with some degree of approval.
Since Tantrism emphasized the erotic as a means to spiritual salvation, the culture of austerity and sexual abstinence that had pervaded early Buddhism was replaced with an unapologetic embrace of all that was erotic.
Unlike some other parts of India, Oriya society had not yet been deeply differentiated by caste, and egalitarian values remained well-ingrained amongst the peasant masses. Hence, any idealogy that championed a hierarchical division of society would have been unacceptable. The Shiva Shakti cult was a compromise in that while it did not exclude social inequality, it did not preclude social mobility either. In fact, the cult became popular precisely because it articulated the possibility of upward mobility through the acquisition of knowledge, skill or energetic personal effort.
Yogini Cults
Tantric influences were of particular import for the survival of the Yogini cults in Orissa. The Yogini cults concentrated on worship of the shakti (female life force), with a belief in the efficacy of magic ritual. In ancient texts, Yoginis are depicted as consorts of Yogis, and like their male companions practiced yoga to gain mastery over science and acquire magical powers. Some tantric schools associated with the Yogini cults such as the Kaula Marga prescribed Maithuna (sexual intercourse) with outcast women or women of low caste as the most consummate soul-lifting experience. Although Yogini cults were not unique to Orissa, two out of four surviving Yogini temples are to be found in Hirapur and Ranipur-Jharial.
The Hirapur temple is ascribed to the Bhauma and Somavansi rulers of Orissa (mid 8th - mid 10th C. AD) who were known for their eclectic liberalism and noted for their patronage of philosophy, art, architecture and literature.
Popular Literature
While the literature of the court and the intelligentsia was primarily written in Sanskrit, and included a variety of commentaries and theoretical treatises on religion, politics, art and literature as well as reworks of the epics, popular literature in Oriya initially focused on folk tales, ballades, creation myths, devotional songs, love poetry and erotica.
But in the 15th century, the Gangas who were patrons of many of Orissa's monumental temples were defeated by Kapilendra Deva, who rose from the ranks to found the Surya dynasty. It was in his reign that Sarala Das wrote a popular Oriya version of the Mahabharatha. Sarala Das arose from a peasant family and took his name from the goddess Sarala who was worshipped in his village in the district of Cuttack. He described himself as an unschooled 'Shudra' and became popularly known as Shudra-muni. Although the broad themes his Mahabharatha match other traditional versions, there is much that was original and written with a popular sensibility. His version knitted in local folk tales and ballads, and incorporated the ethical and moral values then embraced by the artisan class and peasantry.
The Chandi Purana, also written by Sarala Das referred to Yoginis as forms of the Devi or the Supreme Goddess illustrating the continued popular appeal of the Yogini cults in Orissa's coastal belt.
Thus what emerged in Orissa from the 9th century on was a heady cocktail of mystical and practical currents that allowed for a certain degree of social mobility and provided space for ordinary peasants to make contributions to popular literature and poetry.
This stimulated the popularity of reading and since there were no taboos against learning Oriya, literacy spread in the villages and such popular literature developed a wide mass following. A network of village libraries housed popular texts in neatly transcribed versions. Illuminated manuscripts and illustrated epics also became popular. By some accounts, literacy in many villages reached 40% or more before the onslaught of colonial rule.
Decline of Oriya Civilization
The first signsof decline in Oriya society came as the administrators of the Ganga and Surya kings began to usurp undue privileges and acquire a greater number of hereditary rights. At the same time, religious affairs began to be dominated by the Puri Brahmins who were instrumental in promoting ever increasing ritual and unprecedented ceremonial pomp during religious festivals. Tribal deities were slowly edged out as Brahminical gods acquired supremacy. Social mobility declined and the first concrete appearances of a formalized caste system began to appear. The Patnaiks, Mahapatras, Nayakas and others who had played a major role in the royal adminstration, along with the Brahmins comprised the upper-caste elite as social stratification crystallized.
The silting up of Orissa's major rivers in the 16th C. led to a severe decline in maritime trade and may have further aggravated socially regressive trends. Orissa also suffered decisive defeats at the hands of Raja Man Singh (Akbar's military general) and the Marathas, leaving it dismembered and particularly vulnerable against the British who colonized it soon after the victory in Bengal.
Orissa during Colonial Rule
Like much of India, colonial rule had a devastating impact on the economic and social life of the Oriya people. Numerous categories of crafts workers, especially weavers and dyers were bankrupted and reduced to abject poverty. The peasantry suffered under the burden of back-breaking taxes and forced unpaid labour. But the Oriyas did not accept subjugation without putting up heroic resistance. Just three years after British occupation, Jayakrishna Rajguru - hereditary priest of the Gajapatis (or the Rajas of Khurda) organized a revolt that ended in tragic defeat and his public hanging at the hands of the British. In 1818 there was another revolt when the entire state rose up under the leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu Vidyadhara of Khurda. For six months the people of Southern Orissa were practically freed from British rule but in the end the rebellion was ruthlessly quelled and the aftermath was to be disastrous.
The nobility was systematically decimated, the Paikas - the national militia were disarmed and disinherited, and the peasantry already reduced to virtual slavery. All administrative posts not directly handled by the British were assigned to Bengalis who were perceived to be more loyal to British rule. From local police constables to assistant school teachers - Bengalis were hired but Oriyas excluded. Bengali chauvinists in Calcutta defended such a regime, some even going to the extent of demanding that all Oriyas be taught in Bengali since Oriya was nothing but a minor dialect of Bengali.
Even as urban Bengal received a few concessions like the founding of universities and cultural societies - Orissa was reduced to a minor outpost of the colonial empire - a cultural wasteland. Orissa's future was now inextricably linked to the growth of the national struggle in Bengal and the rest of the country, and any hint of growth in the national movement naturally drew enthusiastic support from nationalist-minded Oriyas.
Although independence brought about dramatic improvements in the lives of all sections of the population, two centuries of damage wrought by colonial rule could not be easily undone after independence. As evident from recent census results, high levels of poverty and illiteracy continue to dog the state.
For Orissa to regain it's ancient vitality, it will require not only greater sympathy from other Indians but a conscious programme of affirmative action from the centre that promotes mass education and employment opportunities so that Orissa can fully join the Indian mainstream as a vibrant and equal member of the Indian union.
Note: References to ancient Orissa may well include parts of Jharkhand, Southern Bengal, Chhatisgarh and Northern Andhra - which at various times were politically integrated into the different kingdoms of ancient and medieval Orissa.
DETAILED HISTORY
e 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 of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the Kalinga and Utkal tribes 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 C. BC, 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 C. 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.
EPICS:
In the Ramayana, Lord Rama's mother, Queen Kaushalya is the daughter of the king of Koshal. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas spent the one year as 'Agyantavasa' as servants of King Virata, ruler of Matsa.
Kalinga
Very early in Kalingan history, the Kalingas acquired a reputation for being a fiercely independant people. Ashoka's military campaign against Kalingawas 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.
Mahameghavahana Kharavela
Unsurprisingly, Mauryan rule over Kalinga did not last long. By the 1st C. BC, Kalinga's Jain identified ruler Kharavela had become the pre-eminent monarch of much of the sub-continent and Mauryan Magadha had become a province of the Kalingan empire. The earliest surviving monuments of Orissa (in Udaigiri near Bhubaneshwar) date from his reign, and surviving inscriptions mention that Prince Kharavela was trained not only in the military arts, but also in literature, mathematics, and the social sciences. He was also reputed to be a great patron of the arts and was credited with encouraging dance and theater in his capital. It is known from this record that Kharavela on the premature death of his father took up the administration first as a Yuvaraja and then on completion of 24 years of age ascended to the throne as Maharaja. The Mahameghavahana dynasty continued to rule over Kalinga and Mahishaka up to the 1 st century A.D. as known from some recently discovered inscriptions of Guntupalli and Velpuru in Andhra Pradesh. The Velpuru inscription reveals the rule of one Airamaharaja Haritiputra Manasada who belonged to Mahameghavahana dynasty.
The Imperial Gangas
The Eastern Gangas who started their rule in Kalinga about the end of the 5 th century A.D. continued as a petty power till the time of Vajrahasta V who came to the throne in 1038 A.D. As mentioned above he was the son of Kamarnava II by his queen Vinaya Mahadevi. He made Kalinga independent by defeating the Somavamsis and declared himself Maharajadhiraja. He also received the title of Trikalingadhipati. He made matrimonial alliance with the Kalachuris of Kosala and also with the ruling family of Ceylone. This helped him in consolidating the political power of his family. He was succeeded in 1070 A.D. by his son Rajrajdev I born of his queen Anangadevi. Rajarajdev was faced with his enemies, the Somavamsis of Utkal in the north and the Chalukya of Vengi in the south. By 1075 A.D. his Commander Vanapati of Vengi obtained victory over the kings of Chola, Utkal, Khemundi, Kosala, Gidvisingi and Vengi. The Somavamsi king Janamejaya II was defeated but succeeded in protecting his kingdom. By that time Kulattunga was the ruler of the Chola kingdom. By that time Kulattunga was the ruler of the Choloa kingdom.
Rajrajdev had a premature death in 1077 A.D. He left two young sons, the elder Chola Gangadeva being of two years in age. This young boy was crowned at Kalinganagar in February, 1078 A.D. Vira Choda, the third son of Kulattunga, was the Viceroy of Vengi till 1093 A.D. He was supporting the Gangas of Kalinga and in 1093 A.D., Chodagangadeva married Chodadevi, the daughter of Vira Choda. As a result of that Vira Choda was removed from power and expelled from Vengi by his father Kulattunga. Vira Choda was of great help to Chodagangadeva in his wars against Vengi and Utkal.
He established his supremacy over the entire territory from the Ganga to the Godavarari by 1135 A.D. Chodagangadeva like his ancestors was a great devotee of Siva. He was, however, found inclined towards Vaishnavism at times. Long before the conquest of Utkal by Chodaganga, Puri (Shrikshetra) was a place of worship of Purusottama and Chodaganga constructed the gigantic temple for the Lord to respect the religious sentiment of the people of the newly conquered territory rather than to obey the dictates of the Vaishnava Acharya Ramanuja.
Chodagangadeva died in 1147 A.D. and was succeeded by his eldest son Kamarnavadeva. The Ganga-Kalachuri war was continuing by that time and Kamarnava was defeated by the Kalachuri king Prithideva II, son and successor of Ratnadeva II. After the death of Kamarnava, the second son of Chodaganga named Raghava became the king in 1158 A.D. During his time poet Jayadeva is known to have composed his famous work Gitagovinda. Raghava died in 1170 A.D. and was succeeded by Rajraj II, the third son of Chodagangadeva. Next ruler was Anangnagabhimadeva II, the fourth and last son of Chodagangadeva. He was the only son of Chodaganga to have a son Rajraj III, who succeeded him after his death in 1198 A.D.
Rajraj III died in 1211 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Anangabhimadeva III. During his time Ghiyathu’d-din Iawz, ruler of Bengal, invaded Orissa. Taking advantage of this invasion the Kalachuri king of Tommana also declared war and the age long Ganga-Kalachuri war continued. At this critical time Vishnu,.the General of Angnagabhimadeva III, not only repulsed the invasion of the Muslim but also decisively defeated the Kalachuris on the bank of the Bhima river and near the Vindhya hills. After his victory the Gangas occupied the Sonapur region. Anangabhimadeva III gave his daughter Chandrika in marriage to the Kalachuri prince Paramardideva. By that he could win the friendship of the Kalachuris who were of great strength to the Gangas in their war against the Muslims. Anangabhimadeva was also successful in his work in the south and his empire extended up to the mouth of the Krishna river. Anangabhimadeva established a new city at the bifurcation of the Mahanadi and the Kathajodi which was called Abhinava Varanasi Kataka. By 1230 A.D. he transferred the headquarters to this new city where he constructed a big temple of Lord Purushottama.
Anangabhimadeva III died in 1238 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Narasimhadeva I. By that time Izzu’d-din Tughril Tughan Khan was the Governor of Bengal and had semi-independent status. Narasimhadeva, apprehending danger from him, mobilized his forces against his territory. Izzu’d-din Tughril probably anticipated this attack and in the war that took place he obtained initial victory but subsequently the Muslims were completely defeated with heavy loss. Izzud’d-din himself fled away from the battle to save his life. On his request the Sultan of Delhi sent Qamaru’d-din Tamur Khan, the Governor of Oudh to help the army of Bengal but before the arrival of Oudh army the War at Bengal hnd already ended. The next year (1244 A.D.) Narasimhadeva invaded Bengal for the second time and the Orissan army attacked Lakhnor, the headquarters of Radha, and killed the Muslim commander and a large number of his troops. Narasimhadeva I was successful in his campaigns against the Muslims and humbled the pride of his enemy. Like his father he was a devotee of Lord Purushottama. He is remembered in history as the builder of the world famous temple at Konarka.
In 1264 A.D. Narasimhadeva I was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva I born of queen Sitadevi. During his time Narahari Tirtha the disciple of Ananda Tirtha (Madhdavacharya) had great influence in Orissa. He was even appointed as a Governor of Kalinga. During the rule of Bhanudeva, Chandrikadevi, the daughter of Anangabhimadeva I, constructed the Ananta Basudev temple at Bhubaneswar in 1278 A.D. That year Bhanudeva died and his son Narasimhadeva II was an infant. Narahari Tirtha worked as regent for long twelve years. Narasimhadeva II is known to have fought against the Muslims of Bengal the results of which were indecisive. His long reign from 1278 to 1306 was peaceful and eventless. He was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva II. R.D. Benerji states that one Purushottamadeva ruled Orissa up to 1312 A.D. making Bhanudeva II a prisoner in his palace. This is however not a fact. Purushottamadeva ruled over southern part of Kalinga as a feudatory of Bhanudeva II.
Narasimhadeva III succeeded Bhanudeva II in 1328 A.D. Very little information is obtained regarding his political activities. He was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva III in 1352 A.D. In 1353 Shamsud’-din Ilyas Shah invaded Orissa but he retreated after obtaining few elephants. It was by that time that Prince Sangama, the nephew of Bukkaraya I of Vijayanagar, invaded Orissa and defeated Bhanudeva III. As a result of this victory Bukkaraya occupied souther portion of the Ganga kingdom. In 1361 A.D., Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq invaded the Ganga kingdom. He defeated the forces of the Gangas and occupied Varanasi Kataka. Bhanudeva III fled away and took shelter with his family and courtiers in an island probably inside Chilika lake. Sultan Firuz Shah destroyed the temple of Purushottama built by Anangabhimadeva III and disgraced the idols. Bhanudeva III made a treaty with the Sultan by offering twenty big elephants and agreeing to give annual tribute. Thus during Bhanudeva III the prestige and power of the Gangas greatly declined. He died in 1378 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Narasimhadeva IV. He was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva IV in 1414 A.D.
The Suryavamsi
Kapilendradeva belonged to the Solar dynasty. His ancestors were feudatory Chiefs under the Gangas. When he usurped the throne in 1435 A.D. many feudatory Chiefs challenged his authority. At the time of this internal danger Sultan Ahmed Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa but he was defeated by Minister Gopinath Mahapatra while Kapilendradeva suppressed the internal rebellion with strong hands. By 1443 A.D., Kapilendradeva succeeded in consolidating his power over the newly acquired kingdom but in 1444 he had to fight against the combined army of the Reddy of Rajamundry and king Devaraya II of Vijayanagar who invaded the southern part of his territory. Just by that time Mahamud shah, the Sharqui Sultan of Jaunpur invaded from the north. Faced with these two invasions Kapilendradeva gave his wholehearted attention to drive out Muslims from the north neglecting the south. Mahamud Shah was defeated and retreated from northern Orissa after which Hamvira, the son of Kapilendra, fought against the Reddy’s of Rajahmundry and scored a victory over them. Thus Kapilendradeva could occupy almost the entire seaboard of Vijayanagar up to the Kaveri. His entire career was spent in wars and he acquired many enemies both inside and outside his kingdom. He chose Purushottam, his youngest son, to be his successor. So his heroic son Hamvira revolted against him. Kapilendradeva was a great devotee of Jagannath and constructed the outer walls of Jagannath temple. He died in 1468.
After the death of Kapilendradeva his son Purushottam born of a Brahmin lady called Parvatidevi succeeded to the throne. After becoming king, Purushottam tried to get back Kondapalli and Rajahmundry from the Bahmany Sultan. He also tried to occupy the territory snatched away by Saluva Narasimha during the civil war. Purushottamdeva with a view to restore the lost territory mobilized his army against Sultan Mahmad Shah III Bahmany. He besieged Rajahmundry but without fighting any battle made an alliance with the Sultan. After that the relation between Bahmany and Vijayanagar became very bitter and stray battles took place between the forces of these two kingdoms. In 1481 Sultan Mahammad died and was succeeded by his young son Mahmad Shah. When the Bahmany kingdom was in chaotic condition Purushottam mobilised his forces and occupied Rajahmundry and Kondapalli. He further sent his army to occupy Udayagiri which had been taken away by Saluva Narasimha. Udayagiri was occupied and Saluva Narasimha was taken captive. Thus Purushottam could restore his power and glory during his last days and then devoted his attention for promotion or religion and culture. He died in 1497 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Prataprudradeva.
Prataprudradeva inherited a vast kingdom which was however fast declining. By that time the kingdom of Vijayanagar was rapidly rising as a rival of Orissa. In 1509 when Prataprudra led a campaign against Vijayanagar, Krushnadeva Raya had just succeeded to the throne of other kingdom, but before a decisive battle was fought Sultan Allauddin Hussan Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa and advanced as far as her capital. So Prataprudradeva was forced to give up war with Vijayanagar and rushed back to his capital. Sultan Hussan Shah was defeated and was driven back beyond the borders of Orissa. But in the south Krishnadeva Raya acquired an easy victory over Orissan army.
The last war Krishnadeva Raya with the army of Orissa was fought in 1519 and this time also he came out victorious. Durinmg this last war he is said to have burnt the city of Katak.Subsequently a treaty was concluded between Orissa and Vijayanagar in August 1519. According to the treaty the river Krishna formed the southern boundary of Orissa. Krishnadeva Raya married Jaganmohini, the daughter of Prataprudradeva.
Prataprudradeva succeeded in retaining his kingdom from the Ganges to the Krishna inspite of military defeats. During his rule Orissa made great advancement in the sphere of religion and culture. Sri Chaitanya who came to Orissa in 1510 preached the gospel of Vaishnavism and had a great impact on the religion and culture of Orissa.
Govinda Bidyadhar
After the death of Prataprudradeva his two sons named Kaluadeva (Ramachandradeva) and Kakharuadeva (Purushottamdeva) succeeded one after the other and ruled for less than two years. Both these brothers fell victim to the conspiracy of the minister Govinda Bidyadhar who occupied the throne in 1534 A.D. and founded the rule of the Bhoi dynasty. In 1540 A.D. the Sultan of Golkonda occupied Rajmahendri. Govinda Bidyadhar made a treaty with him and recognized river Godavari as the boundary between Golkonda and Orissa. Govinda Bidyadhar died in 1549 at Dashasvamedha Ghat of the Baitarani river. He was succeeded by his son Chakrapratap. He was a weak and cruel ruler and was very unpopular among the people. He died in 1557 A.D. He was probably murdered by his son Narasimha Jena who succeeded him and ruled for about a year. He was murdered by Mukunda Harichandan who placed Raghuram Jena, a son of Chakrapratap, on the throne and himself became the virtual ruler. Mukunda Harichandan captured the Minister Janardan Bidyadhar by an intrigue and impriosoned him in the Barabati fort where he died subsequently. Mukunda Harichandan declared himself as the ruler of Orissa in 1559 A.D.
Mukundadeva
Mukundadeva belonged to the Chalukya family. He came to the throne in 1559 by treachery and blood-shed. In 1560 Sultan Ghiyasuddin Jallal Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa and marched up to Jajpur. Mukundadeva defeated him and drove him out of Orissa. About that time one Afghan Chief named Suleiman Karrani occupied Bengal and became the Sultan. His rival Ibrahim fled to Orissa and got shelter under the protection of Mukundadeva.
By that time Akbar was planning to conquer Bengal and made alliance with Mukundadeva for that purpose. Mukundadeva received the Mughal ambassador and sent his own emissary to the Mughal court. Thus Mukundadeva became an enemy of Suleiman Karrani, the Sultan of Bengal. In 1567 when Akbar was busy in the invasion of Chitor, Sultan Karrani invaded Orissa. The Mughal Governor of Bihar, Munim Khan became indifferent and Mukundadeva resisted the invasion of Bengal singlehanded. He was defeated by the Sultan and took shelter in the fort of Kotsima, where Sultan Karrani besieged him. In the meantime, Bayazid, the son of the Sultan, led his army to Cuttack which was occupied by him. At that critical moment Ramachandra Bhanja, the feudatory of Sarangagarh, rose in rebellion. Mukundadeva made a treaty with Suleiman Karranim and marched against Ramachandra Bhanja. A battle took place in Gohiri Tikira near Jajpur where Mukundadeva lost his life at the hands of Ramachandra Bhanja. After that Ramachandra was defeated and killed by Bayazid and Orissa passed to the hands of the Afghans of Bengal in 1568 A.D.”
Maratha Rule
The Maratha administration of Orissa effectively began from the year 1751. Raghuji Bhonsle-I became the new master of the territory and a new system of government was put into operation. The Marathas divided Orissa into two broad political divisions passing under the more familiar terms as the Mughalbandi and the Garhjat. The Mughallbandi, comprising the coastal districts was divided into 150 Parganas and placed under 32 Revenue Commissioners or Amils. Each Pargana was divided into several Mahalas. For a systematic and better collection of revenue, hereditary revenue collectors titled as Talukdars, Kanungos and Chaudhuris were appointed. Attempts were also made to collect the revenue directly from the raiyats or through the village headmen. The administration paid attention to the welfare of the peasants in particular. While embankments were constructed to protect extensive cultivable lands against flood, the peasants were given at times remission from payment of land revenue when there was crop failure due to flood or drought.
The Maratha rule lasted in Orissa for a brief period of half a century only. This period coincided with the rise of the British power in Bengtal. It was in the nature of historical developments that the foundation of the British Empire should not be followed by its expansion and the British were acutely conscious of that historical role for which they were destined. And, the British were thoroughly aware of the stragtegic position of Orissa, situated as the land between their emerging power in Bengal and Madras. They had come to Orissa as traders during the first half of the 17 th century A.D. and had established their factories, and had acquainted themselves with the land and its people, while simultaneously making assessment of the strength and weakness of the ruling powers.
British Rule
As early as 1633, the British established a trade centre at Hariharpur, one of the first of their settlements in India. Their subsequent establishment at Baleshwar on river Burhabalanga and at Pipili on river Subarnarekha developed into flourishing centres of trade as well as of power. According to William Wilson Hunter, the English historian, it was those two Orissa harbours which became the basis of the future greatness of the British in Bengal.
After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and Buxar in 1764 the ambition of the British empire-builders reached its logical height to acquire as much of Indian territories as possible, and Orissa being so near to Bengal automatically came under the orbit of that design. Clive’s successor in Bengal, Warren Hastings tried to persuade Janoji’s successor Madhoji Bhonsla to reconsider the issue. The negotiation failed again, though the Maratha ruler permitted the movement of the British troops through Orissa towards the south, under the command of Colonel Pearse. Lord Cornwallis adopted the same policy of persuasion, but achieved no result. Madhoji’s successor, Raghuji Bhonsla II, however, was made to agree to permit the British troops to pass through Orissa once again during the Third Mysore War. The British failed to get Orissa through diplomacy, but their soldiers could see and know Orissa during their movements for future need.
Lord Wellesley, the aggressive Governor-General who came to convert the British Empire in India into the British Empire of India, decided to acquire Orissa by war. The second Maratha War gave him that opportunity. The conquest of Orissa was achieved in 1803 without any difficulty. The treaty of Deogarh, signed on 17 December 1803, ended the Maratha rule and inaugurated the British Rule in Orissa. It contained only the three coastal districts of Baleshwar, Cuttack and Puri, and the sixteen Tributary Mahals (the number increased to 18 in 1837) in the hill tracts.
Though the British conquest of Orissa proved to be an easy affair, the consolidation of the territory proved itself much more difficult because of the defective land revenue and administration systems which the new rulers initiated. Within a few years, therefore, there broke out a rebellion against the British, famous as the Paik Rebellion of 1817.
The rebellion broke out in Khordha, and spread to surrounding areas. The cause of this insurrection was the defective administration with which the new rulers began their regime. The traditional warrior class of the area, known as the Paiks, were in possession of their hereditary lands by virtue of their earlier role in the services of the former Hindu rulers. The new administration, under Major Fletcher, forfeited those lands and thereby ruined the economic life of a martial people. The leader of the rising was Bakshi Jagabandhu, a former General of the armed force of the Khordha Raja. Deprived of his own landed estate and reduced to the condition of a pauper, he took advantage of the general discontent among the Paik population and with the support of a large number of distressed Khonds from Ghumusar, he raised the standard of a serious revolt. The Government establishments, police-stations, and treasuries were attacked, plundered and destroyed. The British troops suffered initial reverses with one of their Commanders, Lieutenant Faris, killed. The rebel forces reached Puri on 12 th April, 1817 and caused considerable destruction to official property, and drove out the Government troops and officers. The success of the rebellion inspired confidence in the discontented elements at other places. The Rajas of Kujang and Kanika, too, came under the suspicion of the British for rebelious activities. In September, British troops were dispatched to Kujang where, after an encounter, the Raja surrendered himself to Captain Kennet in October.
Vigorous military measures were taken by the British to reconquer the lost places and restore order. The rebellion ended by the end of October 1817 though its leader evaded the British for long till at last he surrendered himself in 1825 and became a prisoner at Cuttack. The Bakshi died in 1829.
The paik rebellion gave a rude shock to the British Government, but at the same time made it realize that its polices required thorough modifications. The responsibility of this reorientation fell upon the newly appointed Commissioner in Cuttack, Robert Ker. But, tragically enough, for various factors, Orissa’s economic vitality declined rapidly during the British rule and the Government paid scant attention to the condition of the people. In fact, the people of the princely states were left to themselves to suffer in their separated existence, and the coastal belt under the direct rule was regarded chiefly as a land route between the two presidencies of Bengal and Madras, as if without deserving any special consideration for developments.
Within eight years of the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown, Orissa came under one of the worst calamities in her history. It was the infamous Na’anka Famine of 1866-67. The East India Company had done almost nothing to improve communication system in the territory during the 55 years of its indifferent administration. The only road which connected Orissa with Calcutta remained unmetalled and unbridged through several large rivers followed to the sea and kept the belt under inundation for months in every year. Whatever communication the people of Orissa maintained in earlier days by sea with the outer world had been totally destroyed by the British Orissa was, thus, an isolated patch of land from the rest of the country. Speaking about this feature, the Famine Commission reported: “The famine in Orissa stands almost alone in this, there was almost no importation, and the people shut up in a narrow province between pathless jungles and an impracticable sea, were in the condition of passengers in a ship without provision.’ A failure of rain in 1865 resulting in the loss of usual crops brought about a famine which could have been met with successfully had there been facilities for transportation.
The famine which began to show its symptoms from October, 1865 revealed in no time the total failure of the administration to realize the situation. Indifference of the officers, failure to import food, economic policy of laissez-faire and wrong conclusions regarding the nature of the impeding calamity led to disastrous consequences all too suddenly. The actual area of intense famine was not too large and the period of its intensity was limited to half a year of 1866 only. But failure to meet the emergency by the authorities led to a mortaility of one million. Nearly one man in every three in Orissa died in the famine.
Orissa took time to recover from the effects of the Great Famine. The British, too, were obliged to pay some attention atleast towards the development of the area. But, the real significance of the post-Na’anka era in 19 th century was that a new consciousness was beginning to take shape amonmg the thiking minds of the rising generation who thought it to be their imperative duty to work for a regeneration from within. The East India Company had neglected the education of the people to the worst extent. At the close of its rule, Orissa possessed only three Zilla Schools in the district headquarters of Baleshwar, Cuttack and Puri hjaving a total of 282 pupils only. A few schools run by the Christian missionaries and some of the vernacular schools were doing their little bit to meet the needs, by every effort in educational direction was at its lowest degree. It was just after the Famine, in 1867, that the Government raised the status of the Cuttack Zilla school to that of a High English school, affiliated to Calcutta University. It became a college in 1876/ It is from such narrow scopes fofr modern education that the pioneers of Oriya renaiscance of the late 29 th century came forward for their role. A notable product of the new education was Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das, the first graduate of Orissa who took B.A. degree from Calcutta University in 1870, M.A. degree in 1873, and a degree in Law in subsequent years. His ideas about the regeneration of his country,em made him one of the foresmot leaders of moden Orissa.
The new consciousness found its expression in the literacyn activities of some of the eminent writers who herealded the growth of modern Oriya literature. Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) and Radhanath ray (1848-1908) gave a tremendous impetus to Oriya literature through their numerous works. An All-Orissa phenomenon of literacy resurgence became the new characteristic of the age through the writings of Madhusudan Das, Biswanath Kar, Ramasankar Roy, Gangadhar Meher and Nanda Kishore Bala.
By the time the Indian National Congress was born in 1885, the conscious minds of Orissa were ready for appropriate responsive role in the promotion of the Congress ideologies and programmes. Within a few weeks of the first Congress Session, the Oriya leaders met at Cuttack on 3 rd March 1886 to chalk out their future plans in support of the Congress resolutions. In December of the same year, the Utkal Sabha and the National Society sent their delegates numbering seven to attend the second session of the National Congress. Every year thereafter, representatives from Cuttack attended the Congress Sessions to uphold actively the cause of the National Movement. Leaders like Madhusudan Das and Gouri Sankar Ray popularized the Congress principles among the patriotic people of Orissa during the last decade of the 19 th century, Orissa, thus, joined the main stream of the national life right in time.
In 1874, in a large congregation of the native chiefs, landlords and the leading persons, the problem of Oriya-speaking people was discussed with the ulterior objective of union. In 1877, when the Utkal Sabha was formed by such leading minds as Madhusudan Das, Fakirmohan Senapati and Radhanath Ray, the idea of a greater Orissa began to take shape. By the time Utkal Gourab Madhusudan formed the famous Orissa Association in 1882, grounds were prepared for a move to draw the attention of the Government towards the problem of the Oriyas.
Out of such sporadic attempts finally there emerged a political movement to units all the Oriya-speaking areas under one administration. In the capital of Orissa, Cuttack, the representatives of the Oriya-speaking territories that lay outside such as Ganjam, Sambalpur and Midnapore, gathered on the closing days of December 1903 and doing with the leading Oriyas of Orissa proper formed an organization that became famous as the Utkal Sammilani on the Utkal Union Conference. The native chiefs, prominent landlords, lawyers, government servants and students took a prominent part in forming this organization to campaign the cause of a united Orissa under the able leadership of Madhusudan Das. A memorandum was submitted to the Government to transfer all the Oriya-speaking tracts as situated in other provinces to the Orissa Division. The movement continued till the goal was reached. On the April, 1936, the new province of Orissa came into being.
Freedom movement
Simultaneous with the movement for its territorial unity, Orissa marched o the path of freedom struggle with the rest of India for national independence. Right from the Swadeshi Movement of 1905-1910 the practice of the land felt inspired for the cause of the country and developed anti-British feelings rapidly. By the side of the first World War, anarchical philosophies had taken root in Orissa. In the town of Baleshwar and in the Kaptipada forest areas in Mayurbhanj district, the Bengal territories with the active assistance of Oriya inhabitants worked for anti-Government activities in a daring spirit.
By the end of the War, Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das emerged for a remarkable role in promoting the Congress Movement in Orissa. A generation of youthful patriots soon arose to champion the national movement and to carry the spirit of the struggle to the people at large. Among them were men like Harekrushna Mahtab, Gopabandhu Choudhury, Nabakrushna Choudhury, Bagirathi Mahapatra, Jagabandhu Singh, Mukunda Prasad Das, Nityananda Kanungo, Jadumani Mangaraj, Niranjan Patnaik, Dibakar Patnaik, Chandra Sekhar Behera, Nanda Kishore Das, Raj Krushna Bose and others. Pandit Gopahandhu Das became the President of the Utkal Provincial Congress Committee.
The tide of the Non-Co-operation Movement swept over Orissa. In March 1921 when Gandhi toured Orissa, there was a unique response to his call from all sections of the people. Though the Mahatma visited a few places only, the message touched the hearts of the rural mass as well as the elite of Orissa. Many Youngman left schools and colleges, some of the eminent lawyers gave up their legal profession, men like Gopabandhu Choudhury, Lingaraj Misra, Surendra Nath Das and Muhammed Hanif resigned from government jobs, and Pandit Nilakantha Das gave up his teaching assignment of Calcutta University to serve in a national school.
In the meantime, Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das working on lines of liberal statesmanship, entered the Bihar and Orissa Legislative Council and became a Minister in January 1921. As an idealist in politics, and a reformer by temperament he quickly showed his inviduality, not as a subservient Minister to the ruling power, but as a real servant of the people, with dedication to the cause of their uplift. As a Minister of Local Self-Government, he suggested to the Government that “To ensure the success of the reforms it is necessary that the Minister of Local Self-Government should not draw any salary, but should be an honorary worker’. The Governor would not entertain such ideas in view of the administrative prestige of the Ministers and consequently, Mr. Das tendered his regisnation in March 1923. The resignation of a Minister on grounds of principles became a rare example in British-Indian constitutional history and the action of Madhusudan Das drew admiration from Mahatma Gandhi and many others.
When Gandhi gave his call for the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930, Orissa came forward for a most vigorous struggle as one of the most politically progressive regions of India. The breaking of Salt Law which became the symbolic feature of the disobedience, proved to Oriya leaders as the most effective weapon to fight the British. All over the long coastal belt of Orissa, and with a special attraction for the people’s age-old engagement in salt manufacture which the British had destroyed, there was an unprecedented popular enthusiasm to break the Salt Law and prepare salt in their own hand. At Inchudi in Baleshwar district, Salt Satyagraha under Surendra Natha Das became only second to Gandhi’s Satyagraha in Gujarat in importance and impact. At other places, such as Kujang in Cuttack district, Kuhudi, Singeshwar and Latra in Puri district; and Huma in Ganjam district (at that time in Madras Presidency) the Salt Satyagraha in thousands broke the law and suffered the consequences. Smt. Rama Devi, Smt. Malati Choudhury, Acharya Harihar Das, Gopabandhu Choudhury, Atal Bihari Acharya, Govind Misra, Raj Krushna Bose, Smt. Sarala Devi, Smt. Annapurna Devi, Narayan Birabar Samanta, Birakishore Das, Lakshmi Narayan Misra, Smt. Binapani Devi, and Surendra Nath Patnaik, among many others, became the leading spirits of the Civil Disoebedience Movement and many of them suffered imprisonment with their followers from among the common people.
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While the freedom struggle took its full course in the British administered Orissa, under the leadership of National Congress, spontaneous popular movements became a distinctive feature of the Garhjat areas where the people rose both against feudal tyranny of the princely rulers and their overlord, the British. The leaders of such uprisings came from the ranks of the down trodden and the oppressed, but they showed their revolutionary determination in the most practical manner. The people’s movements in the Orissa Garhjats were without a parallel in the rest of the princely India, though sufficient light has not yet been thrown on the subject.
The anti-feudal and the anti-British uprisings became frequent in the second and the third decade of the 20 th century for economic and political reasons. There were five such risings in Bamra, (Bamanda) three in Talcher, one in Mayurbhanj, one in Dhenkanal, and one in Nilagiri, besides a dangerous rising of the Kondha in Dashapalla during the period above mentioned. It is with much brutality, that the respective authorities could manage to restore order in their areas.
In course of time, popular democratic movement of the type as had developed in British Orissa took shape in the Garhjat areas. In 1931 the Orissa state’s People’s Conference was organized at Cuttack and by 1936-37 this organization proceeded to enquire into the people’s grievances in the states. The ruling chiefs vehemently opposed such moves and in some of the states, they restored to repressive measures in order to strike terror in the minds of the people, so that they should not speak anything against the establishment. These anti-people measures in turn paved path for organized popular movements, such as the non-violent Satyagraha of the Nilagiri Prajamandal to secure civil liberty for the people, resulting in large scale arrests of the Satyagrahis, lathi charges and firings. In Dhenkanal, in September 1938, the movement took such serious turn that a gathering of forty thousand people, agitating with demands, had to be dispersed with severe police action.
It was a people’s uprising all over the state, but suppressed by repressive actions leading to several deaths including the death of a brave young boy named Baji Rout whose courage and sacrifice became almost a legend in Orissa.The relentless action of the armed forces forced thousands of people to escape from their homes while countless houses were destroyed. The movement was continued with a great determination to escape the tyranny of an arbitrary regime, backed by an imperial power. The help of the revolutionaries of Dhenkanal that came to satyagrahis from outside and it became obvious that such popular movements were destined for ultimate success.The most heroic role in the Dhenkanal uprising was played by Sri Baishnav Charan Patnaik, a born revolutionary coming from the most common ranks of the oppressed subjects who was subjected to untoled sufferings but fearlessly and carelessly he carried on his radical revolution showing rare courage against formidable forces. He carried the revolution to its logical end and made the Dhenkanal struggle an interesting episode in people’s mind.
The movement spread to Talcher where the feudal systems like bethi or forced labour roused the suffering peasantry into action. The authorities resorted to harsh methods of torture, beating, imprisonment and looting of people’s property, while the people were resorting to peaceful Satyagraha of the Gandhian type. Shri Pabitra Mohan Pradhan, a firm believer in Gandhian principles of non-violence was in the forefront of this movement. Nearly thirty thousand people fled from the ex-state to save their life and honour. In other ex-states like Athagarh, Tigiria, Baramba (Badamba), Narasinghapur and Nayagarh, the Prajamandals launched civil resistance movements and offered Satyagraha to press for the liberation of the people from antiquated feudal systems. A remarkable feature of all these Prajamandal movements was that side by side with their political aspects, the people were moved to action for economic and agrarian reasons. It was the peasantry everywhere which spearheaded the movements.
The movement in the small ex-state of Ranpur was met with so much of brutality from the authorities that an otherwise peace loving people were forced into violent agitation which culminated in the murder of the British Political Agent, Major Bazelgette in January 1939. It was followed by extreme police and military action and a virtual reign of terror forcing thousands of people to escape for life.
The serious nature of the Orissa State People’s agitation drew the attention of the Indian leaders, and eminent persons like Rajendra Prasad, C.F. Andrews, Agatha Harrison, N.G. Ranga and Hare Krushna Mehtab set themselves to bring about a conciliation between the ruling chiefs and their agitating people. Mahatma Gandhi took up the matter himself. He advised the people to suspend the Satyagraha and advised the authorities to find out ways and means for a constitutional settlement.
In the meantime, since the formation of the separate province of Orissa in 1936, the political events in India were heading towards the final phase of the freedom struggle. General elections were held in the British Indian Provinces in 1937 to form Provincial Legislatures in accordance with the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935. In Orissa, in the said election, the Congress won 36 seats out of 60, and in July 1937, the first Congress Minstry was formed under the leadership of Biswanath Das with two other ministers, Nityananda Kanungo and Bodhram Dube.
This ministry began its work for the implementation of several pronounced policies of the Indian National Congress. Constructive programmes were taken up for the welfare of the common people in spite of obstacles created by the British controlled bureaucracy and for lack of adequate financial resources. Yet, the ministry worked out plans for the uplift of the Harijans, for introduction of basic education, for enforcement of prohibition, etc. But the ministry proved short-lived because of external events. The outbreak of the Second World War created in India a political crisis of great magnitude. At the call of the Congress High Command, all the Congress ministers tendered resignation in November, 1939.
The political crisis deepened rapidly. The Congress renewed its demand in July 1940 for complete independence and launched individual Satyagraha campaign soon thereafter. In Orissa, the campaign was carried on with considerable enthusiasm. The Congress ex-Ministers, legislators and several top-ranking leaders were arrested. Numerous other Congressmen spread over the land to carry the hope of independence far and wide. As the war progressed, national struggle in India also developed to its logical height.
In the power vacuum after the resignation of the Congress ministry, situations in Orissa developed rather in a delicate manner with the Congress preparing for a final onslaught against the British, while some of the leaders trying to form a Government to serve and advance the interest of Orissa. Out of the later mjove, a Coalition ministry was formed in November, 1941 with the Maharaja Paralakhemundi as Premier and Pandit Godavaris Mishra and Maulvi Abdus Sobhan Khan as ministers. This ministry functioned for a little over two and a half years. Its most noteworthy achievement was the establishment of a university in Orissa, famous as the Utkal University.
When the Quit India Movement began in August 1942, as the final attempt of the National Congress to end the British Raj, Orissa played its full part in the revolution, with widespread popular risings in remote rural areas. At many such places, the British administration almost vanished for sometime. With almost all Congressmen in prison, it was more or less like a leaderless revolution by the people, carried on fearlessly as long as possible. And, in this regard, Orissa earned the historic fame for the massacre of Eram in the district of Baleshwar where the largest number of people died in a single police action as compared to any such action in whole of India. Eram also proved how the revolution in Orissa was an affair of the poor and common people in far-away villages who required no leadership to rise, but possessed a spontaneous will to take part in revolution.
Another significant aspect of the Quit India Movement in Orissa was the underground revolutionary activities carried on by a group of determined patriots under Surendra Nath Dwivedy which came to be known as the Orissa Conspiracy. The organization was ultimately broken up and the leaders were tried in a special court and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
Events moved faster after the Quit India revolution. With the end of the World War in 1945, the days of the British Indian Empire became numbered. The Labour Government in Britain which replaced Winston Churchill’s Government realized the hard realities of the Indian situation and came to the conclusion that it was impossible to retain India any longer. General elections were held to Indian Legslatures in 1946 and in Orissa, the Congress Party won 47 seats out of 60 and formed its ministry under the leadership of Harekrushna Mahtab. The other ministers of the Mahtab Cabinet were Nabakrushna Choudhury, Pandit Lingaraj Misra, Nityananda Kanungo and Radhakrushna Biswasroy. The independence of India was already in sight. Time called for ardous constructive works from the new Government. Side by side the amalgamation of the Orissa states became the most crucial issue of the hour.
Post-Independence Era
With the coming of the independence in August 1947 the issue of the merger of the states was taken up immediately for which the grounds had long been prepared by the Praja Mandal Movements. In spite of the determination of the ruling chiefs not to give up their hereditary rights and their attempts to counteract the people’s demands, their time was running out with the emergence of a new independent India. People everywhere became restless and the omen of a mass upsurge loomed large on the horizon.The leaders of Orissa and of India could not have allowed the princely chiefs to continue to rule as before. H. Mahtab, therefore, took the initiative for the merger of the states without any further delay. The unrest in the ex-state of Nilagiri forced him for intervention and the ex-state was merged with Orissa in November 1947.This alarmed the other rules while it encouraged the people to stand up boldly for their political emancipation. The developing crisis made the central intervention imperative, and Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel came to Orissa in December 1947.
His statesmanship and strength bore result when all the princely states, except Mayurbhanj, signed the agreement handing over the administration of their states to the Government of India in perpetuity, who on their part delegated the administrative power to the Government of Orissa to work out the merger to the states. The princely states, thus, except Mayurbhanj, were amalgamated with Orissa with effect from 1 st January, 1948. Mayurbhanj, too, was merged with Orissa a year later. It was, however, unfortunate that under some extraordinary circumstances and political miscalculations the two Oriya-speaking ex-states of Seraikela and Kharsawan were placed under Bihar in spite of strong resentment from the entire Oriya-speaking population.
With the merger of the states, the new Orissa became nearly twice as big in size, and with the addition of 50 per cent more people to its existing population, it became one of the major territorial units of the Indian Union. With potential economic resources in form of unlimited minerals, extensive forests, fertile lands, many river valleys, and numerous waterways, Orissa’s future appears brigher in the days to come.
The bravery and richness of the Kalingas became legendary, and finds mention in all most all religious scriptures, stories and history of incredible India In this respects, Oriya history resembles more the history of the nations of South East Asia, and may have been one of the features of Oriya society.
The history of Orissa makes an interesting case-study in that it's history 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 of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the Kalinga and Utkal tribes 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 C. BC, 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 C. 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.
Kalinga
Very early in Kalingan history, the Kalingas acquired a reputation for being a fiercely independant people. 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.
Unsurprisingly, Mauryan rule over Kalinga did not last long. By the 1st C. BC, Kalinga's Jain identified ruler Kharavela had become the pre-eminent monarch of much of the sub-continent and Mauryan Magadha had become a province of the Kalingan empire. The earliest surviving monuments of Orissa (in Udaigiri near Bhubaneshwar) date from his reign, and surviving inscriptions mention that Prince Kharavela was trained not only in the military arts, but also in literature, mathematics, and the social sciences. He was also reputed to be a great patron of the arts and was credited with encouraging dance and theater in his capital.
Although the bravery of the Kalingas became legendary, and finds mention in the Sahitya Darpan, it is important to note that a hereditary warrior caste like the Kshatriyas did not take hold in the region. Soldiers were drawn from the peasantry as needed and rank in the military depended as much on fighting skills and bravery as on hereditary factors. In this (and other) respects, Oriya history resembles more the history of the nations of South East Asia, and may have been one of the features of Oriya society that allowed it to successfully fend off 300 years of raids initiated by numerous Islamic rulers untill the 16th century.
Metallurgy, Crafts and Trade
Owing to it's vast mineral resources, metallurgy developed quite naturally in ancient Orissa and may have been an additional factor in catapulting the region to considerable importance during the iron age. Iron tools were used in agricultural production, digging irrigation canals, stone-quarrying, cave excavation and later monumental architecture. Rice cultivation got a particular fillip and during the iron age irrigation works from Orissa spread to the regions of ancient Andhra and Tamil Nadu around 300 BC (See M.S. Randhawa: A history of agriculture in India, Vol. 1. New Delhi.) Orissa also became a major steel producing centre and steel beams were extensively used in the monumental temples of Bhubaneshwar and Puri.
Being a coastal region, maritime trade played an important role in the development of Oriya civilization. Cultural, commercial and political contacts with South East Asia, particularly Southern Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia were especially extensive and maritime enterprises play an interesting part in Oriya folk-tales and poetry. Historical records suggest that around the 7th C. AD, the Kongoda dynasty from central Orissa may have migrated to Malaysia and Indonesia. There is also evidence of exchange of embassies with China. Records of Oriya traders being active in the ports of South East Asia are fairly numerous and in his descriptions of Malacca, Portuguese merchant Tome Pires indicates that traders from Orissa were active in the busy port as late as the 16th C.
(There is evidence to suggest that trade contact between Eastern India and Thailand may date as far back as the 3rd or 4th C BC. Himanshu Ray (The Winds of Change - Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Early South Asia) suggests that at least eight oceanic routes linked the Eastern Coast of India with the Malayan pensinsula, and after the Iron Age, metals (such as iron, copper and tin), cotton textiles and foodstuffs comprised the trade. She also suggests that the trade involved both Indian and Malayo-Polynesian ships. Archealogical evidence from Sisupalgarh (near Bhubaneshwar) in Orissa suggests that there may also have been direct or indirect trade contacts between ancient Orissa and Rome dating to the 1st-2nd C AD (or possibly earlier). The chronicles of Huen Tsang refer to Orissa's overseas contacts in the 7th C, and by the 10th C, records of Orissa's trade with the East begin to proliferate.)
Adequate agricultural production combined with a flourishing maritime trade contributed to a flowering of Orissan arts and crafts especially textiles. Numerous communities of weavers and dyers became active throughout the state perfecting techniques like weaving of fine Muslins, Ikat, Sambalpuri and Bomkai silks and cottons, applique and embroidery. Orissa was also known for it's brass and bell metal work, lacquered boxes and toys, intricate ivory, wood and stone carvings, patta painting and palm leaf engraving, basket weaving and numerous other colorful crafts. Often, decorative techniques relied on folk idioms as in the painted, circular playing cards known as Ganjifas.
Later, Cuttack became the centre for lace-like exquisite silver filigree work, (known as Tarakashi) when Orissa was brought under Mughal rule.
Philosophy, Language and Idealogy
Both Buddhism and Jainism played an important role in the cultural and philosophical developments of early Oriya civilization. Most Buddhist and Jain texts were written in Pali-Prakrit and the Prakrita Sarvasva, a celebrated Prakrit grammar text was authored by Markandeya Das, an Oriya. Kharavela's Hatigumpha inscription is in Pali, leading to the speculation that Pali may have been the original language of the Oriya people.
By the 7th C. AD, Brahminism had also become influential, especially in the courts and Hiuen Tsang (the well-known Chinese chronicler) observed how Buddhist Viharas and Brahminic temples flourished side by side. And although royal inscriptions of this time were in Sanskrit, the most commonly spoken language was not, and according to Hiuen Tsang appeared to be quite distinct from the language of Central India, and may have been a precursor of modern day Oriya.
But even as the Bhauma Kings of the 6th-8th C issued edicts in Sanskrit, they patronized numerous Buddhist institutions and the art, architecture and poetry of the period reflected the popularity of Buddhism in the region.
Later, Orissa's Buddhism came to be modulated by strong Tantric influences, while a more traditional Vedic and Brahminical version of Hinduism was brought to Orissa by Brahmins from Kannauj. Shaivism from the South was institutionalized in Puri. In addition, the majority of Orissa's adivasis continued to practice some form of animism and totem-worship. Unifying all these different traditions was the Shiva-Shakti cult which evolved from an amalgamation of Shaivism (worship of Shiva), Shaktism (worship of the Mother Goddess) and the Vajrayana, or Tantric form of Mahayana Buddism.
What made possible this fusion was that apart from the formal distinctions that separated these different religious and philosophical trends, in practical matters, there was a growing similiarity between them. Whereas early Buddhism and the Nyaya school within Hinduism had laid considerable stress on rationalism and scientific investigation of nature, later Buddhism and the Shaivite schools both emphasized philosphical variants of concepts first developed in the Upanishads, along with mysticism and devotion. Tantrism had also developed along a dual track - on the one hand it had laid emphasis on gaining practical knowledge and a clear understanding of nature - on the other, it too came steeped in mysticism and magic.
At the same time, the Buddhist ethos had created an environment where compromise was preferred to confrontation. This allowed tribal deities and gods and goddesses associated with numerous fertility cults to be integrated into the Hindu pantheon. Tantric constructs also met with some degree of approval.
Since Tantrism emphasized the erotic as a means to spiritual salvation, the culture of austerity and sexual abstinence that had pervaded early Buddhism was replaced with an unapologetic embrace of all that was erotic.
Unlike some other parts of India, Oriya society had not yet been deeply differentiated by caste, and egalitarian values remained well-ingrained amongst the peasant masses. Hence, any idealogy that championed a hierarchical division of society would have been unacceptable. The Shiva Shakti cult was a compromise in that while it did not exclude social inequality, it did not preclude social mobility either. In fact, the cult became popular precisely because it articulated the possibility of upward mobility through the acquisition of knowledge, skill or energetic personal effort.
Yogini Cults
Tantric influences were of particular import for the survival of the Yogini cults in Orissa. The Yogini cults concentrated on worship of the shakti (female life force), with a belief in the efficacy of magic ritual. In ancient texts, Yoginis are depicted as consorts of Yogis, and like their male companions practiced yoga to gain mastery over science and acquire magical powers. Some tantric schools associated with the Yogini cults such as the Kaula Marga prescribed Maithuna (sexual intercourse) with outcast women or women of low caste as the most consummate soul-lifting experience. Although Yogini cults were not unique to Orissa, two out of four surviving Yogini temples are to be found in Hirapur and Ranipur-Jharial.
The Hirapur temple is ascribed to the Bhauma and Somavansi rulers of Orissa (mid 8th - mid 10th C. AD) who were known for their eclectic liberalism and noted for their patronage of philosophy, art, architecture and literature.
Popular Literature
While the literature of the court and the intelligentsia was primarily written in Sanskrit, and included a variety of commentaries and theoretical treatises on religion, politics, art and literature as well as reworks of the epics, popular literature in Oriya initially focused on folk tales, ballades, creation myths, devotional songs, love poetry and erotica.
But in the 15th century, the Gangas who were patrons of many of Orissa's monumental temples were defeated by Kapilendra Deva, who rose from the ranks to found the Surya dynasty. It was in his reign that Sarala Das wrote a popular Oriya version of the Mahabharatha. Sarala Das arose from a peasant family and took his name from the goddess Sarala who was worshipped in his village in the district of Cuttack. He described himself as an unschooled 'Shudra' and became popularly known as Shudra-muni. Although the broad themes his Mahabharatha match other traditional versions, there is much that was original and written with a popular sensibility. His version knitted in local folk tales and ballads, and incorporated the ethical and moral values then embraced by the artisan class and peasantry.
The Chandi Purana, also written by Sarala Das referred to Yoginis as forms of the Devi or the Supreme Goddess illustrating the continued popular appeal of the Yogini cults in Orissa's coastal belt.
Thus what emerged in Orissa from the 9th century on was a heady cocktail of mystical and practical currents that allowed for a certain degree of social mobility and provided space for ordinary peasants to make contributions to popular literature and poetry.
This stimulated the popularity of reading and since there were no taboos against learning Oriya, literacy spread in the villages and such popular literature developed a wide mass following. A network of village libraries housed popular texts in neatly transcribed versions. Illuminated manuscripts and illustrated epics also became popular. By some accounts, literacy in many villages reached 40% or more before the onslaught of colonial rule.
Decline of Oriya Civilization
The first signsof decline in Oriya society came as the administrators of the Ganga and Surya kings began to usurp undue privileges and acquire a greater number of hereditary rights. At the same time, religious affairs began to be dominated by the Puri Brahmins who were instrumental in promoting ever increasing ritual and unprecedented ceremonial pomp during religious festivals. Tribal deities were slowly edged out as Brahminical gods acquired supremacy. Social mobility declined and the first concrete appearances of a formalized caste system began to appear. The Patnaiks, Mahapatras, Nayakas and others who had played a major role in the royal adminstration, along with the Brahmins comprised the upper-caste elite as social stratification crystallized.
The silting up of Orissa's major rivers in the 16th C. led to a severe decline in maritime trade and may have further aggravated socially regressive trends. Orissa also suffered decisive defeats at the hands of Raja Man Singh (Akbar's military general) and the Marathas, leaving it dismembered and particularly vulnerable against the British who colonized it soon after the victory in Bengal.
Orissa during Colonial Rule
Like much of India, colonial rule had a devastating impact on the economic and social life of the Oriya people. Numerous categories of crafts workers, especially weavers and dyers were bankrupted and reduced to abject poverty. The peasantry suffered under the burden of back-breaking taxes and forced unpaid labour. But the Oriyas did not accept subjugation without putting up heroic resistance. Just three years after British occupation, Jayakrishna Rajguru - hereditary priest of the Gajapatis (or the Rajas of Khurda) organized a revolt that ended in tragic defeat and his public hanging at the hands of the British. In 1818 there was another revolt when the entire state rose up under the leadership of Bakshi Jagabandhu Vidyadhara of Khurda. For six months the people of Southern Orissa were practically freed from British rule but in the end the rebellion was ruthlessly quelled and the aftermath was to be disastrous.
The nobility was systematically decimated, the Paikas - the national militia were disarmed and disinherited, and the peasantry already reduced to virtual slavery. All administrative posts not directly handled by the British were assigned to Bengalis who were perceived to be more loyal to British rule. From local police constables to assistant school teachers - Bengalis were hired but Oriyas excluded. Bengali chauvinists in Calcutta defended such a regime, some even going to the extent of demanding that all Oriyas be taught in Bengali since Oriya was nothing but a minor dialect of Bengali.
Even as urban Bengal received a few concessions like the founding of universities and cultural societies - Orissa was reduced to a minor outpost of the colonial empire - a cultural wasteland. Orissa's future was now inextricably linked to the growth of the national struggle in Bengal and the rest of the country, and any hint of growth in the national movement naturally drew enthusiastic support from nationalist-minded Oriyas.
Although independence brought about dramatic improvements in the lives of all sections of the population, two centuries of damage wrought by colonial rule could not be easily undone after independence. As evident from recent census results, high levels of poverty and illiteracy continue to dog the state.
For Orissa to regain it's ancient vitality, it will require not only greater sympathy from other Indians but a conscious programme of affirmative action from the centre that promotes mass education and employment opportunities so that Orissa can fully join the Indian mainstream as a vibrant and equal member of the Indian union.
Note: References to ancient Orissa may well include parts of Jharkhand, Southern Bengal, Chhatisgarh and Northern Andhra - which at various times were politically integrated into the different kingdoms of ancient and medieval Orissa.
DETAILED HISTORY
e 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 of modern Orissa. Orissa has also been the home of the Kalinga and Utkal tribes 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 C. BC, 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 C. 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.
EPICS:
In the Ramayana, Lord Rama's mother, Queen Kaushalya is the daughter of the king of Koshal. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas spent the one year as 'Agyantavasa' as servants of King Virata, ruler of Matsa.
Kalinga
Very early in Kalingan history, the Kalingas acquired a reputation for being a fiercely independant people. Ashoka's military campaign against Kalingawas 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.
Mahameghavahana Kharavela
Unsurprisingly, Mauryan rule over Kalinga did not last long. By the 1st C. BC, Kalinga's Jain identified ruler Kharavela had become the pre-eminent monarch of much of the sub-continent and Mauryan Magadha had become a province of the Kalingan empire. The earliest surviving monuments of Orissa (in Udaigiri near Bhubaneshwar) date from his reign, and surviving inscriptions mention that Prince Kharavela was trained not only in the military arts, but also in literature, mathematics, and the social sciences. He was also reputed to be a great patron of the arts and was credited with encouraging dance and theater in his capital. It is known from this record that Kharavela on the premature death of his father took up the administration first as a Yuvaraja and then on completion of 24 years of age ascended to the throne as Maharaja. The Mahameghavahana dynasty continued to rule over Kalinga and Mahishaka up to the 1 st century A.D. as known from some recently discovered inscriptions of Guntupalli and Velpuru in Andhra Pradesh. The Velpuru inscription reveals the rule of one Airamaharaja Haritiputra Manasada who belonged to Mahameghavahana dynasty.
The Imperial Gangas
The Eastern Gangas who started their rule in Kalinga about the end of the 5 th century A.D. continued as a petty power till the time of Vajrahasta V who came to the throne in 1038 A.D. As mentioned above he was the son of Kamarnava II by his queen Vinaya Mahadevi. He made Kalinga independent by defeating the Somavamsis and declared himself Maharajadhiraja. He also received the title of Trikalingadhipati. He made matrimonial alliance with the Kalachuris of Kosala and also with the ruling family of Ceylone. This helped him in consolidating the political power of his family. He was succeeded in 1070 A.D. by his son Rajrajdev I born of his queen Anangadevi. Rajarajdev was faced with his enemies, the Somavamsis of Utkal in the north and the Chalukya of Vengi in the south. By 1075 A.D. his Commander Vanapati of Vengi obtained victory over the kings of Chola, Utkal, Khemundi, Kosala, Gidvisingi and Vengi. The Somavamsi king Janamejaya II was defeated but succeeded in protecting his kingdom. By that time Kulattunga was the ruler of the Chola kingdom. By that time Kulattunga was the ruler of the Choloa kingdom.
Rajrajdev had a premature death in 1077 A.D. He left two young sons, the elder Chola Gangadeva being of two years in age. This young boy was crowned at Kalinganagar in February, 1078 A.D. Vira Choda, the third son of Kulattunga, was the Viceroy of Vengi till 1093 A.D. He was supporting the Gangas of Kalinga and in 1093 A.D., Chodagangadeva married Chodadevi, the daughter of Vira Choda. As a result of that Vira Choda was removed from power and expelled from Vengi by his father Kulattunga. Vira Choda was of great help to Chodagangadeva in his wars against Vengi and Utkal.
He established his supremacy over the entire territory from the Ganga to the Godavarari by 1135 A.D. Chodagangadeva like his ancestors was a great devotee of Siva. He was, however, found inclined towards Vaishnavism at times. Long before the conquest of Utkal by Chodaganga, Puri (Shrikshetra) was a place of worship of Purusottama and Chodaganga constructed the gigantic temple for the Lord to respect the religious sentiment of the people of the newly conquered territory rather than to obey the dictates of the Vaishnava Acharya Ramanuja.
Chodagangadeva died in 1147 A.D. and was succeeded by his eldest son Kamarnavadeva. The Ganga-Kalachuri war was continuing by that time and Kamarnava was defeated by the Kalachuri king Prithideva II, son and successor of Ratnadeva II. After the death of Kamarnava, the second son of Chodaganga named Raghava became the king in 1158 A.D. During his time poet Jayadeva is known to have composed his famous work Gitagovinda. Raghava died in 1170 A.D. and was succeeded by Rajraj II, the third son of Chodagangadeva. Next ruler was Anangnagabhimadeva II, the fourth and last son of Chodagangadeva. He was the only son of Chodaganga to have a son Rajraj III, who succeeded him after his death in 1198 A.D.
Rajraj III died in 1211 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Anangabhimadeva III. During his time Ghiyathu’d-din Iawz, ruler of Bengal, invaded Orissa. Taking advantage of this invasion the Kalachuri king of Tommana also declared war and the age long Ganga-Kalachuri war continued. At this critical time Vishnu,.the General of Angnagabhimadeva III, not only repulsed the invasion of the Muslim but also decisively defeated the Kalachuris on the bank of the Bhima river and near the Vindhya hills. After his victory the Gangas occupied the Sonapur region. Anangabhimadeva III gave his daughter Chandrika in marriage to the Kalachuri prince Paramardideva. By that he could win the friendship of the Kalachuris who were of great strength to the Gangas in their war against the Muslims. Anangabhimadeva was also successful in his work in the south and his empire extended up to the mouth of the Krishna river. Anangabhimadeva established a new city at the bifurcation of the Mahanadi and the Kathajodi which was called Abhinava Varanasi Kataka. By 1230 A.D. he transferred the headquarters to this new city where he constructed a big temple of Lord Purushottama.
Anangabhimadeva III died in 1238 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Narasimhadeva I. By that time Izzu’d-din Tughril Tughan Khan was the Governor of Bengal and had semi-independent status. Narasimhadeva, apprehending danger from him, mobilized his forces against his territory. Izzu’d-din Tughril probably anticipated this attack and in the war that took place he obtained initial victory but subsequently the Muslims were completely defeated with heavy loss. Izzud’d-din himself fled away from the battle to save his life. On his request the Sultan of Delhi sent Qamaru’d-din Tamur Khan, the Governor of Oudh to help the army of Bengal but before the arrival of Oudh army the War at Bengal hnd already ended. The next year (1244 A.D.) Narasimhadeva invaded Bengal for the second time and the Orissan army attacked Lakhnor, the headquarters of Radha, and killed the Muslim commander and a large number of his troops. Narasimhadeva I was successful in his campaigns against the Muslims and humbled the pride of his enemy. Like his father he was a devotee of Lord Purushottama. He is remembered in history as the builder of the world famous temple at Konarka.
In 1264 A.D. Narasimhadeva I was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva I born of queen Sitadevi. During his time Narahari Tirtha the disciple of Ananda Tirtha (Madhdavacharya) had great influence in Orissa. He was even appointed as a Governor of Kalinga. During the rule of Bhanudeva, Chandrikadevi, the daughter of Anangabhimadeva I, constructed the Ananta Basudev temple at Bhubaneswar in 1278 A.D. That year Bhanudeva died and his son Narasimhadeva II was an infant. Narahari Tirtha worked as regent for long twelve years. Narasimhadeva II is known to have fought against the Muslims of Bengal the results of which were indecisive. His long reign from 1278 to 1306 was peaceful and eventless. He was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva II. R.D. Benerji states that one Purushottamadeva ruled Orissa up to 1312 A.D. making Bhanudeva II a prisoner in his palace. This is however not a fact. Purushottamadeva ruled over southern part of Kalinga as a feudatory of Bhanudeva II.
Narasimhadeva III succeeded Bhanudeva II in 1328 A.D. Very little information is obtained regarding his political activities. He was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva III in 1352 A.D. In 1353 Shamsud’-din Ilyas Shah invaded Orissa but he retreated after obtaining few elephants. It was by that time that Prince Sangama, the nephew of Bukkaraya I of Vijayanagar, invaded Orissa and defeated Bhanudeva III. As a result of this victory Bukkaraya occupied souther portion of the Ganga kingdom. In 1361 A.D., Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq invaded the Ganga kingdom. He defeated the forces of the Gangas and occupied Varanasi Kataka. Bhanudeva III fled away and took shelter with his family and courtiers in an island probably inside Chilika lake. Sultan Firuz Shah destroyed the temple of Purushottama built by Anangabhimadeva III and disgraced the idols. Bhanudeva III made a treaty with the Sultan by offering twenty big elephants and agreeing to give annual tribute. Thus during Bhanudeva III the prestige and power of the Gangas greatly declined. He died in 1378 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Narasimhadeva IV. He was succeeded by his son Bhanudeva IV in 1414 A.D.
The Suryavamsi
Kapilendradeva belonged to the Solar dynasty. His ancestors were feudatory Chiefs under the Gangas. When he usurped the throne in 1435 A.D. many feudatory Chiefs challenged his authority. At the time of this internal danger Sultan Ahmed Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa but he was defeated by Minister Gopinath Mahapatra while Kapilendradeva suppressed the internal rebellion with strong hands. By 1443 A.D., Kapilendradeva succeeded in consolidating his power over the newly acquired kingdom but in 1444 he had to fight against the combined army of the Reddy of Rajamundry and king Devaraya II of Vijayanagar who invaded the southern part of his territory. Just by that time Mahamud shah, the Sharqui Sultan of Jaunpur invaded from the north. Faced with these two invasions Kapilendradeva gave his wholehearted attention to drive out Muslims from the north neglecting the south. Mahamud Shah was defeated and retreated from northern Orissa after which Hamvira, the son of Kapilendra, fought against the Reddy’s of Rajahmundry and scored a victory over them. Thus Kapilendradeva could occupy almost the entire seaboard of Vijayanagar up to the Kaveri. His entire career was spent in wars and he acquired many enemies both inside and outside his kingdom. He chose Purushottam, his youngest son, to be his successor. So his heroic son Hamvira revolted against him. Kapilendradeva was a great devotee of Jagannath and constructed the outer walls of Jagannath temple. He died in 1468.
After the death of Kapilendradeva his son Purushottam born of a Brahmin lady called Parvatidevi succeeded to the throne. After becoming king, Purushottam tried to get back Kondapalli and Rajahmundry from the Bahmany Sultan. He also tried to occupy the territory snatched away by Saluva Narasimha during the civil war. Purushottamdeva with a view to restore the lost territory mobilized his army against Sultan Mahmad Shah III Bahmany. He besieged Rajahmundry but without fighting any battle made an alliance with the Sultan. After that the relation between Bahmany and Vijayanagar became very bitter and stray battles took place between the forces of these two kingdoms. In 1481 Sultan Mahammad died and was succeeded by his young son Mahmad Shah. When the Bahmany kingdom was in chaotic condition Purushottam mobilised his forces and occupied Rajahmundry and Kondapalli. He further sent his army to occupy Udayagiri which had been taken away by Saluva Narasimha. Udayagiri was occupied and Saluva Narasimha was taken captive. Thus Purushottam could restore his power and glory during his last days and then devoted his attention for promotion or religion and culture. He died in 1497 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Prataprudradeva.
Prataprudradeva inherited a vast kingdom which was however fast declining. By that time the kingdom of Vijayanagar was rapidly rising as a rival of Orissa. In 1509 when Prataprudra led a campaign against Vijayanagar, Krushnadeva Raya had just succeeded to the throne of other kingdom, but before a decisive battle was fought Sultan Allauddin Hussan Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa and advanced as far as her capital. So Prataprudradeva was forced to give up war with Vijayanagar and rushed back to his capital. Sultan Hussan Shah was defeated and was driven back beyond the borders of Orissa. But in the south Krishnadeva Raya acquired an easy victory over Orissan army.
The last war Krishnadeva Raya with the army of Orissa was fought in 1519 and this time also he came out victorious. Durinmg this last war he is said to have burnt the city of Katak.Subsequently a treaty was concluded between Orissa and Vijayanagar in August 1519. According to the treaty the river Krishna formed the southern boundary of Orissa. Krishnadeva Raya married Jaganmohini, the daughter of Prataprudradeva.
Prataprudradeva succeeded in retaining his kingdom from the Ganges to the Krishna inspite of military defeats. During his rule Orissa made great advancement in the sphere of religion and culture. Sri Chaitanya who came to Orissa in 1510 preached the gospel of Vaishnavism and had a great impact on the religion and culture of Orissa.
Govinda Bidyadhar
After the death of Prataprudradeva his two sons named Kaluadeva (Ramachandradeva) and Kakharuadeva (Purushottamdeva) succeeded one after the other and ruled for less than two years. Both these brothers fell victim to the conspiracy of the minister Govinda Bidyadhar who occupied the throne in 1534 A.D. and founded the rule of the Bhoi dynasty. In 1540 A.D. the Sultan of Golkonda occupied Rajmahendri. Govinda Bidyadhar made a treaty with him and recognized river Godavari as the boundary between Golkonda and Orissa. Govinda Bidyadhar died in 1549 at Dashasvamedha Ghat of the Baitarani river. He was succeeded by his son Chakrapratap. He was a weak and cruel ruler and was very unpopular among the people. He died in 1557 A.D. He was probably murdered by his son Narasimha Jena who succeeded him and ruled for about a year. He was murdered by Mukunda Harichandan who placed Raghuram Jena, a son of Chakrapratap, on the throne and himself became the virtual ruler. Mukunda Harichandan captured the Minister Janardan Bidyadhar by an intrigue and impriosoned him in the Barabati fort where he died subsequently. Mukunda Harichandan declared himself as the ruler of Orissa in 1559 A.D.
Mukundadeva
Mukundadeva belonged to the Chalukya family. He came to the throne in 1559 by treachery and blood-shed. In 1560 Sultan Ghiyasuddin Jallal Shah of Bengal invaded Orissa and marched up to Jajpur. Mukundadeva defeated him and drove him out of Orissa. About that time one Afghan Chief named Suleiman Karrani occupied Bengal and became the Sultan. His rival Ibrahim fled to Orissa and got shelter under the protection of Mukundadeva.
By that time Akbar was planning to conquer Bengal and made alliance with Mukundadeva for that purpose. Mukundadeva received the Mughal ambassador and sent his own emissary to the Mughal court. Thus Mukundadeva became an enemy of Suleiman Karrani, the Sultan of Bengal. In 1567 when Akbar was busy in the invasion of Chitor, Sultan Karrani invaded Orissa. The Mughal Governor of Bihar, Munim Khan became indifferent and Mukundadeva resisted the invasion of Bengal singlehanded. He was defeated by the Sultan and took shelter in the fort of Kotsima, where Sultan Karrani besieged him. In the meantime, Bayazid, the son of the Sultan, led his army to Cuttack which was occupied by him. At that critical moment Ramachandra Bhanja, the feudatory of Sarangagarh, rose in rebellion. Mukundadeva made a treaty with Suleiman Karranim and marched against Ramachandra Bhanja. A battle took place in Gohiri Tikira near Jajpur where Mukundadeva lost his life at the hands of Ramachandra Bhanja. After that Ramachandra was defeated and killed by Bayazid and Orissa passed to the hands of the Afghans of Bengal in 1568 A.D.”
Maratha Rule
The Maratha administration of Orissa effectively began from the year 1751. Raghuji Bhonsle-I became the new master of the territory and a new system of government was put into operation. The Marathas divided Orissa into two broad political divisions passing under the more familiar terms as the Mughalbandi and the Garhjat. The Mughallbandi, comprising the coastal districts was divided into 150 Parganas and placed under 32 Revenue Commissioners or Amils. Each Pargana was divided into several Mahalas. For a systematic and better collection of revenue, hereditary revenue collectors titled as Talukdars, Kanungos and Chaudhuris were appointed. Attempts were also made to collect the revenue directly from the raiyats or through the village headmen. The administration paid attention to the welfare of the peasants in particular. While embankments were constructed to protect extensive cultivable lands against flood, the peasants were given at times remission from payment of land revenue when there was crop failure due to flood or drought.
The Maratha rule lasted in Orissa for a brief period of half a century only. This period coincided with the rise of the British power in Bengtal. It was in the nature of historical developments that the foundation of the British Empire should not be followed by its expansion and the British were acutely conscious of that historical role for which they were destined. And, the British were thoroughly aware of the stragtegic position of Orissa, situated as the land between their emerging power in Bengal and Madras. They had come to Orissa as traders during the first half of the 17 th century A.D. and had established their factories, and had acquainted themselves with the land and its people, while simultaneously making assessment of the strength and weakness of the ruling powers.
British Rule
As early as 1633, the British established a trade centre at Hariharpur, one of the first of their settlements in India. Their subsequent establishment at Baleshwar on river Burhabalanga and at Pipili on river Subarnarekha developed into flourishing centres of trade as well as of power. According to William Wilson Hunter, the English historian, it was those two Orissa harbours which became the basis of the future greatness of the British in Bengal.
After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and Buxar in 1764 the ambition of the British empire-builders reached its logical height to acquire as much of Indian territories as possible, and Orissa being so near to Bengal automatically came under the orbit of that design. Clive’s successor in Bengal, Warren Hastings tried to persuade Janoji’s successor Madhoji Bhonsla to reconsider the issue. The negotiation failed again, though the Maratha ruler permitted the movement of the British troops through Orissa towards the south, under the command of Colonel Pearse. Lord Cornwallis adopted the same policy of persuasion, but achieved no result. Madhoji’s successor, Raghuji Bhonsla II, however, was made to agree to permit the British troops to pass through Orissa once again during the Third Mysore War. The British failed to get Orissa through diplomacy, but their soldiers could see and know Orissa during their movements for future need.
Lord Wellesley, the aggressive Governor-General who came to convert the British Empire in India into the British Empire of India, decided to acquire Orissa by war. The second Maratha War gave him that opportunity. The conquest of Orissa was achieved in 1803 without any difficulty. The treaty of Deogarh, signed on 17 December 1803, ended the Maratha rule and inaugurated the British Rule in Orissa. It contained only the three coastal districts of Baleshwar, Cuttack and Puri, and the sixteen Tributary Mahals (the number increased to 18 in 1837) in the hill tracts.
Though the British conquest of Orissa proved to be an easy affair, the consolidation of the territory proved itself much more difficult because of the defective land revenue and administration systems which the new rulers initiated. Within a few years, therefore, there broke out a rebellion against the British, famous as the Paik Rebellion of 1817.
The rebellion broke out in Khordha, and spread to surrounding areas. The cause of this insurrection was the defective administration with which the new rulers began their regime. The traditional warrior class of the area, known as the Paiks, were in possession of their hereditary lands by virtue of their earlier role in the services of the former Hindu rulers. The new administration, under Major Fletcher, forfeited those lands and thereby ruined the economic life of a martial people. The leader of the rising was Bakshi Jagabandhu, a former General of the armed force of the Khordha Raja. Deprived of his own landed estate and reduced to the condition of a pauper, he took advantage of the general discontent among the Paik population and with the support of a large number of distressed Khonds from Ghumusar, he raised the standard of a serious revolt. The Government establishments, police-stations, and treasuries were attacked, plundered and destroyed. The British troops suffered initial reverses with one of their Commanders, Lieutenant Faris, killed. The rebel forces reached Puri on 12 th April, 1817 and caused considerable destruction to official property, and drove out the Government troops and officers. The success of the rebellion inspired confidence in the discontented elements at other places. The Rajas of Kujang and Kanika, too, came under the suspicion of the British for rebelious activities. In September, British troops were dispatched to Kujang where, after an encounter, the Raja surrendered himself to Captain Kennet in October.
Vigorous military measures were taken by the British to reconquer the lost places and restore order. The rebellion ended by the end of October 1817 though its leader evaded the British for long till at last he surrendered himself in 1825 and became a prisoner at Cuttack. The Bakshi died in 1829.
The paik rebellion gave a rude shock to the British Government, but at the same time made it realize that its polices required thorough modifications. The responsibility of this reorientation fell upon the newly appointed Commissioner in Cuttack, Robert Ker. But, tragically enough, for various factors, Orissa’s economic vitality declined rapidly during the British rule and the Government paid scant attention to the condition of the people. In fact, the people of the princely states were left to themselves to suffer in their separated existence, and the coastal belt under the direct rule was regarded chiefly as a land route between the two presidencies of Bengal and Madras, as if without deserving any special consideration for developments.
Within eight years of the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown, Orissa came under one of the worst calamities in her history. It was the infamous Na’anka Famine of 1866-67. The East India Company had done almost nothing to improve communication system in the territory during the 55 years of its indifferent administration. The only road which connected Orissa with Calcutta remained unmetalled and unbridged through several large rivers followed to the sea and kept the belt under inundation for months in every year. Whatever communication the people of Orissa maintained in earlier days by sea with the outer world had been totally destroyed by the British Orissa was, thus, an isolated patch of land from the rest of the country. Speaking about this feature, the Famine Commission reported: “The famine in Orissa stands almost alone in this, there was almost no importation, and the people shut up in a narrow province between pathless jungles and an impracticable sea, were in the condition of passengers in a ship without provision.’ A failure of rain in 1865 resulting in the loss of usual crops brought about a famine which could have been met with successfully had there been facilities for transportation.
The famine which began to show its symptoms from October, 1865 revealed in no time the total failure of the administration to realize the situation. Indifference of the officers, failure to import food, economic policy of laissez-faire and wrong conclusions regarding the nature of the impeding calamity led to disastrous consequences all too suddenly. The actual area of intense famine was not too large and the period of its intensity was limited to half a year of 1866 only. But failure to meet the emergency by the authorities led to a mortaility of one million. Nearly one man in every three in Orissa died in the famine.
Orissa took time to recover from the effects of the Great Famine. The British, too, were obliged to pay some attention atleast towards the development of the area. But, the real significance of the post-Na’anka era in 19 th century was that a new consciousness was beginning to take shape amonmg the thiking minds of the rising generation who thought it to be their imperative duty to work for a regeneration from within. The East India Company had neglected the education of the people to the worst extent. At the close of its rule, Orissa possessed only three Zilla Schools in the district headquarters of Baleshwar, Cuttack and Puri hjaving a total of 282 pupils only. A few schools run by the Christian missionaries and some of the vernacular schools were doing their little bit to meet the needs, by every effort in educational direction was at its lowest degree. It was just after the Famine, in 1867, that the Government raised the status of the Cuttack Zilla school to that of a High English school, affiliated to Calcutta University. It became a college in 1876/ It is from such narrow scopes fofr modern education that the pioneers of Oriya renaiscance of the late 29 th century came forward for their role. A notable product of the new education was Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das, the first graduate of Orissa who took B.A. degree from Calcutta University in 1870, M.A. degree in 1873, and a degree in Law in subsequent years. His ideas about the regeneration of his country,em made him one of the foresmot leaders of moden Orissa.
The new consciousness found its expression in the literacyn activities of some of the eminent writers who herealded the growth of modern Oriya literature. Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) and Radhanath ray (1848-1908) gave a tremendous impetus to Oriya literature through their numerous works. An All-Orissa phenomenon of literacy resurgence became the new characteristic of the age through the writings of Madhusudan Das, Biswanath Kar, Ramasankar Roy, Gangadhar Meher and Nanda Kishore Bala.
By the time the Indian National Congress was born in 1885, the conscious minds of Orissa were ready for appropriate responsive role in the promotion of the Congress ideologies and programmes. Within a few weeks of the first Congress Session, the Oriya leaders met at Cuttack on 3 rd March 1886 to chalk out their future plans in support of the Congress resolutions. In December of the same year, the Utkal Sabha and the National Society sent their delegates numbering seven to attend the second session of the National Congress. Every year thereafter, representatives from Cuttack attended the Congress Sessions to uphold actively the cause of the National Movement. Leaders like Madhusudan Das and Gouri Sankar Ray popularized the Congress principles among the patriotic people of Orissa during the last decade of the 19 th century, Orissa, thus, joined the main stream of the national life right in time.
In 1874, in a large congregation of the native chiefs, landlords and the leading persons, the problem of Oriya-speaking people was discussed with the ulterior objective of union. In 1877, when the Utkal Sabha was formed by such leading minds as Madhusudan Das, Fakirmohan Senapati and Radhanath Ray, the idea of a greater Orissa began to take shape. By the time Utkal Gourab Madhusudan formed the famous Orissa Association in 1882, grounds were prepared for a move to draw the attention of the Government towards the problem of the Oriyas.
Out of such sporadic attempts finally there emerged a political movement to units all the Oriya-speaking areas under one administration. In the capital of Orissa, Cuttack, the representatives of the Oriya-speaking territories that lay outside such as Ganjam, Sambalpur and Midnapore, gathered on the closing days of December 1903 and doing with the leading Oriyas of Orissa proper formed an organization that became famous as the Utkal Sammilani on the Utkal Union Conference. The native chiefs, prominent landlords, lawyers, government servants and students took a prominent part in forming this organization to campaign the cause of a united Orissa under the able leadership of Madhusudan Das. A memorandum was submitted to the Government to transfer all the Oriya-speaking tracts as situated in other provinces to the Orissa Division. The movement continued till the goal was reached. On the April, 1936, the new province of Orissa came into being.
Freedom movement
Simultaneous with the movement for its territorial unity, Orissa marched o the path of freedom struggle with the rest of India for national independence. Right from the Swadeshi Movement of 1905-1910 the practice of the land felt inspired for the cause of the country and developed anti-British feelings rapidly. By the side of the first World War, anarchical philosophies had taken root in Orissa. In the town of Baleshwar and in the Kaptipada forest areas in Mayurbhanj district, the Bengal territories with the active assistance of Oriya inhabitants worked for anti-Government activities in a daring spirit.
By the end of the War, Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das emerged for a remarkable role in promoting the Congress Movement in Orissa. A generation of youthful patriots soon arose to champion the national movement and to carry the spirit of the struggle to the people at large. Among them were men like Harekrushna Mahtab, Gopabandhu Choudhury, Nabakrushna Choudhury, Bagirathi Mahapatra, Jagabandhu Singh, Mukunda Prasad Das, Nityananda Kanungo, Jadumani Mangaraj, Niranjan Patnaik, Dibakar Patnaik, Chandra Sekhar Behera, Nanda Kishore Das, Raj Krushna Bose and others. Pandit Gopahandhu Das became the President of the Utkal Provincial Congress Committee.
The tide of the Non-Co-operation Movement swept over Orissa. In March 1921 when Gandhi toured Orissa, there was a unique response to his call from all sections of the people. Though the Mahatma visited a few places only, the message touched the hearts of the rural mass as well as the elite of Orissa. Many Youngman left schools and colleges, some of the eminent lawyers gave up their legal profession, men like Gopabandhu Choudhury, Lingaraj Misra, Surendra Nath Das and Muhammed Hanif resigned from government jobs, and Pandit Nilakantha Das gave up his teaching assignment of Calcutta University to serve in a national school.
In the meantime, Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das working on lines of liberal statesmanship, entered the Bihar and Orissa Legislative Council and became a Minister in January 1921. As an idealist in politics, and a reformer by temperament he quickly showed his inviduality, not as a subservient Minister to the ruling power, but as a real servant of the people, with dedication to the cause of their uplift. As a Minister of Local Self-Government, he suggested to the Government that “To ensure the success of the reforms it is necessary that the Minister of Local Self-Government should not draw any salary, but should be an honorary worker’. The Governor would not entertain such ideas in view of the administrative prestige of the Ministers and consequently, Mr. Das tendered his regisnation in March 1923. The resignation of a Minister on grounds of principles became a rare example in British-Indian constitutional history and the action of Madhusudan Das drew admiration from Mahatma Gandhi and many others.
When Gandhi gave his call for the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930, Orissa came forward for a most vigorous struggle as one of the most politically progressive regions of India. The breaking of Salt Law which became the symbolic feature of the disobedience, proved to Oriya leaders as the most effective weapon to fight the British. All over the long coastal belt of Orissa, and with a special attraction for the people’s age-old engagement in salt manufacture which the British had destroyed, there was an unprecedented popular enthusiasm to break the Salt Law and prepare salt in their own hand. At Inchudi in Baleshwar district, Salt Satyagraha under Surendra Natha Das became only second to Gandhi’s Satyagraha in Gujarat in importance and impact. At other places, such as Kujang in Cuttack district, Kuhudi, Singeshwar and Latra in Puri district; and Huma in Ganjam district (at that time in Madras Presidency) the Salt Satyagraha in thousands broke the law and suffered the consequences. Smt. Rama Devi, Smt. Malati Choudhury, Acharya Harihar Das, Gopabandhu Choudhury, Atal Bihari Acharya, Govind Misra, Raj Krushna Bose, Smt. Sarala Devi, Smt. Annapurna Devi, Narayan Birabar Samanta, Birakishore Das, Lakshmi Narayan Misra, Smt. Binapani Devi, and Surendra Nath Patnaik, among many others, became the leading spirits of the Civil Disoebedience Movement and many of them suffered imprisonment with their followers from among the common people.
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While the freedom struggle took its full course in the British administered Orissa, under the leadership of National Congress, spontaneous popular movements became a distinctive feature of the Garhjat areas where the people rose both against feudal tyranny of the princely rulers and their overlord, the British. The leaders of such uprisings came from the ranks of the down trodden and the oppressed, but they showed their revolutionary determination in the most practical manner. The people’s movements in the Orissa Garhjats were without a parallel in the rest of the princely India, though sufficient light has not yet been thrown on the subject.
The anti-feudal and the anti-British uprisings became frequent in the second and the third decade of the 20 th century for economic and political reasons. There were five such risings in Bamra, (Bamanda) three in Talcher, one in Mayurbhanj, one in Dhenkanal, and one in Nilagiri, besides a dangerous rising of the Kondha in Dashapalla during the period above mentioned. It is with much brutality, that the respective authorities could manage to restore order in their areas.
In course of time, popular democratic movement of the type as had developed in British Orissa took shape in the Garhjat areas. In 1931 the Orissa state’s People’s Conference was organized at Cuttack and by 1936-37 this organization proceeded to enquire into the people’s grievances in the states. The ruling chiefs vehemently opposed such moves and in some of the states, they restored to repressive measures in order to strike terror in the minds of the people, so that they should not speak anything against the establishment. These anti-people measures in turn paved path for organized popular movements, such as the non-violent Satyagraha of the Nilagiri Prajamandal to secure civil liberty for the people, resulting in large scale arrests of the Satyagrahis, lathi charges and firings. In Dhenkanal, in September 1938, the movement took such serious turn that a gathering of forty thousand people, agitating with demands, had to be dispersed with severe police action.
It was a people’s uprising all over the state, but suppressed by repressive actions leading to several deaths including the death of a brave young boy named Baji Rout whose courage and sacrifice became almost a legend in Orissa.The relentless action of the armed forces forced thousands of people to escape from their homes while countless houses were destroyed. The movement was continued with a great determination to escape the tyranny of an arbitrary regime, backed by an imperial power. The help of the revolutionaries of Dhenkanal that came to satyagrahis from outside and it became obvious that such popular movements were destined for ultimate success.The most heroic role in the Dhenkanal uprising was played by Sri Baishnav Charan Patnaik, a born revolutionary coming from the most common ranks of the oppressed subjects who was subjected to untoled sufferings but fearlessly and carelessly he carried on his radical revolution showing rare courage against formidable forces. He carried the revolution to its logical end and made the Dhenkanal struggle an interesting episode in people’s mind.
The movement spread to Talcher where the feudal systems like bethi or forced labour roused the suffering peasantry into action. The authorities resorted to harsh methods of torture, beating, imprisonment and looting of people’s property, while the people were resorting to peaceful Satyagraha of the Gandhian type. Shri Pabitra Mohan Pradhan, a firm believer in Gandhian principles of non-violence was in the forefront of this movement. Nearly thirty thousand people fled from the ex-state to save their life and honour. In other ex-states like Athagarh, Tigiria, Baramba (Badamba), Narasinghapur and Nayagarh, the Prajamandals launched civil resistance movements and offered Satyagraha to press for the liberation of the people from antiquated feudal systems. A remarkable feature of all these Prajamandal movements was that side by side with their political aspects, the people were moved to action for economic and agrarian reasons. It was the peasantry everywhere which spearheaded the movements.
The movement in the small ex-state of Ranpur was met with so much of brutality from the authorities that an otherwise peace loving people were forced into violent agitation which culminated in the murder of the British Political Agent, Major Bazelgette in January 1939. It was followed by extreme police and military action and a virtual reign of terror forcing thousands of people to escape for life.
The serious nature of the Orissa State People’s agitation drew the attention of the Indian leaders, and eminent persons like Rajendra Prasad, C.F. Andrews, Agatha Harrison, N.G. Ranga and Hare Krushna Mehtab set themselves to bring about a conciliation between the ruling chiefs and their agitating people. Mahatma Gandhi took up the matter himself. He advised the people to suspend the Satyagraha and advised the authorities to find out ways and means for a constitutional settlement.
In the meantime, since the formation of the separate province of Orissa in 1936, the political events in India were heading towards the final phase of the freedom struggle. General elections were held in the British Indian Provinces in 1937 to form Provincial Legislatures in accordance with the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935. In Orissa, in the said election, the Congress won 36 seats out of 60, and in July 1937, the first Congress Minstry was formed under the leadership of Biswanath Das with two other ministers, Nityananda Kanungo and Bodhram Dube.
This ministry began its work for the implementation of several pronounced policies of the Indian National Congress. Constructive programmes were taken up for the welfare of the common people in spite of obstacles created by the British controlled bureaucracy and for lack of adequate financial resources. Yet, the ministry worked out plans for the uplift of the Harijans, for introduction of basic education, for enforcement of prohibition, etc. But the ministry proved short-lived because of external events. The outbreak of the Second World War created in India a political crisis of great magnitude. At the call of the Congress High Command, all the Congress ministers tendered resignation in November, 1939.
The political crisis deepened rapidly. The Congress renewed its demand in July 1940 for complete independence and launched individual Satyagraha campaign soon thereafter. In Orissa, the campaign was carried on with considerable enthusiasm. The Congress ex-Ministers, legislators and several top-ranking leaders were arrested. Numerous other Congressmen spread over the land to carry the hope of independence far and wide. As the war progressed, national struggle in India also developed to its logical height.
In the power vacuum after the resignation of the Congress ministry, situations in Orissa developed rather in a delicate manner with the Congress preparing for a final onslaught against the British, while some of the leaders trying to form a Government to serve and advance the interest of Orissa. Out of the later mjove, a Coalition ministry was formed in November, 1941 with the Maharaja Paralakhemundi as Premier and Pandit Godavaris Mishra and Maulvi Abdus Sobhan Khan as ministers. This ministry functioned for a little over two and a half years. Its most noteworthy achievement was the establishment of a university in Orissa, famous as the Utkal University.
When the Quit India Movement began in August 1942, as the final attempt of the National Congress to end the British Raj, Orissa played its full part in the revolution, with widespread popular risings in remote rural areas. At many such places, the British administration almost vanished for sometime. With almost all Congressmen in prison, it was more or less like a leaderless revolution by the people, carried on fearlessly as long as possible. And, in this regard, Orissa earned the historic fame for the massacre of Eram in the district of Baleshwar where the largest number of people died in a single police action as compared to any such action in whole of India. Eram also proved how the revolution in Orissa was an affair of the poor and common people in far-away villages who required no leadership to rise, but possessed a spontaneous will to take part in revolution.
Another significant aspect of the Quit India Movement in Orissa was the underground revolutionary activities carried on by a group of determined patriots under Surendra Nath Dwivedy which came to be known as the Orissa Conspiracy. The organization was ultimately broken up and the leaders were tried in a special court and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
Events moved faster after the Quit India revolution. With the end of the World War in 1945, the days of the British Indian Empire became numbered. The Labour Government in Britain which replaced Winston Churchill’s Government realized the hard realities of the Indian situation and came to the conclusion that it was impossible to retain India any longer. General elections were held to Indian Legslatures in 1946 and in Orissa, the Congress Party won 47 seats out of 60 and formed its ministry under the leadership of Harekrushna Mahtab. The other ministers of the Mahtab Cabinet were Nabakrushna Choudhury, Pandit Lingaraj Misra, Nityananda Kanungo and Radhakrushna Biswasroy. The independence of India was already in sight. Time called for ardous constructive works from the new Government. Side by side the amalgamation of the Orissa states became the most crucial issue of the hour.
Post-Independence Era
With the coming of the independence in August 1947 the issue of the merger of the states was taken up immediately for which the grounds had long been prepared by the Praja Mandal Movements. In spite of the determination of the ruling chiefs not to give up their hereditary rights and their attempts to counteract the people’s demands, their time was running out with the emergence of a new independent India. People everywhere became restless and the omen of a mass upsurge loomed large on the horizon.The leaders of Orissa and of India could not have allowed the princely chiefs to continue to rule as before. H. Mahtab, therefore, took the initiative for the merger of the states without any further delay. The unrest in the ex-state of Nilagiri forced him for intervention and the ex-state was merged with Orissa in November 1947.This alarmed the other rules while it encouraged the people to stand up boldly for their political emancipation. The developing crisis made the central intervention imperative, and Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel came to Orissa in December 1947.
His statesmanship and strength bore result when all the princely states, except Mayurbhanj, signed the agreement handing over the administration of their states to the Government of India in perpetuity, who on their part delegated the administrative power to the Government of Orissa to work out the merger to the states. The princely states, thus, except Mayurbhanj, were amalgamated with Orissa with effect from 1 st January, 1948. Mayurbhanj, too, was merged with Orissa a year later. It was, however, unfortunate that under some extraordinary circumstances and political miscalculations the two Oriya-speaking ex-states of Seraikela and Kharsawan were placed under Bihar in spite of strong resentment from the entire Oriya-speaking population.
With the merger of the states, the new Orissa became nearly twice as big in size, and with the addition of 50 per cent more people to its existing population, it became one of the major territorial units of the Indian Union. With potential economic resources in form of unlimited minerals, extensive forests, fertile lands, many river valleys, and numerous waterways, Orissa’s future appears brigher in the days to come.
The bravery and richness of the Kalingas became legendary, and finds mention in all most all religious scriptures, stories and history of incredible India In this respects, Oriya history resembles more the history of the nations of South East Asia, and may have been one of the features of Oriya society.
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