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Orissa is an ancient land. It was inhabited from the pre-historic period when the Early Man used stone tools. By the 3rd Century B.C. , Orissa had progressed from food gathering stage to civilization and it's written history began with Ashoka. Kharavela (1st Century BC) place this land of the political map of India. Orissa has an extremely rich cultural heritage.
Orissa was opened to cultural influences from all sides, right from the beginning its history. Mahavir, Jain and Bhudha visited orissa. Bhudhisim progressed in Orissa from the days of Ashoka. Orissa has four places of pilgrimage connected with Vaisnavism, Saivism, Sun worship and Sakti cult. They are at Puri, Bhubaneswar, Konark and Jajpur respectively. Jagannath is the 'LORD' of the Universe and HE embodies universal harmony. No reason other than Orissa could have produced a god like "Jagannath", HE appears before the devotees in many guises, such a Visnu, Siva, Bhudha, Krishna, Rama and as the Universal God.
In the sphere of literature, Oirssa made significant contributions. Gita Govinda, Sahitya Darapana, Ekavali, Saraswati Vilasa, Chapel Samhita, Harihara Chaturangam and other works survive as palm leaf manuscripts.
From the earliest times the great sailors of Kalinga dominated the Ocean. So great was the fame of the ancient kalinga as a maritime power that Kalidas refers to the King of Kalinga as " Mahodadhipati" or The Lord of Seas. Kalinga had cultural relations and political with Sri Lanka, South east asia, java, Sumatra etc.
Orissa occupies a distinct place in the Indian Art history, on account of the great monuments and master pieces of sculpture. The caves of Khandagiri & Udayagiri (1st Century BC), The Sun Temple at Konark (13th Century), Lingaraj Temple at Bhubaneswar (11th Century), Jagannath Temple at Puri (12th Century) etc., shows the great architectural heritage of Orissa.
Orissa has line tradition in painting. The great temples shows the wonderful achievements in sculptures of Orissa art.
Orissa has a rich tradition in dancing also. The
dance art in course of time developed into a distinctive school, which
is termed as Odissi dance and it is very famous different classical systems
of Indian dancing.
Orissa in the East Coast of India, having 480 kms
if seashore, has rich mineral wealth, water resources, coal reserves, land
for development of Industries and skilled and unskilled labour.
