Jharsuguda (ଝାରସୁଗୁଡ଼ା) is a city and district headquarters of

Jharsuguda district Jharsuguda is a district in Odisha, India with Jharsuguda town as its headquarters. This region is rich in coal and other mineral reserves. Of late, many small and medium scale iron and steel units have been set up in the vicinity of Jharsugu ...

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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is an industrial hub, consisting mainly of metallurgical industries. It is well connected to major cities of India through the rail network, and a recently inaugurated as Veer Surendra Sai Airport. It is popularly known as the "Powerhouse of Odisha" due to its Mega Steel, Aluminium & Power Projects. Its First Industrialist in SSI Steel Sector of the Region was Jayprakash Badhan. Jharsuguda has often been referred as "Little India" as well because of its diverse demography, language and culture.

Major Tribes

This district has the major tribal populations among them important tribes are Sabara,

Kisan Kisan may refer to: * Kisan people The Kisan are a tribal group found in Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. They are traditional farmers and a food gathering people. They speak Kisan, a dialect of Kurukh language, Kurukh, as well as Odia lang ...

, Kurukh,

Bhuiya The Bhuiyan or Bhuiya are an indigenous community found in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They are not only geographically disparate but also have many cultural variations an ...

Munda __NOTOC__ Munda may refer to: Places India * Munda, a village in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan, India * Munda Majra, a former village in Haryana, India * Munda Pind, a village in Punjab, India Pakistan * Munda, a village near Bilyamin in Kur ...

and

Santal The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic-speaking Munda peoples, Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found ...

. This district has unique diversity in terms of tribal culture, language and other focal culture. Kurukh people speak their mother tongue Kurukh language with

Sadri Sadri is a municipality in the Pali district of Rajasthan, India. Before it was formally founded, there were various settlements in the area which fell under the Jagir of the Rajput clan Sindhal Rathore who still reside in the central part of ...

language. Munda people speak their

Ho language Ho (, Warang Chiti: ) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken primarily in India by about 2.2 million people (0.202% of India's population) per the 2001 census. It is spoken by the Ho, Munda, Kolha and Kol tribal ...

and Kisan people speak their

dialect and Kharia speak their Kharia.

and local Odia dialect is also quite popular among tribal communities.

Geography and Climate

Jharsuguda is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is located in Western Odisha. State highway 10 and National Highway 49 (NH-49) pass through this place. The

Ib river The Ib River is a tributary of the Mahanadi River in central India, which it joins to flow directly into the Hirakud Reservoir in Odisha state. The Ib originates in hills near Pandrapet at an elevation of . It passes through Raigarh District a ...

flows along the western side of Jharsuguda town and the river Bheden flows in the south. The area of the town is 70.47 km², and has a population of 579,499. The town is situated at 21.82° north longitude and 84.1° latitude and at a height of 700–750 feet above mean sea level. The highest temperature recorded during the summer months is 48.0 °C. It has an average rainfall of 1,527 mm.

Culture

Jharsuguda is a cosmopolitan city housing people from various regions of India. Major festivals celebrated in the town are: * Nuakhai: This is an important festival for the people of Western Odisha. This festival falls during Autumn season. It is a harvest festival celebrated after the first crops are harvested (similar to baisakhi in Punjab). Families gather during this period and eat together. After that, the younger take the blessings of elders and dance with friends. * Bhai Jauntia: A festival observed by the women of this region where a sister prays for the betterment of her brother. *

Rath Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. They are held annually during festivals in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The term also refers to the popular annual Ratha Yatra of Puri that involves a public processi ...

: Rath Yatra is celebrated in the town & villages of the district. Lord

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

, his elder brother lord Balabhadra and his younger sister Subhadra travel in a wooden car to their mausi mandir. *

Durga Puja Durga Puja (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Durgotsava or Shaaradotsava, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which pays homage to the Hinduism, Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victo ...

: Durga Puja has been celebrated in public ''

pandal A pandal is a fabricated structure, either temporary or permanent, that is used at many places such as either outside a building or in an open area such as along a public road or in front of a house in India and other neighbouring countries. This c ...

s'' in the town for more than half a century. It is one of the most celebrated festival locally in Jharsuguda. Most remarkable and favoured among these are specially Durga pandals of Sarbahal, Chowki para and Mangal Bazar and Puja by Sri Santimai Mukharjee in Chowki Para are major crowd pullers for their majestic and innovative pandals. Traditional Bengali crowd gathers in KaliMandir which is one of the oldest Durga Puja in Jharsuguda * Ganesh Puja: Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganesh puja is also one of locally most celebrated festival which is a 10-day public celebration. *

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

and Chhat: It is celebrated with great pomp and show. * Kirtan (Nama Yangya) (Brundamal, Sarbahal, Sahapada, Buromal and Chowki Para): People pray to

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

and

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Languages

Transport

Since the

Colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

, the city has had a relatively developed transportation network. Primary modes of transport are auto rickshaws, taxi and private and state operated buses. The

Jharsuguda Airport Veer Surendra Sai Airport , also known as Jharsuguda Airport, is a domestic airport serving Jharsuguda, Odisha, India. The airport is located north-east from the city centre. The airport is located in Durlaga village, approximately from Jha ...

is operational since 2019 at Durlaga. It had an airstrip since British times, which is currently upgraded to a full-fledged airport. First flight from Jharsuguda took off in September 2018 after Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, inaugurated VSS Airport (Veer Surendra Sai Airport) on 22 September 2018. On 28 February 2019, low cost airline Spicejet announced regional connectivity from Jhasurguda to various state capitals such as Kolkata, Hyderabad as well as with New Delhi under the

UDAN ''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN-RCS'' ('Udan' is Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regio ...

(Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) regional connectivity scheme.

Jharsuguda railway station Jharsuguda Junction railway station is a major railway junction located in the north-eastern part of the Indian state of Odisha and serves the Jharsuguda district. History Jharsuguda railway station came with the opening of the Nagpur–Asansol ...

is an important railway junction on the

Tatanagar–Bilaspur section The Tatanagar–Bilaspur section is part of the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line and connects in the Indian state of Jharkhand and in Chhattisgarh. Part of one of the major trunk lines in the country, it passes through an industrial-mining area ...

of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line and the Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram line. The railway station comes under South Eastern Railway. Jharsuguda is connected to various towns of the states by State Highway 10 (now a part of

Biju Expressway Biju Expressway is a State highways in India, State Highway in the state of Odisha, with a total length of 650 km. It starts at Chandili (border village in Koraput district) and goes on to touch border towns/market centres such as Kotpad, B ...

) and

National Highway 49 The following highways are numbered 49: Australia * Queensland State Route 49 **Wide Bay Highway **Bunya Highway **Moonie Highway **Balonne Highway * Central Coast Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 49 * British Columbia Highway 49 * Manitoba High ...

Politics

The current

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 ...

from Jharsuguda Assembly Constituency is Tankadhar Tripathy, who won the seat in 2024. Jharsuguda is currently under Bargarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. This constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on the recommendations of the

Delimitation Commission of India The Delimitation Commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act, tasked with redrawing the boundaries of legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies bas ...

in 2002. Jharsuguda was previously under the Deogarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. The current Member of Parliament from

Bargarh Bargarh is one of the major towns of Western Odisha and a municipality in Bargarh district in the state of Odisha in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bargarh District and an important town of Odisha because it is known as the ...

is Suresh Pujari from the Bharatiya Janta Party, taking office in 2019.

Education

The pre-collegiate medium of instruction in schools is predominantly English, Sambalpuri, Hindi and Odia. The medium of instruction in educational institutions after matriculation in colleges is English. Other medias of instruction also exist in Jharsuguda. Schools and colleges in Jharsuguda are mostly government-run, but schools run by private trusts and individuals also exist. The schools are affiliated with either the Odisha State Board under the Board of Secondary Education (BSE),

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national-level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

or Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE),

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an academic qualification awarded by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private, non-governmental board of education in India. The CISCE conducts these examinati ...

. After completing 10 years of schooling in secondary education, students enroll in higher secondary school, specialising in one of three streams – arts, commerce or science. In November 2016, the professional accounting body

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Abbreviation, abbreviated as ICAI, is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on ...

opened a branch at Jharsuguda. The biggest name in Jharsuguda district is

Laxminarayan Mishra Pandit Laxminarayan Mishra (11 April 1904 – 30 May 1961) was an Indian Nationalist, educationist, politician and writer from Odisha, India. He was one of the most active nationalists of Western Odisha. Being a staunch nationalist and a follow ...

, who was a freedom fighter, writer, a nationalist during British raj and a politician from western Odisha.

References

External links

Jharsugda district website

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Jharsuguda district Jharsuguda district