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🇮🇳 Odisha 🇮🇳

Odisha
By- JyotiiD

Odisha! Does the word ring any bell? What is your first thought when you hear the name Odisha? I bet it's a cyclone. But let me tell you that Odisha is much more than home to hurricanes.

Odisha is an Eastern Indian state which is the eighth largest state in terms of area. Also known as Utkala or Kalinga, the history of Odisha dates back to 261 BCE when King Ashoka won Kalinga from King Kharavela in the infamous Kalinga War. The Kalinga War is the deadliest, largest, and bloodiest war India has ever witnessed. On 1st April 1936, a new boundary of Orissa was drawn by the British according to the linguistic majority, and henceforth 1st April is known as Utkal Divas. Cuttack was made the capital then. On 19 August 1949, Bhubaneswar replaced Cuttack as the capital city. In 2011, according to the bill passed by the Parliament, Orissa became Odisha and Oriya became Odia, which is the local language of Odisha. Having a coastline of 450 kilometres, Odisha is more prone to cyclones than any other Indian state. Out of thirty districts of Odisha, thirteen are coastal, which makes it highly prone to cyclones and floods. On 29 October 1999, Odisha was hit by a super cyclone which caused more than 10,000 deaths. Every year, Odisha is visited by cyclones, but now the government tackles it quite efficiently.

There's a saying in Odia- "Odisha hauchi batya ra mamu ghara, khara dina chutti hau ki Durga Puja chutti, sabubele chaliasuchi."(Odisha is the cyclone's maternal uncle's house, it comes there both in summer break and Durga Puja holidays.)

Naveen Patnaik is the leader of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), started by his father, Biju Patnaik, the 14th Chief Minister of Odisha, who has been in power since 2000. Odisha has a unicameral legislature. In 2018, Ganeshi Lal became the 26th Governor of Odisha.