Odisha, formerly Orissa, is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the third-largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India. It neighbours the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal 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 in Indian Ocean. The region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned by this name in India's national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana". The language of Odisha is Odia, which is one of the Classical Languages of India.
Sambalpur District is a district in the western part of state of Odisha, India. The historic city of Sambalpur is the district headquarters.
Debagarh District also known as Deogarh District is a district of Odisha state, India. Located in the north-western part of the state, it is one of the 30 administrative districts and has its headquarters at Debagarh town.
Sambalpur is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761. Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Sambalpuri sari.
Sambalpur University is a public research university located in Burla town, of district Sambalpur, India, in the state of Odisha. Popularly known as Jyoti Vihar, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The governor of Odisha is the chancellor of the university. The campus is located 15 km away from Sambalpur.
Swabhaba kabi Gangadhar Meher was an Odia poet of the 19th century. Though poor in wealth and education, he remained one of the most prolific and original contributor to Odia literature.
Sambalpuri is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in western Odisha, India. It is alternatively known as Western Odia, and as Kosali, a recently popularised but controversial term, which draws on an association with the historical region of Dakshina Kosala, whose territories also included the present-day Sambalpur region.
Rajendra University, formerly known as Rajendra Autonomous College is situated in Balangir, Odisha, India.
A Sambalpuri sari is a traditional handwoven bandha (ikat) sari wherein the warp and the weft are tie-dyed before weaving. It is produced in the Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Boudh and Sonepur districts of Odisha, India. The sari is a traditional female garment in the Indian subcontinent consisting of a strip of unstitched cloth ranging from four to nine meters in length that is draped over the body in various styles.
Odisha Day, also Utkala Dibasa, is celebrated on 1 April in the Indian state of Odisha in memory of the formation of the state as a separate state out of Bihar and Orissa Province with addition of Koraput District and Ganjam District from the Madras Presidency on 1 April 1936. After losing its political identity completely in 1568 following the defeat and demise of the last king Mukunda Dev, efforts resulted in the formation of a politically separate state under British rule on a linguistic basis on 1 April 1936.
Devdas Chhotray is an Indian Odia author, administrator and academician. He was the first vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha. His work consists of poetry, short stories, lyrics, musicals and screenplays. Chhotray's father Gopal Chhotray, a recipient of Padma, Central Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, was an architect of modern Odia theatre.
Dr. Haldhar Nag is a Sambalpuri poet and writer from Bargarh, Odisha, India. Popularly known as "Lok Kabi Ratna". He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India by Government of India in 2016. He was born in a poor family of Ghens. He is best known for his work Kavyanjali, an anthology of English translation of Nag's selected poetry which was launched on 2 October 2016. Recently he released his 3rd volume of work on Kavyanjali. In 2019, Haldhar Nag was awarded Doctorate Degree by Sambalpur University. In the year 2020, Professor Jaishankar Babu, Head of the Department of Hindi, Pondicherry University, organized a two-day international seminar under the guidance of its Vice-Chancellor Professor Gurmeet Singh, in which "Haldhar Nag Ka kavya- Sansar" translated into Hindi from Sambalpuri by renowned Hindi writer-transaltor Dinesh Kumar Mali was released and there was an intensive discussion on his poems by the participants from India and abroad. In the year 2021, under the joint editorship of Professor Jaishankar Babu and translator Dinesh Kumar Mali, the book "'Haldhar ke Lok-sahitya par vimarsh'" and the book "Ramayan prasangon par Haldhar ke Kavya aur yugin Vimarsh " translated by Dinesh Kumar Mali based on Ramayana contexts. published from Pandulipi Prakashan, New Delhi.The popularity of these books Hindi Belt honoured Haldhar Nag with Dr Ram Manohar Tripathi Lok Seva Samman on the Silver Jubilee eve of Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Smruti Sanrakshan Abhiyan under the leadership of Gaurav Awasthi in the auditorium of Firoz Gandhi College, Rae Bareli on date 12.11.22. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has included a review of the literary creations of Padma awardee and noted poet Haldhar Nag. According to sources, students pursuing a Master of Arts (MA) in Folklore and Culture Studies will study folk literature by Nag in a course component titled, ‘Folklore: Canon, Multimediality, Interdisciplinarity, and Social Epistemology’ in their second year. The course book has described Nag as the true representative of orality in the present times. His creations have been reviewed in the category, ‘Case study of orality from East India’.“Nag has based his poems on his surroundings. Folklorists and folklore researchers are vulnerable to multiple challenges with regards to archiving, documentation, and dissemination of the folk material,” TOI reported writer Nandini Sahu, who has designed the MA course for IGNOU, as saying. Notably, writer Dinesh K Mali has written a chapter for the MA programme on Nag’s poetry.'
Sambalpur is a city in Sambalpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It lies at a distance of 321 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar. In the year 1876, Sambalpur was established as a municipality. It is currently the headquarters and the largest city of Sambalpur district. It is also the commercial capital of Western Odisha. Sambalpur is famous for Hirakud Dam, Sambalpuri Saree, Sambalpuri songs, Sambalpuri dance, the Sitalsasthi Carnival, The Leaning Temple of Huma and Gandhi temple.
Dr. Raghabananda Nayak was a writer in Oriya and was a lecturer for many years in some Indian Universities. He was a Kriya Yoga spiritual master of Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda and Paramahansa Hariharananda's lineage.
Department of Higher Education, Odisha is a unit of the Government of Odisha in India that looks after the school and college education in the state of Odisha. The department looks after the education curriculum at University, Post-Graduate, Graduate and Higher Secondary level in the state of Odisha. The department is responsible for hiring and employing the Higher Secondary school teachers and college professors employed in Government schools and colleges running under Government of Odisha. Moreover, it looks after functioning of state run Universities namely Ravenshaw University, Utkal University, Berhampur University, Sambalpur University, Sri Jagannath Sanskrit Viswavidyalaya, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Fakir Mohan University, Gangadhar Meher University, Rama Devi Women's University, Khallikote Unitary University, NLUO, Dharanidhar University and Odisha State Open University.
Odisha State Open University (OSOU) is a distance learning state university located in Sambalpur, Odisha, India. The university is established by an Act of the Odisha State Legislature in 2015. The university has jurisdiction over the entire State of Odisha.
Sarat Pattanayak is an Indian politician hailing from Balangir in Odisha. He was elected to the 10th and 11th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India as a member of Parliament of the Indian National Congress party. He is currently serving as President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee.
Gangadhar National Award For Poetry is a literary award given in the field of literature for poetry by Sambalpur University. It is named after Gangadhar Meher. First award was given to Ali Sardar Jafri in the year 1991. 31 poets have been awarded on various Indian languages until now.
Hussain Rabi Gandhi was an Indian Odia writer of the late-twentieth century, a politician, a public intellectual and a cultural activist hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. Being a founder member of Biju Janata Dal, he served as the general secretary of the party from upon its formation in 1998 till 2005. In 1994 the title of Biplabi Loka Kabi was conferred upon him by the Mayor of Cuttack. He was also awarded with the title of Utkala Jyoti in 1996 by the then Deputy chief minister of Odisha, Basant Kumar Biswal on the behalf of Freedom Fighter's Organisation. Gandhi primarily wrote in Odia language and was bestowed with the Secular India Harmony Award in 1993 by the former President of India, Giani Zail Singh and with the Gangadhar Meher Kabita award in 2015 for his notable contributions to the field of Odia poetry. Hussain served as the President of Odisha Sahitya Akademi (2008–2010). He was famously known as the Gandhi of Korei and was regarded as a bridge between Western Odisha and Costal Odisha. He also served as Lead Member of Smt. Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT).
Rajendra Kishore Panda is an Indian Odia language poet and novelist. He has published 16 poetry collections. He was awarded the Gangadhar National Award in 2010, and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985. He received Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar for 2020.
