Utkal Divas, Odisha Foundation Day, Date, Importance, Surprising Facts

The region became part of Kalinga after it was conquered by Magadha King Ashoka in 261 BC to expand his Mauryan rule. After Mauryan rule, King Kharavela’s rule began in Odisha. Kharavela managed to avenge the Mauryan invasion by defeating Magadh. Historians credit Kharavela for laying the foundation for Odisha’s fame as a land of art, architecture and sculpture. He also managed to establish a powerful political state.

Gajapati Mukunda Deva was the last Hindu king of Odisha. He was defeated by the Mughals in 1576. A few hundred years later, the British took over and divided the state into different parts. The northern and western districts of the state became part of what was then called Bengal presidency.

The state was originally called Orissa but the Lok Sabha passed the Orissa Bill, and Constitution Bill (113rd amendment), in March 2011 to rename it Odisha.

This event took place after three decades of struggle for independence for the Odia people.

The area known as Odisha used to be a part of Kalinga, one of the many kingdoms that emerged from the ashes after the great war of Ashoka.

On Utkal Divas, the Parliament of India first declared its resolve to liberate Odisha from British rule and form a separate province – and later, an independent state – with its capital at Cuttack.

The struggle for independence for the Odias intensified with the formation of the Utkal Sammilani, a cultural and social organization. This organization was formed to fight for the formation of Odisha as an independent state. Utkala Gouraba Madhusudan Das founded this organization in 1903, and in its honor, the formation of Odisha state is celebrated as Utkal Divas.

This year in 2023, the historic land of Lord Jagannath will be celebrating its 88th Foundation Day or Odisha Day recalling and cherishing its struggle and emergence as an independent state.

The Odisha state, which came to assume its political identity as a separate state in the year 1936 on linguistic grounds, has a very rich tradition and history. The region can be traced back to the reign of King Ashoka of the Magadha empire in 261 BC, when it was made part of the expanding Mauryan rule. It, later on, came to be ruled by King Kharavela of Kalinga, which is the modern-day Odisha, who is credited by historians for laying the foundation of Odisha as a powerful political entity and land of sculpture, art, and architecture.

The Odisha state lost its political identity and independence with the demise of Gajapati Mukunda Dev, the founder of the Chalukya Dynasty and the last king of Odisha in 1568. In the years that followed, the British assumed charge of Odisha dividing it into several parts bringing it under the then Bengal presidency, which gradually resulted in the emergence of a political struggle for identity, culminating in a revolution resulting in the formation of Utkal Sammilani, which eventually led to the formation of a separate Odisha Province.

The movement, however, gained momentum under the leadership and guidance of Utkala Gouraba Madhusudan Das, Utkala Gopabandhu Das, Bhanj Deo, Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Nilakantha Das, Fakir Mohan Senapati and several others with massive support of people resulting in the formation of Odisha on April 1, 1936, almost a decade earlier to India gaining its independence with Sir John Hubbak as its first governor, which today is commemorated as the Odisha Foundation Day or Utkal Divas or Odisha Day.

Utkal Divas is a regional public holiday in Odisha which is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm. Many Government and Private organizations conducts official cultural programmes, functions.

In this Utkal Divas, let us know some facts about Odisha.

1 – Odisha formerly Orissa is an Indian state located in Eastern India.

2 – It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population ( 4.79 Crores ).

3 – The state has the third largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India.

4 – Odisha is surrounded by Jharkhand and West Bengal to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south.

5 – Odisha has a coastline of 485 kilometres (301 miles) along the Bay of Bengal in Indian Ocean.

6 – The region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned by this name in India’s national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”.

7 – State Motto – Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs)

8 – State Anthem – Bande Utkala Janani

9 – State Capital and Largest City – Bhubaneswar in Khorda District.

10 – Number of Districts – 30

11 – Governing Body – Government of Odisha.

12 – Governor – Ganeshi Lal

13 – Chief Minister – Naveen Patnaik (BJD-Biju Janata Dal )

14 – State Legislature – Odisha Legislative Assembly (147 seats)

15 – National Parliament – Parliament of India ( Rajya Sabha : 10 seats / Lok Sabha : 21 seats )

16 – High Court – Orissa High Court, Cuttack

17 – Area ( Total155,707 km² (60,119 sq miles)

18 – Dimensions ( Length1,030 km (640 miles) / Width500 km (300 miles)

19 – Elevation ( 900 m (3,000 ft)

20 – Highest Elevation – 1,672 m (5,486 ft) , Deomali, Koraput

21 – Odissi is the famous classical dance of the state.

22 – Bhuban in Dhenkanal district of Odisha is the largest village in Asia.

23 – Odisha hosts the world’s largest open air theatre – Dhanu Yatra in Bargarh district of Odisha.

24 – Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga are the important seasonal rivers.

25 – Chadya, Dandanata and Chhau are the popular folk dances of Odisha.

26 – Odisha is drained by three main rivers – Mahanadi, Brahmani and Baitarni.

27 – Odisha hosts the largest arribada, the turtle nesting ground, in the world.

28 – Hirakud Dam which is built on Mahanadi river is the fourth largest dam of world.

29 – A 23-feet giant Estuarine crocodile in Odisha has been crowned the world’s largest.

30 – Odisha – highest producer of hematite ore. Odisha has 25% of Hematite ore of India.

31 – DHAMRA, in Bhadrak district is one of the deepest ports of India after Gujurat port.

32 – Mayurbhanj is the largest district of Odisha by area. Ganjam district is largest by population.

33 – The Leaning Temple of Huma, situated near Sambalpur in India is the only leaning temple in the world.

34 – Land Revenue System was first started in the district of Ganjam before getting even implemented in India.

35 – Odisha became the first state to enact the Lokayukta Bill law after the central act was passed in Parliament.

36 – Jagannath temple in Puri of Odisha is one amongst the Char Dham (pilgrimages) that a Hindu is expected to make in one’s lifetime.

37 – The Chandipur Beach is a hide and seek beach of Odisha that appears and disappears with every high and low tide to approximately 5 kms.

38 – The capital was changed from Cuttack to Bhubaneshwar in 1948.

39 – Largest Brackish Water Lagoon Chilka lake is in Odisha, the largest water body in Asia, has an area of 916 sq km now. It used to be 1,165 sq km.

40 – The largest Lion Safari of India and the only White Tiger Safari in the world are located in the Nandankanan Zoological Park of Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

41 – According to mythology, Mahabharata was written by Lord Ganesha in a place called Vedvyas in Rourkela, which is named after Vedavyasa who was dictating to Lord Ganesha.

42 – Wheeler Island, south of Chandipur in Odisha is a place where most of missiles of India are tested such as Akash missile, Agni missile, Prithvi Missile are only some of them.

43 – 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.

44 – Since the last few years Odisha has emerged as an host for different national, international sports events like Hockey, Football, Volleyball.

45 – In 2018, Bhubaneswar had hosted the hockey World Cup alone, but over the past few years it has hosted other major hockey tournaments as well, including the Junior Hockey World Cup in 2021, the now-defunct Champions Trophy, World Hockey League, and the Olympic qualifiers in 2019. In 2023, Odisha hosted the Men’s Hockey world cup for the 2nd time in two venues ( Bhubaneswar and Rourkela )

State Bird – Indian Roller ( Coracias benghalensis )

State Animal – Sambar deer (Cervus unicolor)

State Fish – Mahanadi mahseer (Tor mosal mahanadicus )

State Flower – Ashoka tree (Saraca asoca)

State Tree – Sacred fig (Ficus religiosa)

Smt. Droupadi Murmu from Odisha is the current President of India since 2022. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hold the office. She is also the youngest person to occupy the post and the first President born in Independent India.

It carries more than 35% of country’s natural resources. The state has significant reserves of iron ore, bauxite, nickel, coal, etc. Hence, it is an attractive destination for mineral-based industries.

Almost a third of Odisha’s land is under forest cover. The state also has a long coastline that is home to Asia’s second largest eco-system of mangroves and some of the world’s richest biodiversity.

Recently in 2023, Mayurbhanj from Odisha declared as one of the World’s Greatest places by Times Magazine.

First In Odisha
First in Odisha	Name of Achievers
First All India Radio	Akashvani Cuttack(1948)
First Advocate	Sri Madhusudan Das
First Air Marshal	Saroj Jena
First Ambassador	Lalitendu Mansingh
First Autobiography Writer	Fakir Mohan Senapati
First Awarded Gyanapitha	Gopinath Mohanty
First Central Minister	Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab
First Chief Justice of Supreme Court	Ranganath Mishra
First Cinema Hall	Sitaram Vilas Talkies (Berhampur)
First Cinemascope Odia Film	Hisab Nikas (1982)
First Cinemascope Odia Film	Swapna Sagar (1983)
First College	Ravenshaw College, Cuttack (1868)
First Color Odia Film	Gapa Helebi Sata (1976)
First Daily Newspaper	Dainika Asha
First District Collector	Jatindra Nath Mohanty
First Engineering College	University College of Engineering, Burla (1956)
First Engineering Graduate	Madhab Chandra Pattnaik
First Engineering School	Bhubanananda Orissa School of Engineering, Cuttack (1923)
First Essay written in Odia	Bibeki (Late Radhanath Ray)
First Film studio	Kalinga Studio, Bhubaneswar
First Girl’s High School	Ravenshaw Girl’s School, Cuttack
First Governor	Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab
First Graduate	Sri Madhusudan Das
First High School	Cuttack Collegiate School
First Hindi Film Produced	Hodh- 1979 (Sitakanta Mishra)
First Jamunalal Bajaj Awardees	Ramadevi Choudhury
First Jute Mill	Konark Jute Mill
First Lecturer	Kashinath Das (Dept. of Sanskrit, Ravenshaw College)
First Medical College	Sreeram Chandra Bhanja Medical College, Cuttack (1944)
First Medical Graduate	Dr. Surendra Narayan Acharya
First Newspaper	Utkal Deepika
First Odia Air Marshal	Sri Saroj Jena
First Odia American Ambassador	Lalitendu Maansingh
First Odia Arjuna Awardees	Minati Mohapatra
First Odia Astrologer	Samanta Chandrasekhar
First Odia Director Hindi Film	Prasanta Nanda
First Odia doctorate degree	Choudhury Jagannatha Das
First Odia Everest Mountaineer	Chetana Sahu
First Odia feature Film	Sita Bibaha (1936)
First Odia Film Made in 15 Languages	Jai Jagannath (2007)
First Odia Foreign Justice	Lalitendu Maansingh
First Odia Foreign Traveler	Sri Madhusudan Das
First Odia Freedom Fighter	Veera Surendra Sae
First Odia ICS Officer	Nilamani Senapati
First Odia IFS	Kumari Sanjukta Pattnaik
First Odia International cricket playe	Debasish Mohanty
First Odia Law Graduate	Biswanath Mishra
First Odia LokSabha Speaker	Rabi Ray
First Odia Novelist	RamShankar Ray
First Odia Padmashree Awardees	Laxminarayan Sahu (For Education)
First Odia Periodical	Gyanaruna
First Odia Poet	Mahakabi Sarala Das
First Odia Police Commissioner	Srikrushna Mohapatra
First Odia Political Prisoner	Rajakrushna Bose
First Odia Professor	Prof. Pranakushna Parija
First Odia Video Film	Bahini
First Padmabhusana Awardees	Prof. Pranakrushna Parija
First Paper Factory	Brajaraj Nagar
First Port	Chandipur
First Post Graduate	Sri Madhusudan Das
First Printing Press	Utkal Printing Press
First Private Engineering College	Orissa Engineering College, BBSR (1986)
First Rajyasabha member	Nandini Satapathy
First River Dam	Hirakud
First Silver Julee Hit Odia Film	Puja
First Songs in Odia Film	Basanta Rasa (1984)
First Superfast Train	Konark Express (BBSR to Mumbai)
First Television Centre	Doordarshan, Sambalpur
First woman Author to receive Sahitya Acadamy Award	Smt. Binapani Mohanty
First woman Barrister	Urmila Ray
First woman Bengali film actor	Mahashweta Ray
First woman Chief Minister	Smt. Nandini Satapathy
First woman college Lecturer	Nirmala Nayak
First woman Commissioner	Ranu Mishra
First woman cricket Trainee	Ranjeeta Mohanty
First woman Director of Odia film	Parvati Ghosh
First woman Director Radio Centre	Veena Devi
First woman Engineer	Sudhira Das
First woman English Film actor	Dr. Jyotsna Devi
First woman Europe traveler	Rama Devi
First woman graduate	Narmada Kar
First woman Hindi film actor	Dolly Jena
First woman IAS	Pragnya Paramita Das
First woman IAS topper	Rupa Mishra
First woman IPS officer	Sowmya Mishra
First woman Justice of High Court	Amiya Kumari Padhi
First woman Minister	Basanta Manjari Devi
First woman MLA	Sarala Devi
First woman Physician	Dr. Kuntala kumari Sabat
First woman Pilot	Giribala Mohanty
First woman Poet	Sulakshana Devi
First woman Politician	Rama Devi
First woman Surgeon	Dr. Jyotsna Devi
First woman Television Newsreader	Sanghamitra Kanoongo
First Women’s College	Sailabala Women’s College

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