About Orissa
Orissa has a glorious and ancient history spanning a period of over 2000 years. In ancient times, it was the proud kingdom of Kalinga. Kalinga was a major seafaring nation that controlled most of the sea routes in the Bay of Bengal. For several centuries, a substantial part of Southeast Asia, such as Kampuchea (Cambodia), Java, Sumatra, Bali and Thailand were colonies of Orissa. In fact the name of the country "Siam" is derived from Oriya/Sanskrit Shyamadesha. The temple of Angkor Wat is a fine example of Orissan architecture, with some local variations. Bali still retains its Hindu Orissan heritage. A major turning point in world history took place in Orissa. The famous Kalinga war that led emperor Asoka to embrace non-violence and the teachings of Buddha was fought here in 261 BC.
Later on, Asoka was instrumental in spreading Buddhist philosophy all over Asia. In the second century BC, Kalinga flourished as a powerful kingdom under Kharavela. It is he who was built the superb monastic caves at Udayagiri and Khandagiri.Subsequently, the kingdom was ruled under various monarchs, such as Samudragupta and Sasanka. It also was a part of Harsha's empire.
In 795 AD, the king Yayati united Kalinga, Kosala and Utkala into a single empire. He also built the famous Jagannath temple at Puri. King Narasimha Dev is reputed to have built the magnificent sun temple in Konark. Although now largely in ruins, the temple would easily have rivaled the Taj Mahal in splendor. The ruins of a major ancient university and center of Buddhist learning, Ratnagiri, was recently discovered in Orissa. Scholars from far away lands, such as Greece, Persia and China used to study philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and science at this famed University. Taxila, Nalanda and Ratnagiri are the oldest universities in the world. The ruins of Ratnagiri University have not been fully excavated yet.
During the dark ages of Indian civilization, Orissa was ruled by a succession of Muslim kings. It was later annexed by emperor Akbar and became part of the Mughal empire. After the fall of the Mughals, the Marathas under Shivaji invaded the land and continued to rule until 1803 AD when Orissa fell prey to the barbaric British. Modern Orissa was carved out of Bihar in 1936. Contemporary Orissa has a proud cultural heritage that arose due to the intermingling of three great religious traditions - Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It has been further enriched by Islam and Christianity.
Orissa At a Glance
Area : 1,55,707 Sq. Kms.
Population : 36,706,920 (2001 Census)
No of Districts : 30
No of Revenue Divisions : 3
o of Sub Divisions : 58
No of Municipalities : 31
No of N.A.Cs : 70
No of Tehsils : 147
No of Blocks : 314
No of Gram Panchayats : 5263
No of Villages : 50,887
No of Cities and Towns : 103
No of Universities : 8
No of Govt. Engg. Colleges : 4
No of Govt. Medical Colleges : 3
No of Govt. Ayurvedic Colleges : 3
No of Homeopathic Colleges : 7
No of Law Colleges : 9
Census Tag India Orissa
Population : 1,027,015,247 36,706,920
Population Growth Rate : 21% 15%
Sex Ratio : 933 972
Population Density : 324 236
Literacy : 65.38% 63.61%
Dist. Population (highest) : * Ganjam ( 3,136,937 )
Dist. Population (lowest) : * Deogarh ( 274,095 )
District Literacy (highest) : * Khurda ( 81% )
District Literacy (lowest) : * Malkangiri ( 32% )
Culture:
Flowing through the arteries of Orissa, is the living and continuing culture of India... its varied expressions and its rich variety. The very stones speak of the unique history of the nation. The temple-culture condenses the quintessence of India. Whether it is the sacred environs of Lord Jagannath temple, or the eroticism of Konark's Sun temple, the wondrous caves of Jainism or the mystical monasteries of Buddhism, the paintings of folklore or the weaver's magic... Orissa speaks eloquently of a living past and continuing present.The rhythmic and exotic classical 'Odissi dance1 evolved from the cult of the 'devadasis' or female temple dancers reverberates not only within the portals of the nation, but also echoes on foreign shores too. Folk dances like the 'Chhow' or the 'Sambalpuri' dance and tribal dances like the 'Ghumura' & 'Paraja' can set any soul ablaze. Indigenous theatre in the form of 'Prahalad-Nataka' or the 'Dhanuyatra' are expressions of the 'Indianness of India'. Fairs like the 'Bali Jatra' remind us of our ancient maritime links with Bali. And to crown it all is our universally-acclaimed 'Rathyatra' of Lord Jagannath which has infected the world. So... sure and true flows the Orissan culture reflecting the Indian Culture.
People:
Since prehistoric days the land of Orissa has been inhabited by various people. The earliest settlers of Orissa were primitive hill tribes. Although prehistoric communities cannot be identified, it is well known that Orissa had been inhabited by tribes like Saora or Sabar from the Mahabharata days.
Orissa, which is largely rural, the traditional values are still kept alive. in general the values have no doubt weakened but they are not lost. Among die innocent Advisees dwelling in the wooded hinterland and forested hill slopes, India's earliest civilization is retained in its pristine form. Not only in their secluded hamlets, bet also in the countless thousands of villages in the country sides one can catch a glimpse of the dwindling horizon of humanity, through the innocent and benign outlook of tile villagers. A sensitive person who happens to be a prisoner of the modern society with its stress and strain will not, while in a typical village, fail to mark the relationship of its common people with God, nature and their fellow men.
Saora in the hills and the Sahara and Sabar of the plains continue to be an important tribe distributed almost all over Orissa. Most of the tribal people have been influenced by Hindus and have adopted Hindu manners, customs and rituals. Bonda Parajas of Koraput district are the best example of these tribes.
Most of the tribal people and much of the population in Orissa belong to the Australoid group in racial history, while most of the general population belong to the broad-headed Alpinoid type. Besides this, a sprinkling of Mediterranean type is found in the general population.
Orissa had a high percentage of scheduled castes and tribes which together make 9.78 million. The scheduled tribes are concentrated in two belts. The northern belt comprises the district of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh. The southern belt consist of the district of Koraput, Ganjam and Phulbani. A large percentage of the tribal population in these districts have their own oral tribal languages and they do not know Oriya. The most important of these languages are Mundari, Santali, Saora and Kui / Kuvi.
There are four cultural regions within the present boundaries of Orissa. The north-eastern areas bordering on Bengal have been influenced in dress, food, habits, languages, social customs and festivities of Bengali culture and language. The southern parts of Ganjam and Koraput districts have a sizable Telugu-speaking population and have been influenced in language, food habits, dress and marriage customs by the Andhra culture and language. The western districts of Sambalpur, Bolangir and Kalahandi may be said in many ways to be a cultural and to some extent, linguistic continuum with the region of Chhatisgarh of Madhya Pradesh just belong the border where many Oriya-speaking castes live even at present. The fourth region may said to be the distinctive or typical or at least the tone-setting one, in both cultural institutions, social customs and linguistic and literary sophistication. This region comprises roughly the coastal districts of Balasore, Cuttack and Puri and portions of adjoining districts. Some of the tribes like the Kond and Saora have developed internal social differentiations along occupational specialisations as potters, weavers and basket makers. Some of these tribes like the Bhuiyan, the Bathudi, the Gond and the Binjhal (Binjhawar) of northern and western Orissa have been very much Hinduised.
(washer-man), the Kumbhar (potter), the Chasa (farmer), the Tanti (weaver), the Keuta (flattened-rice-maker or fisherman), the Barhai (carpenter), the Kamar (blacksmith), the Teli (oilman) and the Chamar (shoemaker), Karana (writer), Guada (cattle keeper), Khandeita (Swordsman) and the Paana (untouchable weaver). Each caste practically had its own cultural world and social milieu, with its peculiar festivals and rituals, its own tutelary deities and sacred centres, its peculiar marriage, funeral and other customs, and its own level and limitations of social interaction with members of other castes and religious communities in the village society. These inter-caste relations were usually limited to social necessities. Some cementing bonds were established through a peculiar social institution called ritual Kinship and friendship (Mahapatra 1968).This institution ensured a semblance of social interaction between the families of persons so related.
Language:
Oriya is the regional language of Orissa. It belongs to the Aryan family of languages and is closely related to Assamese, Bengali and Maithili as a direct descendant of eastern Magadhi. Under the influence of neighboring regional languages of the Aryan and Dravidian families, as also that of the Austric group of languages current among the tribal groups, Oriya has developed many linguistic variations, such as Baleswari (Balasore), Bhatri (Koraput), Laria (Sambalpur), Sambalpuri (Sambalpur and other western districts), Ganjami (Ganjam and Koraput), Chhatisgarhi (Chhatisgarh of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas of Orissa) and Medinipuri (Midnapur district of West Bengal). Besides, hilly regions of north and south Orissa have their own local versions of Oriya with many linguistic peculiarities. The first dated, inscription in Oriya goes back to 1051 AD discovered at Urajang. But recent discoveries of Sanskrit inscriptions with Oriya words thrown in, reported from Orissa and Andhra Pradesh areas of the ancient Kalinga empire, push back its lineage to the 6th century AD. During the Surya dynasty(1435-1523), Oriya literacy activities were remarkable and the great epics and almost all the Puranas and some Upanishads were translated and often reinterpreted. The Oriya script, descending from Brahmi script, has been given the round or Dravidian finish, probably during the reign of the Ganga kings. The shape was admirably adopted to writing on processed palm leaves with an iron stylus.