Its territory formed a part of the ancient
Kalinga of Mahabharat fame. Ashok the
Mauryan King of Magadh, invaded Kalinga
in 261 BC and this event has gone down
in history as the Great Kalinga war.
Then the people of Kalinga offered a
relentless & dauntless resistance,
but they lost at last. How desperate
was the battle, how bitterly was it
fought, and how terrible were the results,
are known from Ashok's own descriptions.
This is what he wrote about the Kalinga
war in his thirteenth Rock Edict. The
country of Kalinga was conquered when
King Priyadarshan, beloved of the Gods
had been anointed eight years. One hundred
and fifty thousand were there from captured,
one hundred thousand were there slain,
and many times as many died.
But what was the result? The conquered Kalinga conquered her
conqueror. This was the last war fought by him after which he became
the great champion of Buddhism and upheld
the values of peace and non-violence.
The ancient state rose to prominence as a Kingdom under Kharavela
, a great conquerer and patron of Jainism, in the second half
of the Ist century B.C. Other great rulers belonged to the Keshari
dynasty and the Eastern Ganga dynasty who were also
great builders.
At one time the vast kingdom spanned from Ganga to Godavari. The
flourishing maritime trade with South-East Asian countries i.e.
Java, Bornio had brought in a golden era of affluence and
opulence.
The Kalinga School of architecture flourished from the 7th
to 13th century A.D. The most important monuments of this period can
be seen in and around Bhubaneswar and Puri. The Mukteswar Temple is
the finest piece of architecture of Kalinga. The Lingaraj
Temple of Bhubaneswar, the Jagannath Temple of Puri above all
the world renowned world heritage Sun Temple at Konark is the
epitome of temple architecture and sculpture. The construction of
Konark Temple utilized 12 years of state revenue which can be
compared to the mighty Moghul Empire, which also utilized its
resources of 12 years for building world famous Taj Mahal.
It has also shown its military strength and prowess during
Buxi Jagabandhu, period of the warrior of Khurda Paikas. The
glories of Orissa ended in later half of 16th century. Two centuries
later the British administered the final blows by dividing the
original territory in to several administrative units.
In 1936, ultimately an independent state Orissa was constituted
as a separate province by carving out certain portions from the
provinces of Bihar, Orissa and Madras. As centuries rolled by,
Orissa continued to invite heros, Scholars and prophets alike.
Famous Kings like Samudra Gupta and Harsha Siladitya came to Orissa
on political missions while scholars like Prajna and Hieuen-Tsang
came to learn at centers of learning. Hieuen-Tsang, the famous
Chinese pilgrim of the 7th century who visited Orissa was surprised
to see the University of Puspagiri imparting knowledge to
innumerable scholars now lying buried under Buddhist complex at
Ratnagiri-Lalitgiri-Udayagiri.
Various prophets visited Orissa, the significant among
those visits is the visit of Adi Sankaracharya in
9th century to Puri to make it a center of his mission and a
towering citadel of his spiritual ideology & message. He
established four monasteries in four corners of Indian Peninsula out
of which " The Gobardhan Pitha" of Puri was one of the most
significant. Another Great Saint Ramanujacharya, the propounder of
Visista Dwaita philosophy also visited Puri and established the Emar
Matha. In the same century Jayadev composed his world famous lilting
treatise "Gita Govinda". Subsequently in 16th century Sri Chaitanya,
the exponent of the Bhakti Cult came to Orissa and made Puri
his abode for last 18 years of his life. His contemporary Pancha
Sakha i.e. Sri Jagannath Das, Sri Achyutananda Das, Sri Balaram Das,
Ananta & Yasobanta were spiritual stalwarts and literary
luminaries of the time.
Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja, Kabi Surya Baladev Ratha, Radhanath
Ray, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Pandit Gopabandhu Dash, Pandit Nilakantha
Das, Godabaris Mishra, Kalandi Charan Panigrahi, Sachidananda
Routray & many others have contributed substantially to the
language & literature of Orissa.
Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das was the architect of Modern Orissa
and subsequently Sri Nabakrushna Chowdhury, Dr. Harekrishna Mahatab,
Sri Bijayananda Patnaik & others engineered their best efforts
for catapulting Orissa to himalayan heights of fame & glory.
In fact, Orissa has become a multi dimensional, multi coloured,
many splendoured, vibrant & boisterous modern state all set on
its journey in the present millennium to make its presence and
voice felt in the nooks & crannies of the world through the
Universal Cult of brotherhood, its unique cultural heritage,
luxuriant forests & wild life, sprawling Chilika Lake, bountiful
coastline, wide range of tribes & colourful canvass of art &
culture.
Orissa has been resurgent again rejuvenating and resuscitating
its ancient glory, glamour & greatness. |
