Chhatrapur is a town and a

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Ganjam district Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

in the state of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, India.

About

Chhatrapur houses the district headquarter of

, Ganjam Police and RTO. Headquarters of Chhatrapur Sub-divion, Ganjam Police District, Tehsil, Block (CD), Education block is also situated here.

History

The

Ganjam Ganjam is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Brahmapur, Odisha, Brahmapur, one of the major city of Odisha, is situated in this district on the eastern coastline. Geography Ganjam is located at ...

area was a part of the ancient Kalinga empire which was occupied by

King Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was Emperor of Magadha from until his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynasty. His empire covered a large pa ...

in 261 B.C During this period it was the main route of South and East for shipping. Its huge number of black elephants attracted king Ashok to invading Kalinga. The district was named after the old township and European fort of Ganjam situated on the northern bank of river Rushikulya, which was the headquarter of the district. In 1757 it was French Commander Bussy, who marched into Ganjam and realized areas of tribute from feudal chiefs. It was the English who ultimately defeated the French in the Deccan and annexed Ganjam in 1759. The modern

carved out of the

Vizag Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

district of Madras Presidency and came into existence on 31 March 1936. Ganjam district separated from Madras Presidency and formed a part of the newly created Orissa Province with effect from 1 April 1936. The re-organized district comprises the whole of Ghumusar, Chhatrapur and Baliguda divisions, Aska division,Athaghara division,part of old Berhampur taluk, part of old Ichhapur taluk, part of Parlakhemundi plains and the whole of Parlakhemundi agency area in the old Chicacola division. In the year 1992, after the reorganization of districts by the Government of Odisha, the former Ganjam district bifurcated into 2 districts. The 7 blocks of the Paralakhemundi subdivision were separated to form a new district called Gajapati. While Ganjam district left with remaining 3 subdivisions, 22 blocks, and 18 urban areas. Chhatrapur remained the district headquarter for

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Chhatrapur town had a population of 22,027 (Second biggest city in the district of

after Brahmapur). Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Chhatrapur has an average literacy rate of 89%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 85% and female literacy of 73%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. According to 2011 Census information the sub-district code of Chhatrapur block is 03085. Total area of Chhatrapur block is including rural area and urban area. Chhatrapur as a block has a population of 94,683 people with 20,415 houses in its 46 villages.

Transport

Chhatrapur is the administrative capital of Ganjam and gateway to south

, and has a well-developed transportation network. All express trains of Indian railway have a halt here. It is well connected with the Howrah madras highway so all luxury busses also passing through.

Road

Chhatrapur city is connected with National Highways NH-16 (

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

–

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

)and State Highway 36 (Odisha) (Surada to Chhatrapur via Hinjilicut) with other cities and towns of

. The three-wheeler auto taxis are the most important mode of transportation in this city. Taxis also ply on the city's roads. The Ganjam Urban Transport Services Limited (GUTSL) with joint partnership with

State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) have come up with an agreement, valid for one year, to run a city-bus service for Berhampur to Chhatrapur and urban centres on its periphery ( Gopalpur, and Hinjli) on 27 February 2014.

Rail

Chatrapur railway station is situated on the East coast railway line with code CAP. Which is a major route connecting the two metros

and

of India. It is directly connected to

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, Ahmadabad,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

, Berhampur,

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

, Surat, Tirupati, Vishakhapatnam,

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, Raipur, Rourkela, Sambalpur and many more cities of India. There are two railway stations in Chhatrapur; they are Chhatrapur Station CAP and Chhatrapur Court Station which is a Passenger Halt.

Climate and regional setting

The maximum summer temperature is 37 °C; the minimum winter temperature is 16 °C. The mean daily temperature varies from 33 °C to 38 °C. May is the hottest month; December is the coldest. The average annual rainfall is 1250 mm and the region receives monsoon and torrential rainfall from July to October.

Politics

In 2024

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) from Chhatrapur Assembly Constituency is Krushna Chandra Nayak of Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP) who won the seat in State elections of 2024. Previous MLA s from this seat include Subash Chandra Behera of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), who won the seat in State elections of 2019. Dr Priyanshu Pradhan of BJD who won this seat in 2014, Narayan Reddy of CPI who won this seat in 2004 Rama Chandra Panda of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP)who won this seat in 2000, Daitari Behera of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC) in 1995, Parsuram Panda of CPI in 1990, Ashok Kumar Choudhury of INC in 1985, and Biswanath Sahu of CPI in 1980 and in 1977. Chhatrapur is part of

Berhampur (Lok Sabha constituency) Brahmapur is a Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency in Odisha, India. Assembly Segments Elected Members Since its formation in 1952, 18 elections have been held till date. It was a two member constituency in 1957. List of members el ...

References

{{Municipalities of Odisha Cities and towns in Ganjam district