Ganjam district is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908 lists Ganjam, along with the Thanjavur and South Canara districts, as the three districts of the Madras Presidency where Brahmins were most numerous. As of 2011 it is the most populous district of Odisha.
The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu–one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. It is located in Puri in the state of Odisha, situated on the eastern coast of India. As per temple records, the mythical King Indradyumna of Avanti built the main temple of Jagannath at Puri. The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth century onwards, on the site of the pre-existing temples in the compound, but not the main Jagannath temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. Many of the temple rituals are based on Oddiyana Tantras which are the refined versions of Mahayana Tantras as well as Shabari Tantras which are evolved from Tantric Buddhism and tribal beliefs respectively. The local legends link the idols with aboriginal tribes and the daitapatis (servitors) claim to be descendants of the aboriginals. The temple is one of the 108 Abhimana Kshethram of the Vaishnavite tradition.
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.
Odisha is one of the 28 states of India, located on the eastern coast. It is surrounded by the states of West Bengal to the northeast, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and northwest, and Andhra Pradesh to the south and southwest. Odia is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by 33.2 million according to the 2001 Census. The modern state of Odisha was established on 1 April 1936, as a province in British India, and consisted predominantly of Odia-speaking regions. April 1 is celebrated as Odisha Day.
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.
Anubhav Mohanty is an Indian actor, politician, film producer, television personality and social activist who is known for his work majorly in Odia language films. Mohanty has also worked in Bengali films. Mohanty has a significant fan following especially in Odisha.
Anu Choudhury is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Odia, Telugu, Chhattisgarhi, Bengali and Hindi films. She has starred in more than 65 films. Her debut Odia film was Maa Goja Bayani.
Odissi music is a genre of classical music in India, originated from the eastern state of Odisha. The traditional ritual music for the service of Lord Jagannatha, Odissi music has a history spanning over two thousand years, authentic sangita-shastras or treatises, unique Ragas & Talas and a distinctive style of rendition.
Madhusudan Das was an Indian lawyer and social reformer, who founded Utkal Sammilani in 1903 to campaign for the unification of Odisha along with its social and industrial development. He was one of the prominent figure, helping in the creation of Orissa Province, which was established on 1 April 1936. He was also the first graduate and advocate of Orissa. He is also known as Kulabruddha, Madhu Babu, and Utkal Gouraba. In Odisha, his birthday is celebrated as the Lawyers' Day on 28 April.
Erica Jennifer Fernandes is an Indian actress and model, who works in Indian television. She has also featured in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. She got her breakthrough with her television debut, portraying Dr. Sonakshi Bose in Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi. Erica has also acted in many films in South including Ninnindale and Galipatam. Erica is also known for her portrayal of Prerna Sharma in Kasautii Zindagii Kay.
Mo Duniya Tu Hi Tu is a 2013 Indian Odia drama film directed by Sudhakar Basanta and starring Anubhav, Barsha and Minaketan in pivotal roles with original soundtrack by Malay Misra. It was a remake of Tamil film Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen.
Jol Nupur is a Bengali television serial which aired on Bengali GEC Star Jalsha by Magic Moments Motion Pictures. It starred Lovely Maitra, Souptik Chakraborty and Aparajita Adhya in lead roles. The show was telecast Monday through Saturday. Jol Nupur replaced Sansaar Sukher Hoy Romonir Guney from 21 January 2013. After running successfully for almost 3 years and airing 901 episodes, the show went off-air on 5 December 2015 to make way for Punyi Pukur.
Badsha – The Don is a 2016 Indian-Bangladeshi action comedy film directed by Baba Yadav. It was produced by Eskay Movies and Jaaz Multimedia. It is a remake of the 2010 Telugu movie Don Seenu starring Ravi Teja. The film stars Indian Bengali film actor Jeet and Bangladeshi television host and film actress Nusrat Faria. Badsha - The Don is the third collaboration between Baba Yadav and Jeet after Boss: Born to Rule (2013) and Game (2014). Badsha - The Don was a flop at the box office.
Rutaparna Panda is an Indian badminton player from Odisha. She was selected to be part of the Indian team for the 2018 Asian Games. Here, she and her partner Arathi Sara Sunil were defeated in the round of 32 by the Thai doubles team. In July 2018, she won the women's doubles title at the All-India senior ranking badminton tournament in Bengaluru. She earlier trained at the Gopichand Badminton Academy at Hyderabad and currently trains with her sister and current doubles partner Swetaparna Panda at Cuttack.
Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni was an Indian Bengali historical drama television series which aired on Bengali Entertainment Channel Zee Bangla and is also available on the digital platform ZEE5. It was premiered on 24 July 2017. The serial was earlier produced by Subrata Roy and then it was produced by Zee Bangla. It completed 1,000 episodes on its third birthday and 1,500 episodes on 26 December 2021. After a successful run of 4+1⁄2 years, Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni went off-air on 13 February 2022.
Netaji is a Bengali biographical soap opera on the life of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose that premiered on 14 January 2019 and aired on Bengali GEC Zee Bangla. Based majorly on Udyata Kharga Subhash by Achintya Kumar Sengupta and produced by Surinder Films, the series stars Abhishek Bose in the eponymous role, with Basabdatta Chatterjee, marking her comeback on television, Dhruvajyoti Sarkar, Kaushik Chakraborty, Sriparna Roy, Debopriyo Sarkar, Sohan Bandopadhyay, Fahim Mirza appearing in other recurring roles. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the shooting of the series was stalled. It was rumoured that along with Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni, this series will be axed the channel. Putting rest to such rumours, the shooting started from June 11 and new episodes started to air from June 15, 2020.
Shyamamani Devi is a Odissi classical music vocalist composer. A disciple of Gurus Singhari Shyamsundar Kar and Balakrushna Dash, she is known for her popular renditions of classical Odissi music, such as Odissi, Chhanda, Champu, etc. authored by medieval Odia musician-poets such as Upendra Bhanja, Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha, Banamali Dasa, Gopalakrusna and others. She is also known for her renditions of light music such as traditional Odia folk music ,Odia film music and adhunika songs. In 2022, she was awarded the Padma Shri for he contributions to Odissi music.
Faria Abdullah is an Indian actress who works in Telugu and Hindi cinema. Originally a theatre artiste, she debuted in film with Jathi Ratnalu (2021), a success. For that role, she was nominated for the Best Debutant Actress award at the South Indian International Movie Awards.
