Rayagada

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Rayagada | type = city | latd = 19.17 | longd = 83.42
locator_position = right | state_name = Orissa
district = Rayagada
leader_title =
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altitude = 207
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 57,732| population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone =
postal_code =
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
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Rayagada is a municipality in Rayagada District in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the administrative headquarters of Rayagada district.

Geography

Rayagada is located at coord|19.17|N|83.42|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/21/Rayagada.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Rayagada] ] . It has an average elevation of 207 metres (679 feet).

Rayagada is a district of meadows, forests, water falls and terraced valleys, peopled by many primitive tribal groups. The scenic beauty and heritage on the land is an unexplored paradise. The systematic relationship between men and nature is a feast to the eyes of an outsider. It has its own appeal for the lap of nature.

The pattern of people living in the district show unity in diversity of races, languages, and culture. The Scheduled Tribes living in the district possess dissimilar economics ranging from food gathering to settled cultivation. Their languages/dialects, societies and culture show inter-societal/ cultural variations because of the persistence of ethnic mosaic formed by communities belonging to scheduled Tribes, Scheduled castes and other castes groups.

Rayagada is nearly 440km away from Bhubaneswar by road. Tt is connected by rail with Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Visakhapatanam, Koraput, Kolkata, Chenaii, Delhi.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Rayagada had a population of 57,732. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Rayagada has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72%, and female literacy is 56%. In Rayagada, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Introduction

There are various communities living in Rayagada. This is a tribal inhabited district of orissa.Due to better communication with neighbour state Andhra here Telugu population is significant.Also Sindhis, Gujaratis and Marwaris who have settled since long and have become a distinct identity of the place. Tribals too comprise a significant population of the place. All the festivals relating to these communities are celebrated with pomp and fervour. The main language spoke here is Oriya, Telugu and tribal languages like Soura.

History

In the third century B.C, during the reign of Ashoka the Great, it was under Kalinga empire(ancient Orissa). The hilly track between Bansadhara and Nagabali was famous for spices¹. The Rastriks were defeated by Kharvela, the only Aryan Emperor of Kalinga (ancient Orissa), during the Chawpagada battle ² .

During the rule of Gangavansi and Suryavanshi Kings in Orissa, it was under feudatory chief of Kalinga-Utkala empire Dadarnab Dev of Gudari Kataka ³ This region went to the Bahamanis when the last Hindu Gajapati emperor of Orissa, Mukund Dev was defeated at Gohera Tikiri in 1519. It came under the Nandapur Kingdom for 47 years. Biswambar Dev was defeated and killed by Hasin Khan of Mughal Chicacole Sarkar rulers of Orissa,was perhaps the third king installed at Rayagada. The Sati Kunda Goddess Majhi Ghairani and the mudfort around it speaks much about its evidence. In subsequent years it was under Bobbili Tahasil of Vijayanagaram. During the English regime, Rayagada came under Jeypore administration and later was part of Koraput District. As part of the extension plan of districts in the Orissa state, On 2nd October 1992 Rayagda District was carved out of the erstwhile Koraput district.

The Tribals of Rayagada

The district has a predominant tribal population of 57.52%. Keeping this in view all the 11 blocks of the district have been covered under tribal sub-plan with 3 micro projects in operation for the pre-literate indigenous tribal communities.

The topography of Rayagada gives a prefect platform for the tribals in sustaining their ethno-cultural identity in the district. Forest area covers an extent of 4785.36 Sq. K.M. out of which 777.27 km² is Reserved forest.

The district has been the homeland of various tribal communities with their sub-tribes, who are found in different levels of development depending upon their assimilation with the mainstream or modern communities. In the ethno-cultural map of Orissa, among the many tribal communities, two tribes stand out quite prominently for their educational backwardness and continuing ethnic and cultural identity, The kondhas and the Souras

Economy

Rayagada has flourished due to the existence of Jeypore Sugar Factory and the Metal and Ferro Alloys company. The Jeypore Sugar Company (JEYSUCO) also has a distillery here. Various grades of sugar were made here, However this company had to close down during the late nineties. The Metal and Ferro Alloys continues its production.

Jeypore Sugars Ltd. was established by the British which attracted loads of people from nearby states to Rayagada. The industrial atmosphere, great location and availability of resources around made Rayagada a prominent town in Orissa, it attracted businessmen like B. Rama Shastry. His heir B. Rama Krishna (Sai) is continuing his business.

Tourist Attractions

Rayagada, the district of many charms, is a thrill to the searching eyes. It has the facilities to serve as a base for visiting the near by place of interest.

* Maa Majhighariani temple - Maa Majhighariani is famous in Southern Division of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Most of the devotees are coming from Madhyapradesh Chatishgarh, Andhrapradesh including undivided Koraput District. Only the face of the Maa MajhiGhariani is worshiped. During Sunday, Wednesday and Friday a large number of Devotees are coming to this place for worshiping the Goddess. The temple is famous for Chaitra-Parba i.e. March-April of every year.
* Hatipathar - Only 3 km from the district headquarter. It is a place of great scenic beauty with two water falls on the course of river Nagavali. The scenic beauty is impressive and the boulders here appear like huge elephants. It is just 3 km away from Rayagada town. Ironically we cannot visit that that place after heavy rains in 2006 which changed the course of the river Nagabali.
* Gayatri Temple at MITS College - A beautiful temple with Goddess Maa Gayatri, Saraswati and Maa Majhighariani. Engineering students do meditation and pooja after their studies in the temple. Lot of devotees comes to the temple regularly. A Spiritual Library is present under the temple ground floor. Lot of books on Indian culture are there in the library.
* Laxminarayan temple - Famous Laxminarayan Temple situated at IMFA Factory, Therubali. The deities Laxminarayan, Hanuman, Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra and Lord Siva also worshiped by thousands devotees.
* Paikapada - The place Paikapada is famous for so many Siva Lingams. The deities like Lord Jagannath, Maa Dhakineswar Kalika, Samudra etc. are worshiped here. The car festival of Lord Jagannath is also celebrated and during Sivaratri a large number of pilgrims come to observe the function. The Place is situated near Theruballi. It is believed that there are 99,99,999 shivlingams (only one less to 1 crore) in & around Paikapada shrine.
* Chatikona - It is located about 48 km from Rayagada surrounded by a series of valleys and wooden hills of varying colours and the place is a center of pilgrimage for the temple of Mahadev. It offers picnickers gorgeous view of the waterfall. The Siva temple is the focus of hectic activities on Siva Ratri. The Dongaria Kondha of Chatikona represent the primitive section of the tribe.
* Minajhola - It is only 134 km from Rayagada. It is a beauty spot of nature, has a siva temple at the confluence of three rivers. It is situated in the heart of dense forest, rich in wild life. Sivaratri is a popular festival of this place. Though there is no good all weather road yet the place is worth visiting. Regular bus service is available from Rayagada and Gunupur up to Gudari. The rest 25 km. Road is Jeepable.
* Devagiri - The Devagiri hill rises to a height of 120.2 meters. Unlike other hills it is not narrower upwards. The top of the hill is a flat platform of rectangular plain, which can be approached only from the northern side. There are 476 steps which are the unique feature of the Devagiri. At the top of the hill, there are perennial poles of water called Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Bhargavi and Indradyumna. There is a cave looking like two Jaws, The Siva Lingam is enshrined at the meeting point of the Jaws. Sivaratri is its biggest festival, which draws a large crowd every year. It is 50 km from Rayagada. Regular bus services are available from Rayagada to Kalyansingpur and the sacred hill is close to Kalyansingpur.
* Padampur - Housing the shrine of Manikeswari Siva. It is identified to be the seat of Dharmakirti, the Budhist-Logician-philosopher. It is 90 km from Rayagada.
* Maa Markama Temple - Maa Markama temple is located at Bissam Cuttack, 40 km from Rayagada. The temple got a new look and surrounded by lush green forest. Many people visit from near and far especially on Tuesdays. The town college has also been named after Goddess Markama.

Fairs and Festivals

* Chaitra Parba of Maa Maji Ghariani Goddess
* Rath Yatra at Rayagada in the month of July
* Ganesh Puja at Telephone Bhavane Lane.
* Kali Puja at Block Colony, Rayagada in the month of November.
* Laxmi Puja at New Colony, Rayagada in the month of October.
* Dasehera at J.K.Pur & Brahmin street, Rayagada in the month of October.
* Annual celebration of Gram Devata during March- April (9 days) at Rayagada
* A Ganesh puja at the Kasturi Nagar & Near Rayagada College area.
* Christmas in JEL Church.

Education

Though a tribal dominated area, the focus on education has been there since long. GCD high school holds a prominent place being the oldest in the region. The other schools in the region are sacred heart school. It is an English medium school and affiliated to ICSE, Delhi.Rayagada college imparts education at +2 and +3 levels for Science, Arts and Commerce stream. Women's college imparts education in +2Science/Arts and Commerce. But at +3 level it imparts education for Arts stream only. State governments' diploma engineering college known as UTKAL GOURAB MADHUSUDAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY(UGMIT) is present near by river NAGABALI and imparts diploma courses in several branches of engineering.

Also the area has seen a rise in engineering colleges which apart from B.Tech in Engineering also have facilities for MCA, MBA and Bio-Technology courses.

Majhigharaini Institute of Technology and Sciences(MITS) [http://www.mitscollege.ac.in] MITS Rayagada(www.mitscollege.ac.in) established in the the year 1997 under the management of Basantadevi Charitable Trust. MITS has developed into a sprawling campus of fifty acres in a picturesque location at Bhujbal, adjoining the State Highway No. 7 between Jeypore and Bhubaneswar.It drew its name from the Goddess Mafhighariani, the reigning deitt of Rayagada. This institute is part of MITS Group(www.mitsgroup.co.in) [http://www.mitsgroup.co.in] conglomerate of academic institutes, independent research laboratories and companies. The focus of the group is to have a synergy between its education, research and industry sector. Provides Degree of M-tech, B-tech, MSc, BSc, BCA & ITI courses to students all over the country. This is the first college in India to provide B-Tech in Bio-Technology apart from few IITs. The Bio-Technology Lab of MITS is best in class. MITS School of Bio-Technology(www.msb.ac.in)( [http://www.msb.ac.in] ) is another college at Infosity, Bhubaneswar of the same MITS Group.

IACR is a college in city providing the degree of BTech,MCA,MBA. It is 2Km from the main road. This college has very nice location, which touches the heart. One more recent development a Dental College is upcoming to enrich the education potential in the district.beautiful fly over

Literary Contributions

Rayagada is well known for its contribution to Oriya literature . There are number of cultural megazins continuously published from Ryagada. Prominent writers of this district are sarbo sri Damborudhar Patnaik, Dr Dusmonta kumar Mohanty, Dr Kumudo ch. Mishra, Sibo Prasad Gantayat, Satyanarayan Gantayat, Basudev patro, Susant Nayak,Dwitichandra Sahu, Ram Krushna Pattnik, Kishor Mohapatro, Golok Dolai, Pratibha Dash, Prakesh Mohapatro, Parthosarath Barik, etc. The Oriya magazine " THE JYOTSHNA" is known as the cultural mouthpiece of Rayagada dist. The magazine Jyotshna is being published from the year 1972. At first Jyotshna was published from Sunabeda of undivided Koraput district. Its founder is shri Basudev Patro and editor is smt Santilata Patro. Also there are magazines like "Panchaboti","Rayagada Samachar"," AKASH","Green Room",etc. which were enriched the cultural aspect of Rayagada dist. Founder of jyotshna publication sri Basudev Patro has written a number of sort stories, poems, novels, sonnets, which brought cretiques attention. His poem collection "KONARK" has received a great deal of accolade from the oriya readers community . Now "The Konark" is going to be published in its English version. One of the editor of the oriya magazine "the SARVADOYO" published from Cuttack's Bakhorabad Sri BHAGBAT PRASAD RATH hails from Rayagada Town. Sri B.P.Rath has written a number of novels in Oriya, like "LUHORO MOSAL KEBE LIVENA","MONISO TOLE KANONO GOLE" and in each and every novel he has emphasiged on removal of social disparity. Sri B.P.Rath is falicitated by a number of organigation of India. In 80's the magazines published by sri B.P. Rath, like "Green Room" has revousationalised the literary environment Other notable names in the literary circles is Bh. Nageswara Rao.

Politics

Current MLA from Rayagada (ST) Assembly Constituency is Ulaka Rama Chandra of INC, who won the seat in State elections in 2004 and also in 1995, 1990, 1985, 1980 (representing INC(I)) and 1977. Lalbihari Himirika of BJD had won this seat in 2000. [cite web
url = http://archive.eci.gov.in/March2004/pollupd/ac/states/s18/Partycomp82.htm
title = State Elections 2004 - Partywise Comparision for 82-Rayagada Constituency of ORISSA
publisher = Election Commission of India
accessdate = 2008-09-18]

Rayagada is part of Koraput (Lok Sabha constituency). [cite web
url = http://archive.eci.gov.in/se2000/background/S18/Orissa_AC_Dist_PC.pdf
title = Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies of Orissa
publisher = Election Commission of India
accessdate = 2008-09-18]

References

1. As evident by Andhra Historical Journal XXVII edition at page 46.
2. The rock inscription of Allahbad inscribed by Mahamantri Harisena provides evidence to this effect.
3. A rock inscription found at Pataleswar temple in Brahmi script provides an evidence to this effect.

ee also

* [http://rayagada.nic.in/ Official website of Rayagada district]
* [http://rayagadavalley.info/ Rayagada Valley Pictures]