Introduction
Angul District is a centrally located district in the state of Odisha. Angul District came into existence on 1st of April, 1993. This district covers a geographical area of 6232 sq kilometres. According to 2001 census, total population of Angul District is about 11.40 lakh. Angul city is the district headquarters located at around 150 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar. The district headquarters is situated on the National Highway No.42. Angul District is well accessible from all the corners of the state. Angul District is well discovered for its hot spring named Athamallik.
History of Angul District
Angul District, the bridge of western and coastal halves of Odisha has its history derived from the relics found in the adjacent villages of Angul. As the available historical documents of Angul reveals, the district existed far back in the prehistoric and the protohistoric period. However the historical significance of Angul resides in the fact that Angul still retains its cultural identity, in spite of being colonized by different civilizations.
The history of Angul is recorded from the time when it survived as the feudatory kingdom inhabited by the Khonds. But the successive waves of the Hindu immigrants had driven back the Khonds. Finally, it appeared that the loosely formed principalities in the ancient times have come under the sway of the Hindu military chiefs, who often are at dispute with one another. The socio-political ethos was provocative enough to intrigue a plot against an existing ruler and to occupy his fort, taking advantage of the internal dissension. As the history of Angul depicts, gradually the fragmented parts and the mountainous hinterland of the feudatory Angul, acknowledged the over lordship of these Hindu warrior chiefs, who came to be popularized as Rajputs.
Though the recorded chronicles of Angul do not throw much light to the ruling families and the administrative system of ancient Angul, the excavated relics indicates that the earliest ruling families of Angul were the Kadamba Kings belonging to the Kashyapa gotra. Raja Dhanurjjaya Singh Jagaddeva was the foremost ruler of the dynasty, who consolidated the border villages like Khargaprasad, Mangalpur and Kamlang and constituted an integrated whole of the Angul Kingdom. Raja Jagaddeva was a vigorous warrior who even extended his kingdom in the distant Goulpur and installed a victory pillar with the title of Dhanu Singh Thengal, which commemorates the history of Angul and the legend of his victory.
As Raja Dhanurjjaya was issueless, the throne of Angul, after his death was inherited by his younger brother by Raja Nityanand Singh Jagaddeva. Being a peace loving man and lacks the potentiality of his brother, Nityanand could not retain the former glory Angul attained in the reign of Dhanurjjaya Singh. The King of Dhenkhal appeared again in the ancient history of Angul, when he snatched away the border villages, formerly ruled by him. Finally the son of Nityanand, Raja Krushna Chandra, restored the territories yielded by his father to the Raja of Dhenkhal. Till the throne was succeeded by Raja Krushna Chandra, the history of Angul was dotted with the continuous upheavals caused by the wars of the Kadamba kings, leading to the extension of their kingdoms.
Before long, Raja Krushna Chandra consecrated the throne, he initiated the improvement programs for the rustic tribes residing in the vast region of Angul. As far as the history of Angul is concerned, the initiation of the development programs throughout the State laid the cultural foundation of Angul. He constructed the temple of Nagarimohandeva in his capital city and inaugurated the custom of worship of the deities. According to the history of Angul, Raja Krushna Chandra is the father of cultural tradition of Angul. Being issueless, the throne after him was succeeded by his younger brother. But in spite of being a competent ruler, he had to acknowledge his territory to the vibrant Marathas.
The Marathas continued to be the sovereign rulers of the whole of Orissa for a couple of years and finally ceded Angul, along with the entire region of Orissa to the British East India Company and by a pact signed between them, accepted the British supremacy along and maintain loyalty and submission to the British and conceded to pay Rs.1250 to the British as an annual tribute or "peshkash". It is from the 1803 A.D, the British era started in the history of Angul. The British era initiated the present history of Angul.
During the British regime Jarwar Singh, the eldest son of Achala Mansingh, was the indigenous ruler in the throne of Angul but followed the Company`s direction in ruling the State. However after Jarwar Singh, the socio-political panorama of Angul was dominated by the bloody fratricide to grab the absolute power and the throne of Angul. The British Governor General Mr. Richardson directed the Acting Collector and the settlement Commissioner for a joint investigation. The governor General deposed Prithvi Singh the former ruler, who was the sole contriver of the troubled situation in Angul and elected Somnath Singh, a boy of 14 years as the eminent successor of the throne of Angul.
As far as the history of Angul is concerned Somnath Singh is the last king of Angul who ruled for long 33 years, from 1813 to 1847. He was extremely spirited ruler and incurred displeasure among the neighboring chiefs of Dhenkhal, Hindol, Despalla, Athamallik and Baudh. In 1831, Somnath Singh plundered some of the villages of Despalla and was entitled by the Government to pay a compensation of Rs 1450, what he refused to pay. In 1837, Somnath Singh was suspected to have committed 6 murders and had given refuge two Khond Chiefs, who instigated a revolt against the British government. When asked by the Government to deliver the offenders to the Government, he repudiated the idea of a loyal submission to the British Government. The British consider this as an open threat to them. Finally after investigation the Raja was summoned in Cuttack, who again refused too attend that. With this open defiance and following a long career of the mismanagement and the oppression, the British General Captain Dunlop was determined to depose the king and nominated his son, Loknath singh Gambhira Samant in the throne by a proclamation and annexed the kingdom of Angul as the administrative unit under the direct provision of the British.
According to the historical facts of Angul, that though the native chiefs under the direction of the British Government ruled it, The Government was in favor to occupy Angul from the native chief. Being a developed seat of economy and culture, Angul was always a favorite for the British. The British forces thereupon confiscated the entire region of Angul in the year 16th September 1848. Loknath Singh, the final king was also deprived of his hereditary right of kingship with a monthly allowance of Rs 50. Angul, thus come under the sway of the British and was administered by the Superintendent of the Tributary Mahals, until 1891, when Angul was constituted as the separate district and the whole land of Khondmals was attached with it. Down from 1891, the British constituted the history of Angul, with a political establishment.
Geography of Angul District
Mahanadi River and Brahmani River flows through the district of Angul making it fertile. Various natural resources are found in abundance in Angul District and make a major contribution to the maximum amount of revenues to the state government. It is because of this reason that it is considered as the most strategically advanced district.
Administration of Angul District
The district of Angul comprises 4 subdivisions out of which 3 are ex-State areas and the remaining one, Angul was managed directly by Government prior to Independence. Each of these ex-State areas, before their merger into the state of Orissa, had its own system of land management, revenue administration and other laws, rules and practices. Excise Office started its functioning in the district from 1.4.1994. The Collector is the Chief Excise Officer of the District and Superintendent of Excise who is the executive head of Excise department in the district is working under the direct administrative control of Collector. The Angul district segregates its administration under 8 Blocks and a single municipality. The District Social Welfare section of Angul is under the control of W and C.D. Department of Orissa, Bhubaneshwar and DSWO.
The 8 Blocks in four sub-division of Angul district are cover under ICDS to provide six packages of services to the pre-school children, pregnant women and nursing mother. The Government provides to the people by way of giving pension, nutrition food to the pre-school children, school children, pregnant and nursing mothers, aids to physically handicapped persons, to old and infant people. The district also provides and makes arrangements for Public Distribution System, Mid-Day Meal Programme, Annapurna Yojana, Antyodayanna Yojana. The Angul district also provides various other welfare activities like Merit cum Poverty Scholarship, Post-Matric Scholarship for S.C Students, Pre-Matric Scholarship etc. There are 6 working Primary Fisherman Co-operative societies, which exploit the big water bodies like Reservoirs, Rivers and Large G.P. Tanks.
The districts administration also looks after the Women and Child development schemes. Integrated Child Development Scheme, National Maternity Benefit Scheme, State Old Age Pension and National Old Age Pension Schemes, Infant Mortality Reduction Mission are some of the schemes taken care by the administration. The administrative department also looks after the needs of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Socially and Educationally Backward Class. Modified Area Development Approach (MADA) aims at development of tribal in an out of the area. Micro Project for Primitive Tribal Community is also implemented.
Economy of Angul District
Angul District is the site for many big industries like National Aluminum Company (NALCO), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Heavy water Plant, Talcher, Indian Aluminium Product Ltd etc. Apart from animal husbandry and agriculture, Angul District has a flourishing mining industry as well.
The regional homogeneity and the optimal rainfall of Angul are conducive for the agricultural growth of the district. Agriculture shares a vital position in the economy of the district. It provides direct and indirect employment of about 70% of the total workforce of the district as per the 2001 census. About 2,16,403 hectares ;of land is cultivated, which covers an area of 32.7 % of the total geographical area.
About 23% of the cultivated land is irrigated. Hence the distribution and quantity of rainfall have a vital bearing on the crop coverage and the crop yield. However the administrative unit of the district has taken several attempts to uplift the agricultural growth in Angul. The Deputy Director, Agriculture, Dhenkhal range with his field officers at Angul are providing agricultural extension services to the farmers. The field functionaries are modified to accentuate the crops production thereby supplementing the economy with highly productive crops.
The proper utilization of the technology and the scientific measures are also helpful for the development of agriculture, which contributes the major section of Angul`s economy. Training programs for the farmers, at the same time providing them with productive hybrid seeds and disseminating the new technology with balanced and integrated use of fertilizers, use of bio fertilizers and bio pesticides etc. induce the scientific method of agriculture, most of the cultivated area is brought under the system of double cropping, so that maximum yielding of crops supports the financial set up in Angul.
Paddy, Maize, Ragi, oilseeds, pulses, small millets and vegetables etc. are the principal crops of the Khariff seasons. The Rabi crops include paddy, wheat, maize, field pea, sunflower, garlic, Niger, potato, onion, tobacco and Sugarcane, coriander etc. Most of the crops supply the domestic requirements.
To enhance the agricultural coverage, irrigation, seeds, fertilizers and credit are considered to be the primary input. The medium irrigation projects- Derjang and Aunli etc supports the cultivation in Angul district to a large extent. Only the certified seeds are being sold in the sale centres of the agricultural department. Farmers are encouraged to produce high yielding seeds of the certified quality under the village program. Seeds are sold in the subsided market rate during the flood or draught. Under the seed replacement ratio mostly those hybrids seeds are grown in Gatisahaktipir and the adjoining areas.
Moreover the agricultural credit is supported by the finance from bank. Total agricultural credit ranges upto 3.66 crores and it is multiplied into 33.40 crores in 2001-02. "Pani Panchayat". Basically a society of farmers have been formed, who looks after the land management and the irrigation facility of the lands.
Though, Angul District is located at the agro-climatic zone of India, the region experiences vagaries of weather, including drought and flood, which hampers the economy to some extent. Two significant rivers Mahanadi and Brahmani, with their tributaries drained Angul. But since the rivers are solely rain fed, the agriculture is dependent on rain. Hence the proper utilization of the optimum rainfall and the profitable utilization of land have been emphasized for maintaining the stable growth in agriculture.
With the utilization of the modern technology the agriculture of Angul has attained prominence. Rashtriya Krushi Vima Yojna or National Agricultural Insurance Scheme was launched during the 9th Five Year Plan to provide insurance to the notified field crop. The Government subsidy is provided to the farmers in Angul now can purchase modern technical instruments to enhance the crop productivity. The agricultural tract of Angul is brought under the jurisdiction of Krishi Vighyan Kendra, a project under the Indian Council of Agriculture and Research, for testing and the transfer of agricultural technologies to the farmer communities. The government for the proper marketing of the surplus crops has set up 2 regulated markets. This induces the agricultural upliftment and brings the stability in the agriculture sector of Angul`s economy.
Horticulture and the orchard cultivation supply a major part of agricultural economy. Since much of the Horticulture products are exported, horticulture considered to be in the Cash crop section of economy. The highly nutritious and productive crops are in soaring demand nationwide. Angul is the fruit-bowl of Odisha and accounts to the major segment of the fruit export in Odisha.
The proper exploitation of the available lands, wasteland utilization and providing useful technology and subsidy to the farmers including their proper training etc. are the primary concerns of the government during the plan period to enhance the agricultural status of Angul`s economy. Moreover the non-profit organizations and the Self-Help co-operatives have come up to help the farmers and the under developed classes of Angul, economically. In the recent times agriculture is the principal section of the economy of Angul district.
Education in Angul District
Angul has been serving as the center of cultural and the economic development since the prehistoric and the protohistoric times. The tradition of education has already been there but the British laid the strong foundation of education and divided the system of education in three major categories- Primary, secondary and the higher education. The standard of education has been taken into consideration at the very beginning of the plan period in the post independence era. Government has implemented measures for the upliftment of the educational infrastructure in Angul.
Presently there are 1098 primary schools in Angul. 4 district Inspectors of schools (Angul, Talcher, Athamallik, Pallahara) oversee the entire operation of the primary school system in Angul. Nearly all the students in Angul are under the education system. Government, in Angul has been successful enough to ensure an all round development of primary education. The School Inspector, appointed by the state government directly operates from Dhenkanal.
There are 212 secondary schools in Angul, of which 112 are the government high schools, 15 are partially aided and 85 are unaided recognized college. The government for the educational development of the backward and economically underdeveloped classes has adopted several projects and programs.
The Government has put forward Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan in Angul in 2001, which is an historical stride towards achieving the elusive goal of Universalization of elementary education. The program not only endorses the educational consciousness of the people but at the same time promote the sense of social justice thereby wiping out the indiscrimination in the society in respect of caste, creed and gender. With the solemn endeavor of promoting elementary education in Angul the Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan has brought together, the Panchayati Raj institutions, School Management Committees, Village and Urban Slum Level Education Committee, Parent Teachers Associations, Mother Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous councils and various other grass root level structure and aims at operating them collectively.
Originally the total literacy Campaign was organized in undivided Dhenkanal district during March 1992. But in 1993, when Angul was dissected from Dhenkanal and was registered in the Societies Registration Act, 1860 to implement the Literacy campaign in the district. The sole objective of the campaign was to make the people of age group15-35 functionally literate.
National Literacy Mission approved the post literacy campaign in the district of Angul in November 1995, but the program launched in 1996. After a rapid success of the Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan in the field of education in Angul, the post Literacy Campaign emerged with the aim of providing special emphasis in Universalization of Primary Education, Women Development Programs, Joyful Learning, Rural Library movement and Vocational Training. These two consecutive programs induce an all round educational development in Angul.
The vocational training in the present years has made a burgeoning progress in the recent years. A bunch of technical institutions, providing superior quality of education reside in the core of Angul.
Demography of Angul District
As per the demographic survey of Angul in 2001, the entire district has a total population of 11,40,003, of which 5,876,234 constitute the male and 5,52,769 are the female population. The average density of population is about 179 per sq.km. About 30% of total populace belongs to the Scheduled caste and the Scheduled tribes. Though Angul is extremely developed financially, a major section of population live in the rural zone depending solely on Agriculture, as the demographic report reveals.
According to the information of the demographers about the town planning of Angul, it is exceptionally urbanized. About 73 PHCs (Public Health Centers) have been set up till date. To improve the rural infrastructure, emphasis has been given in the development of the health centers in those areas and to improve the condition of sanitation. Within a period of 10 years (1991-2001), Angul has made a notable progress to improve the communication system. Presently there are 237 Post Offices and 20 telephone exchanges set up in Angul. The demographers have remarked that with the Government concern, post offices and telephone exchanges are also constructed in the remote villages. During the last plan-period about 1166 villages are being electrified.
Culture of Angul District
Angul District is like a bridge between western and coastal halves of Orissa where the prehistoric and protohistoric relics are found in several villages. The geographical location of Angul made the Bhanjas of Angulaka-pattana, the Sulkis of Kodalaka Mandala, the Nandodbhavas of Airavatta Mandala, the Tungas of Yamagartta Mandala rule over it. But all through the rules of different dynasties, Angul has retained her cultural identity which is much more prominent than its political establishments. Angul District is not only a land of magnificent hill ranges, old monuments, virgin and long river beds, downy flakes melodious jungle streams, healing hot springs, luxuriant forests, picturesque landscape, industrial houses but also a land of exciting and exuberant fasts and festivals. All the seasons of the year are marked with a variety of colourful celebrations. The traditions and customs, rites and rituals, dances and delicacies of the district are just precipitous.
The fasts and festivals of Angul District are mostly of two types namely Sarbajanina or community based and Gharoi or family based. The Sarbajanina festivals are celebrated with pump and ceremony by the people in general at the community level. The language used by the people is Oriya language. It has many variants with slight alterations. Some of the tribal use their own language. Dances are many dimensional, such as, martial, ritualistic, ecstatic and funeral etc. Such dances are always accompanied by music which makes them enjoyable. In the tribal communities there are many types of dances. They are pigeon dance, boar dance, elephant dance, and snake dance, bear dance, etc. Angul District is a land of great writers, poets and historians. Many great authors have born in this piece of land. Famous temples and unique puppet dances signify the rich culture and tradition of this district.
Since a majority of population are Hindus, the cultural trend of Angul follows the essential trait of Hinduism. The inhabitants here worship a shapeless village God smear with vermillion. The method of worship has the flavor of the worship of the adivasis of West Bengal. The curious feature of the religious tradition of the inhabitants in Angul is the worship of small tanks during the occasion, locally known as "Dwiti Baman Puja". The married women for the longevity of their husband and children perform it.
The religious practices though radiate the fundamental feature of the Hindu Culture, the diversification of the religious practices is noticed in the different sections of Angul, which also influences the cultural life to a large extent. Mahima Dharma is practiced in the wide regions of Dhenkanal. Apart from these the important rituals are the worship of Devi Durga or Durga Puja, Diwali, Shiva Ratri and Holi.
Some of the traditions are exclusively performed by the tribals- Amb Nua (fresh mango eating), Raja, Gammha Purnima, and Push Punei.
Tourism in Angul District
Tourism of Angul District covers the industrial area with rich deposit of bauxite and the industrial built nearby. Capped with impenetrable green forest, the rich varieties of wildlife and the gorge of Mahanadi, one of the mightiest gorges of India constitute the primary interest in the tourism of Angul. Popularized as "Saatkosia", an ideal natural habitat for the crocodiles, the phenomenon boulders in Talcher offers a unique experience for the tourist in Angul.
Nature Tourism in Angul District
Bordered by the small hillocks on both, the roads of Angul cast the view of a garlanded area with an open plain. The city has come into glare of publicity with the establishment of NALCO, the largest aluminum complex in Asia. Since the city of Angul offers an effective road network, it has a profitable contribution to the growth of the tourism industry in the district of Angul. The tourism of Angul is intensely blessed with the natural landscape and the exquisite beauty of Tikarpada, which is geometrically almost at the side of "Saatkosia" gorge. The meandering Mahanadi, following its course through the bountiful hills forms a gorge here, which is acclaimed as one of the mightiest gorge of India. The wilderness of the rocky gorge cast an enchanting sight and an ideal adventurous spot for angling and boating. The forest and the hillocks around the village, which have enormous reserve of fauna, mesmerize the visitors. Moreover the Gharial Crocodile Sanctuary enhanced the status of tourism in Angul.
Pilgrimage Tourism in Angul District
Small temple complexes in the pockets of the district largely benefit the tourism industry of Angul. The beautiful temple complex of Shree Saila Khetra on Sunasagada Hill top fetches a bulk of visitors. The main temple comprise of several chambers including Mukhasala, Jagamohan, Natyamandir and Garvagriha. The principal deities worshipped in the main temple are of Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra. The temple attracts a lot of tourists throughout the year. The presiding goddess of Angul is Devi Budhithakurani.
Since Angul had been recognized as the Shakta center since the 8th Century, the principal attraction here is the very structure of the idol of Budhithakurani. A stone icon without any proper shape is covered with vermillion. This Shakta temple constitutes a favourable tourist spot in the district of Angul. The historical remnants of the village of Bhimakund promoted the tourism of Angul to a large extent. A rock-art sleeping image of Lord Vishnu, which has been assigned to construct in 8th and 9th century is the key interest about the village Bhimakund. Presently it is situated within the large industrial complex of NTPC. Maa Maheswari Temple at the core of Athamallik is the citadel of the socio-cultural life of the region. Mythologically, the goddess is believed to be the royal deity and attracts a vast chunk of tourist throughout the year. Malayagiri range of Pallahara subdivision houses a spectacular waterfall. The glittering waterfall makes a jump from the hilltop in a way paying homage to Lord Shiva. The pristine freshness with an enchanting scenic beauty, this place is an ideal picnic and relaxation spot.
Leisure Tourism in Angul District
The industrial complex of Talcher constitutes an important centre of interest in the tourism industry of Angul. The Rani Park of Talcher with an area covering about 64 km is famous for its diversified flora and fauna.
Apart from these the whole region of Angul is invested with enough interest for the tourist nationwide. However the tourism industry of Angul is supportive enough to the economic development of the district.
