Baripada

Baripada
—  city  —
Baripada Location of Baripada in Orissa and India
Coordinates	21°56′N 86°43′E
Country	India
State	Orissa
District(s)	Mayurbhanj
Population	110,058 (2011)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 36 metres (118 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 757xxx • Telephone • +06792-xxxxxx • Vehicle • OR11-X-XXXX

Baripada is a city and a municipality in Mayurbhanj district in the state of Orissa, India. Baripada is the district headquarters. It is a place to stay and tour the Mayurbhanj region. This region is home Similipal, one of the most important wildlife parks of India. The [National parks of India|national park] comprises of lush valleys, forest lands and scores of ancient temples.

Rathyatra (Chariot Festival) is one of the main attractions of Baripada. Baripada also hosts the second most popular Rath Yatra of Orissa after Puri. Baripada is also the home of the Mayurbhanj Chhau dance, an ancient martial dance form. The 5^th Battalion of OSAP (Orissa State Armed Police) is situated at Rangamatia.

Geography

Baripada is located at 21.94°N 86.72°E / 21.94; 86.72. It has an average elevation of 36 metres (118 feet).

Education

Baripada is the seat for North Orissa University at Takhatpur. It is also home to the Maharaja Purna Chandra College and to the MPC Autonomous College. The oldest high school is Maharaja Krushna Chandra High School built during 1889. The town also has a Kendriya Vidyalaya school. There is an English Medium School - St Anne's Convent School, Baripada. It also has Maharaja Purnachandra Junior and Autonomous college for providing intermediate, graduate and postgraduate level academics in various disciplines ranging from Science to Arts and many specializations. One of the other schools include Maharani Premakumari Girls High school situated at Lalbazar that is exclusively for girls secondary and higher secondary education. The engineering college named Seemanta Engineering College, affilated to BPUT is situated near Jharpokharia which is 35km away from Baripada.

Transportation

Baripada was the first to witness a train communication in Orissa. The then ruler of Mayurbhanj, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Bhanjdeo, connected Baripada by a narrow-gauge rail network to the Howrah-Chennai railway corridor. The first ever airport during the British Raj in Orissa also stands onto this date at sites of Rajahmundry (16 km from city) and Rasgovindpur (60 km from the city) with their 2 km-long runways standing tall to this day.

Now a broad gauge railway line has replaced it which has benefited over 150,000 of this city's population. As of now, a Baripada - Rupsa - Balasore DEMU Pgr. train and a Superfast Express train from this city to the state capital Bhubaneswar have begun their operations. A new train to Kolkata (Shalimar) from Baripada has been runnng from the year 2010-11. There is a demand for a direct express train from Baripada to Puri.

Regarding road transport, Baripada has the maximum number of luxury A/C bus owners in Orissa.^{[citation needed]} There is connectivity to Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Balasore, Angul, Bolangir, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jamshedpur and Kolkata from here.

The city is 30 km from the starting point of N.H. 5 which goes to Chennai. Also this starting point named Jharpokharia is the meeting point of N.H. 5 and N.H. 6 (Kolkata-Mumbai).

There are a wide range of taxis are available for sight seeing and tours. Similipal National Park is a national park, an Elephant Reserve and a Tiger Reserve situated only 30 km from Baripada.

Culture

Baripada is popular for its Arts and Culture. Many famous stars of Ollywood (Oriya Film Industry) are from Baripada. Baripada is famous for the Chhau dance form which is famous the world over. The Chaitra Parva celebrated in mid-April recognizes the local talents. Uttarshai and Dakshinshai are two main groups which perform in this festival along with many other participants. Jhumar Song is popular in Baripada.

Baripada is the place where Ratha Yatra (Car festival of Lord Jagannath) started after Puri. Hence Baripada is called as Ditiya Srikhetra (2^nd Puri). Baripada Ratha Yatra is popular for its unique culture. One of the unique tradition is that of women pulling the Ratha of Maa Subhadra started in Baripada. Maa Ambika Temple is one of the chief temples and Maa Ambika is a highly revered deity in this region.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Baripada had a population of 110,058. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Baripada has an average literacy rate of 89.31%; with 93.45% of the males and 84.88% of females literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Population

The major population of Baripada are the tribals, next to them are the Oriyas consisting of Brahmins and Kshatriyas, rest of the population is accounted to people of Bihar origin, Bengalis, Punjabis, Marwaris and other north Indians. Muslims also constitute a minor part of the population.

Economics

Baripada is home to many forest-based products such as timber but due to heavy deforestation the saw mills were banned within 25 km radius of Baripada. Baripada is known for Sabai grass plantations, an Indian bush that grows on red volcanic soil and has strong fibres that are used for rope making known as Bubei. Also it has many cashew plantation fields. Khali (Plates) and Duna (Bowls) making, that is made from leaves of Sal tree leaves (Shorea robusta), is another business that local men engage in to earn a living. Besides it has many brick kilns on the banks of river Budhabalaga (only perennial river flowing through the city). Timber still remains one of the major sources of income for the local populace.

Politics

Current MLA from Baripada Assembly Constituency is Sananda Marandi of BJD, who won the seat in State elections of 2009. Previous MLAs from this seat were Bimal Lochan Das of JMM who won in 2004, Kishore Dash of JMM who won this seat in 2000, Prasanna Kumar Dash who won representing INC(I) in 1980 and representing INC in 1995, 1985 and 1977, and Chhatish Chandra Dhal of JD in 1990.

Baripada is part of Mayurbhanj (Lok Sabha constituency). The current MP of Lok Sabha is Laxman Tudu of BJD. From 2009 election year, Baripada constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Notable people

• Professor Dipak Sarangi, Notable Historian, Talented speaker.
• Saroj Kumar Pattnaik, Renowned Oriya Film Music Director.
• Prof. Sourindra Barik, Notable Oriya poet, recipient of National Sahitya Academy Award, Professor in English.
• Jatin Das, an international painter^{[citation needed]}
• Nandita Das, an international actress^{[citation needed]}
• Bijay Mohanty, an actor in Oriya-language films
• Uttam Mohanty, an actor in Oriya-language films^{[citation needed]}
• Jogesh Pati, an Indian American theoretical physicist at the University of Maryland, USA
• Dr. Abhijit Rout,a famous ayurvedic Doctor
• Subham Singh, Noted Videogame and technology Blogger,
• Manoranjan Das, Hotelier and Journalist dedicated to development of Mayurbhanj district, Managing Director, Hotel Ambika, Baripada.
• Kalyan Kumar Sinha, A senior journalist of AIR, PTI, DD
• Amarendralal Bose, Veteran journalist having 55 year career in English dailies, news agencies.
• Sudam Marndi, Ex-Member of Pariament from Mayurbhanj(ST) Loksabha constituency during 2004-2009, State President JMM, Orissa unit,Mass tribal leader having grassroot organisation.
• Arjun Bhuyan, the first graduate engineer of Orissa. Passed out from Shibpur Engineering College in 1903.