ORISSA

state of India. It is located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east and by the states of West Bengal in the northeast, Bihar in the north, Madhya Pradesh in the west, and Andhra Pradesh in the south. Its area is 60,119 square miles (155,707 square kilometres). Before India became independent in 1947, Orissa's capital was at Cuttack. The present capital was subsequently built at Bhubaneshwar, in the vicinity of its historic temples. constituent state of India, situated in the eastern part of the country. It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the southeast, by West Bengal in the northeast, by Bihar in the north, by Madhya Pradesh in the west, and by Andhra Pradesh in the south. The capital is Bhubaneshwar. Over the centuries, the land now called Orissa has passed under the names of Utkala, Kalinga, and Odra Desa, names originally associated with particular peoples. Kalinga was a thriving kingdom at the time of Buddha, and in the 3rd century BC it was the scene of a great war involving the renowned Asoka. Kalinga became a maritime power in the early centuries of the modern era, enjoying a golden age under the Ganga dynasty, which lasted from 1078 to 1264. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area of Orissa remained an independent citadel of Hindu religion, philosophy, and art and architecture despite the Muslim conquest of India. In 1568 Orissa lost its independence to the Afghan rulers of Bengal and then became part of the Mughal Empire. When the Mughal Empire declined in the 18th century, part of Orissa remained under the Bengal Nawabs, but the greater part passed to the Marathas. The Bengal sector came under British rule in 1757, the Maratha sector in 1803. Numerous princely states remained in the region until Indian independence in 1947, at which time Orissa assumed its present form. Orissa comprises a number of contrasting topographic areas. The historic core of the state is the densely populated alluvial delta of the Mahanadi River, which flows eastward through Orissa and empties into the Bay of Bengal. Behind the coastal plain is the edge of an extensive plateau through which the Mahanadi cuts in great gorges. Southward the plateau edge constitutes the Eastern Ghats, where the country is mountainous, thickly forested, and difficult of access. North of the Mahanadi River lies the Chota Nagpur Plateau. In the northwest of the state the Mahanadi flows in a broad course through extensive valley basins on the plateau's surface. Orissa is situated in a tropical savanna. The main seasons are summer (from mid-February to June), the rainy season (from July to October), and winter (from November to mid-February). The average annual rainfall is about 70 inches (1,800 mm). The state's population includes numerous racial groups, divided into Munda-, Dravidian-, and Oriya-speaking tribes. (Oriya is the official and most widely spoken language of Orissa.) Many tribes have become almost indistinguishable from the Hindus whoat more than 90 percent of the populationdominate the state. Orissa's people are predominately rural, with only about 12 percent living in towns. Cuttack is the largest city in the state. About two-thirds of the state's rural population is engaged in agriculture, even though some areas are unproductive and others are unsuitable for more than a single annual crop. Some farming families engage in nonagricultural pursuits for additional income. Roughly four-fifths of the state's sown area is in rice; other major crops are oilseed, jute, sugarcane, and coconut. The state's industrial resources are considerable. Orissa is India's leading state in the production of chromite, manganese, and dolomite. In addition, it produces a great deal of iron ore, coal, and limestone and has rich deposits of graphite and bauxite. There are many large-scale industries in Orissa, including plants producing steel, fertilizer, cement, and heat-resistant ceramics. Other industrial output includes paper, textiles, sugar, chlorine, caustic soda, and glass. The Hirakud dam project and the Machkund hydroelectric system furnish power. An all-weather, deep-draft port has been constructed at Paradip at the mouth of the Mahanadi River, particularly for the export of iron ore. The state still lacks adequate railway facilities. Orissa has a rich artistic heritage and has produced some of the best examples of Indian art and architecture. Artistic traditions are maintained through mural paintings, stone carvings, wood carvings, icon paintings, and paintings on palm leaves. Handicraft workers are famous for their silver filigree ornamentation and decorative work. In tribal areas, Orissa has a wide variety of folk dances, accompanied by the madal and flute. The classical dance known as orissi is a temple performance that has survived for more than 700 years. There are many traditional festivals in Orissa. One that is unique is the ceremony of Boita-Bandana (worshiping of ships), which takes place over five days in OctoberNovember. The greatest religious festival in Orissa is the Chariot Festival of Jagannatha at Puri. This event draws hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of India each year. The state has several universities and about 100 colleges for general education, along with a few medical colleges. It is also home to India's Central Rice Research Institute. The Kala Vikas Kendra centre exists to promote dancing and music, and the National Music Association serves a similar purpose. Area 60,119 square miles (155,707 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) 31,512,070. Additional reading B. Sinha, Geography of Orissa, 2nd ed., rev. (1981), is an excellent overview especially strong in physical geography. Two works, L.K. Banerjee and T.A. Rao, Mangroves of Orissa Coast and Their Ecology (1990); and Walter Fernandes, Geeta Menon, and Philip Viegas, Forests, Environment, and Tribal Economy: Deforestation, Impoverishment, and Marginalisation in Orissa (1988), deal with endangered portions of the region. Suresh Chandra Mallick, Marketing of Rice in Orissa (1987), deals with a troublesome sector of the economy. Susan Seymour, The Transformation of a Sacred Town: Bhubaneswar, India (1980), describes the transformation of an ancient temple town into the modern capital city of Orissa. Robert E. Huke History In ancient and medieval times, the land corresponding roughly with modern Orissa passed under the names of Utkala, Kalinga, and Odra Desa, although its boundaries were sometimes much larger. These names were originally associated with peoples. The Okkala or Utkala, the Kaliga, and the Odra or Oddaka were mentioned in literature as tribes. Ancient Greeks knew the latter two as Kalingai and Oretes. Eventually the names became identified with territories. For centuries before and after the birth of Christ, Kalinga was a formidable political power, extending from the Ganges River to the Godavari. Approximately between the 11th and 16th centuries the name fell into disuse; instead, the name Odra Desa was gradually transformed into Uddisa, Udisa, or Odisa, which in English became Orissa. The language of Odisa came to be known as Oriya or Oria. At the dawn of Indian history, Kalinga was already famous. Buddhist sources refer to the rule of King Brahmadatta in Kalinga at the time of the Buddha's death. In the 4th century BC the first Indian empire builder, Mahapadma Nanda, conquered Kalinga, but the Nanda rule was short-lived. In 260 BC the Mauryan emperor Asoka invaded Kalinga and fought one of the greatest wars of ancient history. He then renounced war, became a Buddhist, and preached peace and nonviolence in and outside India. In the 1st century BC the Kalinga emperor Kharavela conquered vast territories that collectively came to be called the Kalinga empire. Kalinga became a maritime power beginning in the 1st century AD, and its overseas activities culminated in the 8th century with the establishment of the Sailendra empire in Java. Orissa was ruled during the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries by the powerful Bhauma-Kara dynasty and in the 10th and 11th centuries by the Soma dynasty. The Temple of Lingaraja at Bhubaneshwar, the greatest Saiva monument of India, was begun by the Soma King Yay ati. Medieval Orissa enjoyed a golden age under the Ganga dynasty. Its founder, Anantavarma Codagangadeva (10781147), ruled from the Ganges to the Godavari with Cuttack as his capital. He began the construction of the temple of Jagannatha (Lord of the Universe) at Puri. Narasimha I (123864) built the Sun Temple (Surya Deula) of Konarka, one of the finest specimens of Hindu architecture. In the 13th and 14th centuries, when much of India was overrun by the Muslims, independent Orissa remained a citadel of Hindu religion, philosophy, art, and architecture. The Gangas were succeeded by the Surya dynasty. Its first king, Kapilendra (143566), won territories from his Muslim neighbours and greatly expanded the Orissan kingdom. His successor, Purusottama, maintained these gains with difficulty. The next and the last Surya king, Prataparudra, became a disciple of Caitanya, the great medieval saint, and became a pacifist. After his death (1540) Orissa's power declined, and in 1568, when King Mukunda was killed by his own countrymen, Orissa lost its independence to the Afghan rulers of Bengal. The Mughal emperor Akbar conquered Orissa from the Afghans in 159092. When the Mughal Empire fell in 1761, part of Orissa remained under the Bengal nawabs, but the greater part passed to the Marathas. The Bengal sector came under British rule in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey; the Maratha sector was conquered by the British in 1803. Although after 1803 the British controlled the entire Oriya-speaking area, it continued to be administered as two units. It was not until April 1, 1936, that the British heeded calls for unification on a linguistic basis and constituted Orissa as a separate province; 26 Oriya princely states, however, remained outside the provincial administration. After the independence of India in 1947, all these princely states except Saraikela and Kharsawan (which merged with Bihar) became part of Orissa. Manmath Nath Das Robert E. Huke