Hands That Built Odisha’s Utkal University

Pride, aspirations, expectation and enthusiasm. All these, combined in ample measure to shape the idea of Odisha’s own university around 85 years ago. It was only logical that the state, born in 1936 and bubbling with the energy of the new, would seek an educational institution to build its future.

Utkal University came into being in 1943 but preceding its birth, was the long struggle of a few men with a steely determination. As the alumni celebrate its 75th birth anniversary, they must remember the contribution of the likes of Biswanath Das, Pandit Nilakantha Das, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati and Pandit Nilkantha Mishra in the making of the institution in the pre-independence times. Without them, Utkal University would have taken longer to materialise.