Odisha Day in India Date in the current year: April 1, 2024

The state of Odisha, known as Orissa before 2010, is located in Eastern India. Its modern boundaries were demarcated by the British colonial authorities based on ethnic and linguistic criteria: the majority of people in Odisha belong to the Odia ethnic group and speak the Odia language as their mother tongue.

Throughout the history of Odisha, the name and boundaries of the region have varied. Historical names of Odisha include Kalinga, Utkala (hence one of the names of Odisha Day, Utkala Dibasa), Mehakantara, Udra, Orda, Oddiyana, Kamala Mandala, South Kosala, Kongoda, Trikalinga, Chedi, Tosali, Uranshin, Jajnagar, and Odivissa.

Ancient and Medieval Odisha was ruled by a number of dynasties, including Marya, Mahameghavahana, Satavahana, Eastern Ganga, Gajapati, Bhoi, Suryavanash Sankara, and others. In 1559, Mukunda Deva captured the throne of Odisha in a bloody coup. He is considered the last ruler of independent Odisha.

In 1568, Odisha was conquered by Sultan Sulaiman Khan Karrani of Bengal. After that, local rulers often fought for control over the region. In addition, Europeans became interested in it upon their arrival in the Indian Subcontinent. The Portuguese established their first settlements in what is now Odisha in the 16th century and the British followed suit in the second half of the 18th century.

In 1765, Governor of the Bengal Presidency Robert Clive acquired the diwani (fiscal management) rights of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. In 1803, the British conquered the region in the Second Anglo-Maratha War with the Maratha Empire. The colonial authorities administered Odisha and Behar as part of Bengal.

The first step towards the formation of Odisha as a separate administrative entity was made in 1903, when lawyer and social reformer Madhusudan Das founded a social and cultural organization named Utkal Sammilani. Its main goal was to unite Odia-speaking regions into a single province.

On April 1, 1912, Bihar and Odisha were separated from Bengal to form the Bihar and Orissa Province. Exactly 24 years later, the province was split in two, and the new province of Orissa came into existence. That is why April 1, 1936 is considered the birthday of modern Odisha.

However, not all Odia-speaking regions were part of the new province; some Odia-speaking princely states joined the Eastern States Agency. Following India’s independence, the Eastern States Union (the successor of the Eastern States Agency) collapsed, and these princely states acceded to Odissa. In 2010, the name of the state was changed from Orissa to Odisha in order to conform the Hindi and English names to the Odia spelling and pronunciation.

Odisha Day is widely celebrated across the state every year. The celebration includes various cultural programs, firework displays, and other exciting events and activities.