Chelitalo was an important port in Ancient Odisha, in northeast India, lying on the Chandrabhaga river in Konark. [1] In ancient times, the Chandrabhaga and Kushabhadra rivers were navigable, and may have been used for the shipping of huge blocks of stone for the construction of the Konark Sun Temple. [2]
The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang, who visited Orissa in the 7th century AD, described Chelitalo as a busy port. The port has been identified with Konark, Puri and (perhaps most likely) with the archeological site of Manikpatna. [3] By the 7th century AD the city was a noted seat of Mahayana Buddhism. Hiuen-Tsang described it as surrounded by strong and high walls, containing five great convents adorned with images of Buddha and Bodhisattva. [4] It was connected to Cuttack by roads and waterways. [5]
Makran, mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, from the Somniani Bay to the northwest of Karachi in the east, to the fringes of the region of Bashkardia/Bāšgerd in the southern part of the Sistān and Balučestān province of modern Iran. Makrān is thus bisected by the modern political boundary between Pakistan and Iran.
Odisha, formerly Orissa, is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India. It neighbours the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south. Odisha has a coastline of 485 kilometres (301 mi) along the Bay of Bengal. The region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned in India's national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana". The language of Odisha is Odia, which is one of the Classical Languages of India.
Puri is a city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as Sri Jagannatha Dhama after the 12th-century Jagannath Temple located in the city. It is one of the original Char Dham pilgrimage sites for Hindus.
Konark is a medium town in the Puri district in the state of Odisha, India. It lies on the coast by the Bay of Bengal, 60 kilometres from the capital of the state, Bhubaneswar. It is the site of the 13th-century Sun Temple, also known as the Black Pagoda, built in black granite during the reign of Narasimhadeva-I. The temple is a World Heritage Site. The temple is now mostly in ruins, and a collection of its sculptures is housed in the Sun Temple Museum, which is run by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Puri district is a coastal district of the Odisha state of India. It has one sub-division, 11 tahasils and 11 blocks and comprises 1722 revenue villages. Puri is the only municipality of the district. Konark, Pipili and Nimapara are the three NACs in this district. Satyabadi, Gop, Kakatpur and Brahmagiri are major semi-urban areas.
Parsurameswara Temple also spelt Parashurameshvara, located in the East Indian city of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, is considered the best preserved specimen of an early Odia Hindu temple dated to the Shailodbhava period between the 7th and 8th centuries CE. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and is one of the oldest existing temples in the state. It is believed to have been built around 650 CE in Nagara style and has all the main features of the pre-10th century Kalinga Architecture style temples. The temple is one among the Parashurameshvara group of temples.
The name Odisha refers to the current state in India. In different areas the region and parts of the region were known by different names. The boundaries of the region also have varied over time.
Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century CE(year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast from Puri on the coastline of Odisha, India. The temple is attributed to king Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty about 1250 CE.
Pushpagiri was an ancient Buddhist mahavihara or monastic complex located atop Langudi Hill in Jajpur district of Odisha, India. Pushpagiri was mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang and some other ancient sources. Until the 1990s, it was hypothesised to be one or all of the Lalitgiri-Ratnagiri-Udayagiri group of monastic sites, also located in Jajpur district. These sites contain ruins of many buildings, stupas of various sizes, sculptures, and other artifacts.
Boitas were larger boats and ships that were built in the ancient Kalinga kingdom during its heyday. Kalinga's sea facing regions consisting of coastal Odisha had major trading ports for which boitas were used. Ancient Oriental traders sailed from Kalinga to distant lands such of Sri Lanka and South-East Asia mostly to Java, Sumatra and Bali for trade.
The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a medieval Indian dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the early 15th century. The territory ruled by the dynasty consisted of the whole of the modern-day Indian state of Odisha as well as parts of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The early rulers of the dynasty ruled from Dantapura; the capital was later moved to Kalinganagara, and ultimately to Kataka. Today, they are most remembered as the builders of the world renowned Puri Jagannath Temple and Konark Sun Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site at Konark, Odisha.
Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom, was an ancient kingdom during the Iron Age period in South Asia with a territory that included parts of present-day Rajshahi, Rangpur and Dhaka Divisions of Bangladesh as well as the West Dinajpur district of West Bengal, India. The capital of the kingdom, then known as Pundranagara, was located at Mahasthangarh in Bogra District in northern Bangladesh.
Kajangala, refers to a territory located near Rajmahal in ancient times, in eastern part of India.
Samatata was an ancient geopolitical division of Bengal in the eastern Indian subcontinent. The Greco-Roman account of Sounagoura is linked to the kingdom of Samatata. Its territory corresponded to much of present-day eastern Bangladesh. The area covers the trans-Meghna part of the Bengal delta. It was a center of Buddhist civilisation before the resurgence of Hinduism and Muslim conquest in the region.
Surya is a Sanskrit word that means the Sun. Synonyms of Surya in ancient Indian literature include Aditya, Arka, Bhanu, Savitr, Pushan, Ravi, Martanda, Mitra, Bhaskara,Prabhakaraand Vivasvan. Surya also connotes the solar deity in Hinduism, particularly in the Saura tradition found in states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha. Surya is one of the five deities considered as equivalent aspects and means to realizing Brahman in the Smarta Tradition.
Gauda, was a territory located in Bengal in ancient and medieval times, as part of the Gauda Kingdom.
A variety of ancient higher-learning institutions were developed in many cultures to provide institutional frameworks for scholarly activities. These ancient centres were sponsored and overseen by courts; by religious institutions, which sponsored cathedral schools, monastic schools, and madrasas; by scientific institutions, such as museums, hospitals, and observatories; and by respective scholars. They are to be distinguished from the Western-style university, an autonomous organization of scholars that originated in medieval Europe and has been adopted in other regions in modern times.
The Maritime history of Odisha, known as Kalinga in ancient times, started much before 800 BC according to early sources. The people of this region of eastern India along the coast of the Bay of Bengal sailed up and down the Indian coast, and travelled to Indo China and throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, introducing elements of their culture to the people with whom they traded. The 6th century Manjusrimulakalpa mentions the Bay of Bengal as 'Kalingodra' and historically the Bay of Bengal has been called 'Kalinga Sagara', indicating the importance of Kalinga in the maritime trade. The old traditions are still celebrated in the annual Boita Bandana festival including its major variant at Cuttack on the banks of Mahanadi river called Bali Jatra, and are held for seven days in October-November at various coastal districts, most famous at Cuttack though. Studies in Maritime Heritage of Odisha, 2016,OIMSEAS,
Manikpatna or Manikapatna is an archeological site in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It has been identified with the medieval port of Chelitalo described by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang. The site is located on the sea coast near Brahmagiri which is situated near the left bank of the Bhargavi river, at the northeastern end of the Chilika Lake.
Khalkatapatna was a sea port in what is now the state of Odisha on the eastern seaboard of India. The site is on the left bank of the Kushabhadra River. It was a port town during the Ganga dynasty . Khalkatapatna was a link in the riverine navigation of Orissa, and was important in trade with Arabian countries in the west and Indonesia and China in the east.