Jeypore

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Jeypore | type = city
latd = 18
latm = 51
lats = 55
longd = 82
longm = 34
longs = 23
state_name = Orissa
district = Koraput
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude = 597.71
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 76,560| population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone = 91 6854
postal_code = 764001
vehicle_code_range =OR 10
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Jeypore, also spelled Jeypur and Jaypur, is the largest town in the Koraput District of Orissa, India. Along with Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Balasore, Puri and Berhampur, Jeypore is one of the prominent places of Orissa. It is encompassed by hills of the eastern ghats and the more famous Araku hills on three sides, like a horse shoe, and the other (western) side opens up to Chattisgarh in central India. It is also the business hub for the district.

Overview

The town is famous for its ancient Forts and Palaces, serene temples and climate. The major language spoken in this region is Oriya. This town has a diverse cultural mix with significant numbers of people speaking different languages - Oriya, Telugu, and Hindi. This town is an amalgam of the culture and traditions of all these and has a unique cuisine, language and lifestyle.

Jeypore is surrounded on all sides with places of breathtaking beauty and hotels serving mouth-watering food. There are many tourist attractions in and around the town:
*Gupteswar Temple, 60 km from Jeypore
*Jagannath Temple
*The old Dakhin Kali temple at Purunagarh
*The royal palace of Vikram Dev Maharaja
*The beautiful Jagganath Sagar
*Upper Kolab Dam site
*HAL Sunabeda and Nalco Damanjodi are 45 km from Jeypore

Experiencing the Ghanta Paraba, a kind of Thakurani Jatra during summer is unique, with so many people in trance, dancing to the powerful drum beats of the Dombo baido, Singha baido and the Shehnai.

Education

Colleges include Vikram Dev College (refer http://vikramdevcollege.org), a prominent & one of the oldest in the state of Orissa,Women's College and Law college. The backbone of School education in Jeypore lies with several Primary schools across the streets along with Govt Boys and Girls schools, Municipal High Schools No I, II and III(girls).

Vikram dev college is one of the best college in southern Orissa which is an Autonomous one. Some of the best curriculums are Post graduation in Chemistry which has been started in 1993, PG in Economics, etc. VD College has been a value proposition in providing quality education to people of undivided koraput district since age long.

Some of the other Schools include DAV Model Sec School,Redwoods English School,Saraswati Sishu Mandir, Modern English School, Public School, Deepti Convent School and Siddharth English Medium School. Some of the schools are the oldest ones in Orissa, particularly the English medium ones(Public School & DAV).

Economy

Business units include the Sewa Paper Mills, Rice & Cashew Processing units. In addition, hotels to serve are Hello Jeypore ,Hotel Sai krishna,Hotel Madhumati and Hotel Mani Krishna to name a few. Roadside business like chats and snacks, apparels, shoes, whole sale grocery are also significant contributor to Jeypore economy. That's Jeypore is one of the Business hub of southern orissa.

Entertainment

There are a few cinema theaters like Sri Krishna Talkies, Laxmi Talkies and Manoj Kumar Talkies which are the sources of entertainment available in the town, apart from these entrainment sources boating facility is also available in Jagannath sagar.(is a large pond situated in the middle of the town)Which provides a great excitement and pleasure to all.

Getting There

The nearest functional airport is at Vishakapatnam, 300 km away. From there, Jeypore can be reached by boarding the Kirandul passenger train to Jeypore. The 295 km ride takes approximately seven hours, and is a unique experience, covering approximately 250 km of the scenic hills of Araku Valley. It is also possible to reach Jeypore by buses and taxis available at the Vishakapatnam and Vizianagaram RTC bus-stand. The capital of Orissa, Bhubaneswar is 520 km from Jeypore. Apart from regular bus service, the Hirakhand Express takes you to Jeypore in about 14 hours. It runs daily to and fro - Koraput (~14 km from Jeypore) to Bhubaneswar.

History

Jeypore a historical city witnessing King Vikram Dev's Dynasty. The Dev or Deo dynasty is probably related to the Kakatiya dynasty. Some of the rulers established their own rule when the Kakatiyas were ruling around the jungles of Bastar. Since the area was inaccessible and hostile, these kingdoms - including that of Jeypore (previously in Nandapur), Jagdalpur, Parlakhemundi, etc got established under the supreme rule of Gajapati emperors of Orissa. And, from then a unique culture, food, tradition and pride could be seen in common at these areas. The above mentioned dynasties also have close ties till date through marital alliances, etc.

National Aluminium Co. has its bauxite mines nearby at Damanjodi. Three Hill Temples - A famous Lord Jagannath Temple, Lord Shiva Temple and Swamy Vivekananda Temple at three different hilltops in three different dimension of the town.

The Maharajah of Jeypore, Sir Madlio Singh, created a stir when he visited London, taking an image of Krishna with him wherever he went ["Dogmas Discarded: An Autobiography of Thought 1886 - 1908", by Guy Aldred, Part 1,page 16, Strickland Press, Glasgow, 1904] .

Tourist information

Blessed with huge natural resources, beautiful natural landscapes, hills, waterfalls (at Kolab), lakes, Jeypore is a place of pilgrimage and tourist interest. Boating at Chandan Pokhari (The Sandal Pond) attracts tourists to have a magnificent experience. Jeypore is well linked to Raipur (by road), Visakhapatnam, Rayagada, Howrah (by rail and road) and to the state capital Bhubaneswar (by rail and road). High standard lodging and boarding facilities are also provided by Lord Jagannath Temple Trust to outstation tourists. It has very scenic surroundings, encompassed by hills on all sides. It is also the business hub for the district. The town is famous for the ancient palaces. It has a nice cultural mix with significant numbers of people speaking different languages - Oriya, Telugu, Hindi and Bengali.

Ancient temples still exist in the town. Kali, Dangar Devi, Neelakantheswara, Panchanana, Jagat Janini and Jagannath temples are very famous. A gurudwara, a church, a mosque, an Aiyyappa temple and a Shiridi Sai baba temple are also famous.

There is a lot of sight-seeing nearby Jeypore. Kolab dam (water reservoir) and Machkund dam (water reservoir) is near Jeypore which generate most of the electricity for the state. It has scenic natural parks and virgin forests and waterfalls (around 10 km from the town). Comfortable and reliable hotels and restaurants(like Hotel Princess, Hotel Hello Jeypore,Hotel Trupti Gold at Lal Street.etc.) are amongst the best in the state in their range.

Food

Some of the popular food you will find are:Idlis, Dosas(particularly Rava), Puri, Upma, Egg & Chicken rolls, Samosas, Aaluchops, Pesarat, etc. Evidently it is a mix of all the good things from north, south and east. Most of the food/snacks is served with curry (unlike sambar in South India). Sweets include - Rasgullas, Chenapodo,Kheersagar, Chenagoja, etc. which can only be relished in this place.For meals you have both North Indian and South Indian food apart from some very good Gujarati food. You also get authentic Oriya food replete with its famous veg and non-veg dishes at most restaurants. It is notable that the food, be it North or South Indian, is in no way inferior and has the authentic and sometimes tastes even better than the original.

Some wonderful hotels are Konark hotel,Sangeet hotel, Manis Cafe, Lokesh hotel, Girija Egg Roll Centre and chaat with unique kachoris on the main road. The climate is never harsh but the best time to visit Jeypore is in winter/spring (in between November - March).

One of the best things found in Jeypore is the several 'Tiffin centres' dotted along the main road like the Panigrahi Hotel near Raj Mahal Chowk, Biswanath Hotel, Bulu Kumti hotel near Sadar Police Station. These hotels serve delicious and spicy tiffins like Puri, Upma, Idli, Rava Dosa along with Aloo-channa curry, Chutneys and the very special Tomato jholo. Because of the sublime taste, most people from Jeypore prefer to have breakfast at these places rather than the other 'posh' restaurants.

Geography

Jeypore is located at coord|18.85|N|82.58|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/21/Jaypur.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Jaypur] ] . It has an average elevation of 659 metres (2165 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Jeypore had a population of 76,560. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Jeypore has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 61%. In Jeypore, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Politics

Current MLA from Jeypore Assembly Constituency is Rabi Narayan Nanda of BJD, who won the seat in State elections of 2004 and also in 2000. Previous MLAs from this seat include Raghunath Patnaik of INC who won this seat in 1995, 1990, 1980 (as INC(I) candidate) and in 1977, and Gupta Prasad Das of INC who won in 1985. [cite web
url = http://archive.eci.gov.in/March2004/pollupd/ac/states/s18/Partycomp89.htm
title = State Elections 2004 - Partywise Comparision for 89-Jeypore Constituency of ORISSA
publisher = Election Commission of India
accessdate = 2008-09-25]

Jeypore is part of Berhampur (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 = 2008-09-25]

References

External links

* [http://jeypore.com Jeypore.com (unofficial Jeypore website)]
* [http://jeypore.koolhost.com Jeypore resource page]