Odisha

Odisha's ancient name was Kalinga, a powerful maritime kingdom known to Ashoka's scribes. In 261 BCE the Kalinga War, fought on the Daya river plain near present Dhauli, caused such slaughter that Emperor Ashoka, according to his own rock edicts, embraced Buddhism and non-violence, sending emissaries across Asia — an event often called the moral turning point of Indian history. Classical Kalinga and later the Mahameghavahana and Eastern Ganga dynasties built the temple architecture Odisha is famous for. Anantavarman Chodaganga made Cuttack the capital around 1135, and in the 13th century King Narasimhadeva I commissioned the Konark Sun Temple, designed as a colossal chariot of Surya. Between the 7th and 14th centuries Bhubaneswar earned the title Ekamra Kshetra with hundreds of sandstone temples including Lingaraj, Mukteshvara and Rajarani. Maritime merchants called Sadhabas sailed from Tamralipti and Palur to Bali and Java, a memory kept alive in the Boita Bandana festival of miniature boats. Medieval rule by the Gajapatis, then Mughal and Maratha periods, was followed by British annexation after the famines of the 19th century — notably the Orissa famine of 1866 that killed an estimated one million. The Utkal Sammilani movement from 1903 demanded unification of Odia speakers spread across Bengal, Madras and Central Provinces. On 1 April 1912 Bihar and Orissa Province was formed, and on 1 April 1936 Orissa became a separate province with Sir John Hubback as first Governor. After 1947, 27 princely states merged into Odisha, and Bhubaneswar became capital. In 2011 the spelling was officially changed from Orissa to Odisha and Oriya to Odia.

Odisha divides neatly into four natural regions. The coastal plain extends from the Subarnarekha in the northeast to Rushikulya in the south, 20 to 30 km wide, rich in fertile silt, lagoons and cyclone-exposed beach ridges between Puri and Bhadrak. Chilika Lake, Asia's largest brackish water lagoon at about 1,100 km² in winter, is a Ramsar wetland and winter refuge for over a million migratory birds and the rare Irrawaddy dolphin. The central river basins are dominated by the Mahanadi, which at Hirakud is dammed by one of the world's longest human-made dams at 25.8 km (including dykes, main dam 4.8 km). The western plateaus and the Eastern Ghats rise to Deomali peak at 1,672 metres in Koraput, cloaked in sal, teak and bamboo forest that still covers over 33% of the state. Climate is tropical monsoon: summers above 40°C inland, monsoon June to September bringing most of 1,500 mm rainfall, and a cyclone-prone October to November. Biodiversity is exceptional. Similipal National Park and Biosphere Reserve in Mayurbhanj is a major tiger and elephant landscape with the unique melanistic (black) tiger occasionally reported. Bhitarkanika National Park protects India's largest population of saltwater crocodiles and mangroves. The six-km Gahirmatha beach within Bhitarkanika is the world's largest mass-nesting ground (arribada) for Olive Ridley sea turtles, where over 500,000 females may nest in a single week between February and March. Offshore, the Rushikulya rookery hosts a second major arribada.

Odisha's culture is classical, tribal and maritime at once. Odissi, recognised as one of India's oldest surviving classical dances and re-established in the mid-20th century from temple mahari and gotipua traditions, is characterised by the tribhangi (three-bend) posture and lyrical abhinaya to Jayadeva's Gita Govinda. Architecture is embodied in three temples every student learns: the 11th-century Lingaraj at Bhubaneswar, the 12th-century Jagannath Temple at Puri, and the 13th-century Konark Sun Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built as a 24-wheeled chariot drawn by seven horses, with each wheel about 3 metres in diameter serving also as a sundial. Puri's Jagannath Ratha Yatra each June-July draws millions to pull the three massive wooden chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra along the Grand Road. Pattachitra scroll painting on cloth, with natural dyes and the chitrakara tradition of Raghurajpur village, and silver filigree (tarakasi) of Cuttack, and Sambalpuri handloom ikat with geometric double ikat, are GI-tagged crafts. Odia, a classical language since 2014, is the official language spoken by about 82.7% of the population (2011 Census), alongside Hindi, Bengali and tribal languages such as Santali and Kui. Cuisine is coastal and fermented: pakhala bhata (fermented rice with curd and water), dalma, chhena poda cheese dessert, and the enduring debate over Rasagola, which received a GI tag for Odisha in 2019 for its soft, cottage-cheese ball soaked in sugar syrup. Festivals include Durga Puja, Boita Bandana and Nuakhai among western Odisha's agrarian communities.