Namaskar,

You are listening to Explore Odisha with Dr Jyoti Prasad.

This is a new podcast project to present Odisha to people of Odisha as well as the global people about the greatness and richness of our state and its culture and for presenting inspiring talks for people to create interest in them to explore the state.

Odisha

Situated on the eastern side of Indian subcontinent is a state of rich cultural heritage, a greater mineral reserve and fulfilling natural resources. It is aptly said to be India's best kept secret, as many places in the state remains unexplored till now.

Formed on the 1st of April, 1936 as an independant nation based on its language "ODIA", it has come a long way since independence to become one of the most progressive states of India, providing great scope for business houses and enterprenuers alike for high ranks in ease of doing business.

Odisha, the eighth largest state in india by area and eleventh by population, also boasts of about 61 different scheduled tribes which is the third largest state in India.

It is surrounded by the bay of bengal on the eastern side which provides 485 kilometers of shoreline to the state from north to south. And on north side it has West Bengal and Jharkhand, towards west it has Chhatishgarh, and in the south Andhra Pradesh.

In ancient texts the state has been mentioned as Utkal and Kalinga. In national anthem, Odisha is depicted as Utkal, which means the land of excellency in arts. And it is evident from the thousands of temples spread across the length and breadth of the state. The magnificient ones including Puri Jagannath Temple, Konark Temple, Lingaraj Temple, Rajarani Temple to name a few.

The rulers of the then Kalinga Samrajya once ruled over a large part of India which, spread from the plains of the river Ganga in the north till River Godavari and further south towards Kanchipuram in south. The current boundaries were established by the British rulers when the state achieved freedom in 1936.

Bhubaneswar is the capital of odisha. Earlier Cuttack happened to be the capital city.

Odisha has a very rich cultural heritage which spans over thousand of years and its name is mentioned in epics like Mahabharat and Ramayan. There are places in Odisha which are mute spectators of events of Ramayan, currently the central government has included Mahendragiri, the second highest mountain range in Odisha as an important place in the state in the list of places to be developed as Ramayan circuit in the country. We will however, discuss about the cultural heritage in another episode of the podcast.

We will also be discussing a lot about the varieties of things that impact us including the Language, Religion, Spirituality, Heritage, Art and craft, Tourism, Politics, Industries, Education and Healthcare and much more in out forth coming episodes of the podcast.

Please share this podcast with your friends and family if you liked the content.

I will come up with another fantastic episode of Explore Odisha again in a short time from now. Till then, I pray Lord Jagannath to bless us all.

Have a good day.