Bhubaneswar is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha, located in the Khordha district. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as Chakra Kshetra and Ekamra Kshetra. Bhubaneswar is dubbed the "Temple City", a nickname earned because of the 700 temples which once stood there. In contemporary times, it has emerged as an education hub and an attractive business destination.
Jagadish Mohanty was a renowned Odia writer, considered as a trendsetter in modern Odia fiction, has received the prestigious Sarala Award in 2003, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for his novel Kanishka Kanishka, Dharitri Award in 1985, Jhankar Award, Prajatantra Award. Born in Gorumahisani, an iron-ore mines in northern periphery in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, he spent more than 30 years of his life working in the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited(MCL) in western periphery of Odisha. Though he kept himself away from the cultural capital of Odisha, but still his writings highlighted him in the mainstream of Odia literature and culture.
Odia literature is literature written in the Odia language, mostly from the Indian state of Odisha. The modern Odia language is mostly formed from Tadbhava words with significant Sanskrit (Tatsama) influences, along with loanwords from Desaja, English, Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu), Persian, and Arabic. Its earliest written texts date from around 1000 CE. The earliest Odia newspaper was Utkala Deepika, first published on August 4, 1866.
The Odia cinema, colloquially known as Ollywood, is the Odia language Indian film industry, based in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack in Odisha, India. The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words Odia and Hollywood.
Harekrushna Mahatab was the leader of the Indian National Congress, a notable figure in the Indian independence movement and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1956 to 1961. He was popularly known by the sobriquet "Utkal Keshari".
Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra was an archaeologist and scholar on Odia Studies. He served as curator for archaeology at the Odisha State Museum from 1963 to 1989 and made significant contributions to historical research, especially in the fields of archaeology, art history, religion, and other aspects of Odia cultural history.
Jagannath Prasad Das is an Indian writer, poet,painter, playwright and novelist who writes in Odia.
Santanu Kumar Acharya is a National Sahitya Academy Award-winning Indian writer.
Sabyasachi Mishra is an Indian actor known for his work in Odia Cinema. He has also acted in some Bengali,Telugu & Tamil films. He is referred to as "Superstar of Ollywood". Pagala Premi was his first movie, for which he earned an Odisha State Film Awards for Best Actor. Sabyasachi got his second state award for Emiti Bi Prema Hue. He won the Filmfare Awards East as best actor for Mu Eka Tumara in 2013.
Sambad is an Indian newspaper of Odia language which is published daily from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It is one of the largest circulated Odia newspapers in Odisha. It is published from the capital city of Bhubaneswar, as well as from Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balasore, Jajpur, Jeypore, and Angul The first edition of this newspaper was published on October 4, 1984, in Bhubaneswar. Editor since the foundation is Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, a businessman-politician.
Kalinga TV is an Odia language 24-hour cable and satellite news channel in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. The channel was launched in April 2015 by Kalinga Media and Entertainment, a unit of KIIT Group of Institutions.
Subrat Kumar Prusty is an Indian Odia-language scholar, activist, social entrepreneur, literary critic and author. He is Member Secretary of the Institute of Odia Studies and Research, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He was instrumental in preparing the research documents, advocating the awarding of Classical Language status to Odia, forming Central Institute of Classical Odia, Odia University and implementation of the Odisha Official Language Act, 1954. He was awarded the Presidential Certificate of Honour and Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman – 2019 for Classical Odia.
Dharitri (ଧରିତ୍ରୀ) is an Indian daily newspaper published in the Odia language from the capital city of Bhubaneswar. The newspaper was founded on 24 November 1974 by the Samajbadi Society in Bhubaneswar.
Biswanath Rath is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. His films have received awards and recognitions in a total of 456 International Film Festivals. He is the founder of production company BnR Films LLP.
Bijay Mishra was a dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter from India. He was also a mainstream script writer in Odia Cinema & TV Industry. He was a recipient of the State Sahitya Academy Award, Konark Samman (1994) as well as the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award.
Prem Anand is an Indian music director and composer. He usually works in Odia film and television industry. In 2006, he started his career as a music director through the Odia movie Tu Eka Ama Saha Bharasa and worked as a music director in more than 60 Odia films. Apart from Odia films, he composed music for Odia daily shops, Bhajans and Jatra songs. In 2009, Anand worked as a music director for the Hindi film Dekha Bhai Dekh in 2019, he composed music for Bollywood film Luv U Turn. Apart from Odia and Hindi films, he composed music for Marathi and Bengali films. He composed the 2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup anthem.
Tarun Kanti Mishra is an Indian Odia story writer. More than 15 of his books have been published. He got Central Sahitya Akademi Award, Odisha Sahitya Academy award and Sarala Award for his contribution in literature and was an IAS in profession and retired after being head of the administration department of Odisha. Then he also worked as Chief Information Commissioner of Odisha.
PanditGopal Chandra Panda is a Guru of Odissi classical music, vocalist, researcher and composer. A disciple of Singhari Shyamsundar Kar, he has authored several books such as Odissi Raga Ratnabali & Odissi Raga Darpana, and is acclaimed for his efforts to collect & document several traditional Odissi ragas from the hinterlands. Panda served as a lecturer and head of department in the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya for nearly three decades. He has performed in music festivals across the country and is the founder of the Gopal Panda Odissi Academy. In 2011, Panda received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contributions to Odissi music.
Rabi Mishra was an Indian actor who worked in Odia films, television serials, and theatres. He was known for his comedy characters. Mishra played various roles from negative to character artist in many TV series and films, but the character of Gopala Bhanda on the TV series Gopala Rahasya, which aired on DD Odia in 1994, gave him popularity.
Institute of Odia Studies & Research (IOSR) is a Language research Institute. The mission of the institute is to develop Odia as a language of knowledge as well as of development. It is working for the establishment of a Central Institute Of Classical Odia as well as an Odia Biswabidyalaya. During the past ten years the institute has organised discussion groups, state and National level seminars and Conference.
