Odisha Of Yore

Communal memory is more powerful than history. Our ancient maritime glory lives on in collective memory through the celebration of Bali Jatra. It may have been reduced to rituals to some...

Egyptian mythology offers strong hints of maritime links with ancient Odisha. The land it mentions as Put or Punt was most probably Puri, according to a research work. The holy...

In Sonepur, the land of Shakti worship, Bali Jatra assumes a different meaning altogether. According to tradition, the festival began during Raja Madan Gopal Singhdeo, the first Chauhan king of Sonepur, who...

Wayang kulit, the shadow-puppetry show, popular in South-East nations has similarities to the nearly extinct puppetry in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Kaundinya’s marriage is the major theme in the plays...

What’s panna without gua, betel-nut? No fun. The latter appears to have been an import from South-East Asia to Odisha. Betel-nut is quite popular in those countries. In rural areas of South-East paana and...

Ancient Odisha’s connection with Ceylon, the modern-day Sri Lanka, ran deep. Some historians believe Vijaya, the first king of Simhala, was from Simhapura, the capital of Kalinga. When emperor Ashoka...

The placid Chilika lake has been reduced to a mesh of prawn farming nets these days. In its glory days, which spanned many centuries across the pre-and early Christian era,...

Kalinga was a maritime superpower. It means ancient Odias were proficient at ship-building and had sound knowledge of the seasonal winds. While contemporary and later-day literary accounts are replete with...

What did the sadhavas carry in their magnificent boats? Historical evidence suggests the cargo consisted of ivory, textiles, precious stones, rice and betel nuts among other items. Elephants from Odisha were...

Kalinga war, which historians place around 261 BC, was Mauryan emperor Ashoka’s only major military offensive. The reason was not his desire to acquire the ravishing commoner Karuvaki as mythology...