Rairangpur () is a city and

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

in the

Mayurbhanj district Mayurbhanj district is one of the List of districts of Odisha, 30 districts of Odisha state in eastern India and the largest in the state by area, nearly equivalent to Tripura. The district's headquarters is located in Baripada, with other majo ...

situated on the banks of the river Khadkhai 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 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 located 287 kilometres from the state capital

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 ...

, 82 kilometres from the district headquarters of

Baripada Baripada () is a city and a municipality in Mayurbhanj district in the state of Odisha, India. Located along the east bank of the Budhabalanga river, Baripada is the cultural centre of north Odisha. In recent years, it has emerged as an e ...

, and about 73 kilometres from

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

. Rairangpur is the second largest city in the Mayurbhanj district as well as a notable mining area of

, producing iron-ore from the Gorumahisani, Badampahar, and Suleipat mines. The Kharkhai (Suleipat) Dam and the

Simlipal Tiger Reserve Simlipal National Park (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Śimiḷipāḷa Jātīya Udyāna'') is a national park and tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district in the Indian state of Odisha covering . It is part of the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve, which include ...

are among the nearby local attractions, bringing many foreign tourists. India's 15th and current President Smt.

Droupadi Murmu Droupadi Murmu (born Durgi Biranchi Tudu; 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the president of India since 2022. She won the 2022 Indian presidential election, 2022 presidential election as the Bharatiya Janata Party ...

served as a teacher in Rairangpur from 1994 to 1997.

Etymology

Previously, the town was originally called 'Brahmin Ghati', named after the area's relatively hilly terrain. The term eventually corrupted over time and became 'Bamanghati', anglicised in various Company maps as 'Baumingaut' or 'Baumeen Gaut'. The town was later renamed to 'Rairangpur' in late 1918, named after Rairangpur Garh.

Geography

Rairangpur is located at . It has an average elevation of . The city mostly consists of shops, rice paddies, and foliage. Roads branch out of the National Highway 220 to areas like Dubulabeda, Sanchampauda, Padmapur and Bhalbadrapur. The villages, buildings, and markets on both sides of the road are generally surrounded by vast swaths of farmland, most of which remains uncultivated or unmaintained.

History

The first mention of Rairangpur (then Bamanghati) is found during Mughal rule in Mayurbhanj, which began in 1592 under the rule of Sa'id Khan. According to accounts by Raja Man Singh, there was a fort located at Bamanghati, among other places in the state. However, the earliest map of Bamanghati is found in the ''Map of Bengal and Bahar,'' ''1781'' by Rennell, James. Towards the end of March, 1866, the people of Bamanghati

pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

revolted against the rule of Shrinath Bhanja Deo for his inability to handle the Na Ankha Durvikhya famine of 1866, which was suppressed by the Maharaja's administration shortly after. Rairangpur Garh was founded by Madhabdas Narendra Mohapatra. In 1878, Bamanghaty was ruled by King Krushna Chandra Bhanjadeo. In late 1918, Bamanghati was officially renamed after Rairangpur Garh. In 1919, Rairangpur became the headquarters of the Bamanghaty subdivision, replacing Bahalda. The

Mayurbhanj Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts of Odisha state in eastern India and the largest in the state by area, nearly equivalent to Tripura. The district's headquarters is located in Baripada, with other major towns including Rairangp ...

princely state heavily influenced Rairangpur's culture and politics from the 17th century up until its accession to the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...

in 1949. On 24 April 1960, the Rairangpur Notified Area Council (NAC) was formed with 15 wards. Then on 1 May 2014, Rairangpur Municipality was formed as per the Municipalities Act. 1950 notification released by

Government of Odisha The Government of Odisha and its Districts of Odisha, 30 districts consists of an executive branch, executive, led by the List of Governors of Odisha, Governor of Odisha, a judiciary, and a legislative branch. Like other states in India, the ...

Demographics

According to the

2001 Census of India The 2001 census of India was the 14th in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1871. The population of India was counted as 1,028,737,436 consisting of 532,223,090 males and 496,514,346 females. The total population increased b ...

, Rairangpur has a population of 21,682. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. It has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 65%. And 12% of the total population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Rairangpur acts as a liaison centre between

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Durgapur Durgapur (), is an industrial hub and a planned urban agglomeration in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is stands on the northern bank of the Damodar river and located in Paschim Bardhaman district. Durgapur is a major centre for producin ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and the iron ore mines in Gorumahisani, Badampahar and Suleipat. The steel factories of Tata and the surrounding areas rely partly on the iron ores extracted from these mines. In addition to freight trains, there is also a DEMU passenger train from

to Badampahar via Rairangpur. As surrounded by hills,

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

is abundantly found here. The first iron ore mines of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

were in Gorumahisani, Suleipat and Badampahar (mother mines of

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

). The first ever trial for setting up a "Ferro Vanadium Plant" was made by

Maharaja during pre-independence days. Currently, thousands of tonnes of

are exported from here on a daily basis. The majority of the population is dependent on paddy harvesting (farming) as either their main source or as an alternate source of income. The direct and indirect dependency of the economy of this place is largely influenced by paddy harvesting. The same is again largely dependent on the annual rainfall during May–September. The Kharkhai (Suleipat) Dam and The Bankbal Dam irrigate some of the cultivating lands and helps with the kharif harvesting. It has the oldest and the largest "Sal Oil Extraction Plant" which has been closed for years. The area suffers due to less attention in the political environment with few resources and funds allocated for development from government or private sources.

Climate

Transportation

Rairangpur lies on the Tatanagar-Badampahar branch line of

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. Daily passenger train runs from Jamshedpur (

Tatanagar Tatanagar Junction Railway Station, station code TATA, is the main railway station serving the city of Jamshedpur in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is located on the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line of the Indian Railways. It has 6 platforms an ...

) to Badampahar. And weekly train Badampahar-Rourkela intercity Express runs on Sunday and Badampahar-Shalimar Express runs on Saturday. Air conditioned luxurious buses to

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 ...

Keonjhar Kendujhar, also known as Keonjhar, is a town with municipality in Kendujhar District in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district, and it is one of the fifth scheduled areas of Odisha ...

Rourkela Rourkela () is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of the state capital Bhubaneswar and is ...

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 ...

are available. Local buses and jeeps are there every fifteen to thirty minutes to all small villages and towns. Important traffic points of the city: *Bazar Golei Chhak *Biju Pattanaik Chhak (Durga Mandap) *Raghunath Murmu Chhak Rairangpur has its local airstrip namely Dandbose Aerodrome ( Rairangpur Airport). In most cases celebrities land here by their chopper.

Culture

Makar Parba is widely celebrated here, being the most popular festival of Odisha. As Makar comes once in year, a unique atmosphere is created among people, they wear new clothes and make

Pitha Pithas () are a variety of food similar to pancakes, dumplings or fritters, originating from India and Bangladesh. Pitha can be sweet or savoury, and usually made from a dough or batter, which is then steamed, fried or griddled. Very few varieties ...

(Rice Cake) in their homes, eat it and distribute to their relatives spreading love and affection.Also village people make Tusu (Cosmic Goddess) represent and them in the nearby Tusu Mela where people gather largely to witness those idols of Tusu. Other religious festivals : Kumara Purnima,

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

Raja Parba Raja Parba (, ), also known as ''Mithuna Sankranti'', is a three-day-long festival of womanhood celebrated in Odisha, India. The second day of the festival signifies beginning of the solar month of Mithuna, from which the season of rains starts. ...

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 ...

. During

(Car Festival), people from all sections of the society pull the

Ratha Ratha (Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*Hrátʰas'', Vedic Sanskrit: रथ, ; Avestan: ''raθa'') is the Indo-Iranian term for a spoked-wheel chariot. The term has been used since antiquity for both fast chariots and other wheeled vehicles pulled by an ...

(Chariot) of 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 brother Lord

Balabhadra In Jainism, Balabhadra or Baladeva are among the sixty-three illustrious beings called '' śalākāpuruṣas'' that are said to grace every half cycle of time. According to Jain cosmology, ''śalākāpuruṣa'' are born on this earth in every ...

and sister goddess

Subhadra Subhadra (, ) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is a princess from the Yadava clan and the sister of Krishna and Balarama. Subhadra married Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers and had a son named Abhimanyu. Sub ...

to their Mausibadi (Aunt's place) from the temple. Uda Parba or Uda Jatra, is a festival of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

celebrated here on 15 April,

Pana Sankranti Maha Bishuba Sankranti (), also known as Pana Sankranti, (), is the traditional new year day festival of Odia people in Odisha, India. The festival occurs in the solar Odia calendar (the lunisolar Hindu calendar followed in Odisha) on the first ...

every year. Most commonly

Deepawali 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 ...

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 ...

, Ganesh Puja and Saraswati Puja's are celebrated all over Rairangpur. Popular idols belongs to Ichinda, Bazar, Kucheibudhi, Anladuba, Sakiladihi and Purnaghaty area.

Chhau dance ''Chhau'', also spelled ''Chhou'', is a semi classical Indian dance with martial and folk traditions. It is found in three styles named after the location where they are performed, i.e. the ''Purulia Chhau'' of West Bengal, the ''Seraikella Chh ...

of this Bamanghati Subdivision is famous all over the world.

Jhumar Jhūmar or Jhoomar (also called Ghūmbar in Sandal Bar) is a traditional Punjabi folk dance in Pakistan, originating from the Sandal Bar and Chaj Doab regions of Punjab. The word "Jhūmar" comes from ''Jhūm'', which means 'to sway' in Pu ...

is the local genre.

Places of interest

*Jagannath Temple *Hanuman Vatika, Bazar *Birsa Munda Park *Indira Gandhi Children's Park *Routhkamar Mini Park *Gandhi Park *Asurghati waterfall *Suleipat Dam (Kharkhai Dam) *Bankbal Dam * Simlipal National Park *Purunia Shivsambhu Temple *Raghu Nath Jiu Math, Anladuba *Badampahar Mines *Gorumahisani Mines *Bodo Bandha

Sports and entertainment

Cricket is the most widely played sport in the city. "Deepak Kumar Memorial (DKM)", Mahuldiha organizes a cricket tournament every year. Being the most popular cricket tournament here, teams of different parts of the state and nearby participate and perform their talent. Likewise, "Rairangpur Premier League (RPL)" is also organized at Kacheri Stadium ( Rairangpur Stadium). Sports organised by various village youth associations just after Makar Sankranti is one of the age old sports activity promoting youth athletes with very colorful and festive events during January & February every year. * Park ''Children's Park'', ''Kacheri Road'' ''Birsamunda Park'' , Mahuldiha * VR Center Odisha now has its first VR Virtual Reality (VR)center at ''Mind Shift''.

Lifestyle and language

Rairangpurians follow a moderate lifestyle, living in peace and harmony and celebrating various religious festivals together. Odia is the most common language spoken by locals.

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, the national language, is also spoken, alongside the

Santali language Santali (, , , , ) is a Kherwarian languages, Kherwarian Munda languages, Munda language spoken natively by the Santals, Santal people of South Asia. It is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, ...

in certain communities/villages.

Landmarks

Most populated areas belong to: *Mahuldiha *Anladuba *Bazar Area *Baidaposi *Bikash Nagar *Banasahi *Garh *Ichinda *Kucheibudhi *Purnaghaty *Pichhilighaty *Sakiladihi *Thakuranibeda

Nationalised banks

Axis Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fo ...

* Bandhan Bank *

Bank of India Bank of India (BoI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Founded in 1906, it has been government-owned since nationalisation in 1969. BoI is a founding member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter ...

Canara Bank Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank based in Bangalore, India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai. The bank was nationalized in 1969. Canara Bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York. History Amm ...

HDFC Bank HDFC Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's largest private sector bank by assets and market capitalisation. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified the HDFC Bank, Stat ...

ICICI Bank ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai with a registered office in Vadodara. It offers a wide range of banking and financial services for corporate and retail customers throu ...

IDBI Bank The IDBI Bank Limited (IDBI Bank or IDBI) is a Scheduled Commercial Bank under the ownership of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Government of India. It was established by Government of India as a wholly owned subsidiary of Re ...

Oriental Bank of Commerce Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) was an Indian public sector bank headquartered at Gurgaon, Haryana. It had 2390 branches and 2625 ATMs across India. In April 2020, the bank along with United Bank of India was merged with Punjab National Bank ...

Punjab National Bank Punjab National Bank alias PNB is an Public sector banks in India, Indian government bank based in New Delhi. It was founded in May 1894 and is the List of banks in India, second-largest public sector bank in India in terms of its business volum ...

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

Syndicate Bank Syndicate Bank was one of the oldest major commercial banks in India. It was founded by Upendra Ananth Pai, T. M. A. Pai and Vaman Srinivas Kudva. At the time of its establishment, the bank was known as Canara Industrial and Banking Syndicate L ...

UCO Bank UCO Bank, formerly United Commercial Bank, is an Public sector banks in India, Indian public sector bank, and financial services government owned body headquartered in Kolkata. It is a medium sized Public sector banks in India, public sector ban ...

Union Bank of India Union Bank of India (UBI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai. It has 153+ million customers and a total business of Rs.22,92,644 crores as of 31 March 2025. After the merging with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, which c ...

Educational institutions

This place is rapidly growing in the educational infrastructure. Some of the Government & Private funded educational institutes are : *Government Boys High School *Government Girls High School *Raghu Nath Jiu High School *SSDD Girls' High School (Kanya Aashram), Rairangpur *Pichlighaty High School *Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir *Rairangpur College ( North Orissa University) *Mahila Mahavidyalaya *Rairangpur ITI (Technical) *Kerala Public School *Little Flower School *Sparsh Public School *Sunshine English Medium School *Madina Public School *Kalinga English Medium School *Venketeswar Public School *Fact Computer Education *Kendriya Vidyalaya *Technoworld +2 Sc. College *Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya, Sanmouda *Cosmos International School *Richard Mission Primary School

Politics

Mr. Abhishek Pattanaik of

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is an Indian regional political party with significant influence in the state of Odisha. The party was established to uphold the legacy of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and to address the unique socio-economic ...

(BJD) is the chairperson of the Rairangpur Municipality. Mr. Jalen Naik 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) is the present MLA from Rairangpur Assembly Constituency, Mr. Nabacharan Majhi of

(BJP) who was previous MLA won MP elections in 2024 recently and became a Member of Parliament from Rairangpur (

). Previous MLAs from this seat were Mr. Saiba Sushil Kumar Hansdah of

(BJD) in 2014. Mr.

Shyam Charan Hansdah Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine Indian given name, given name and surname. Notable people with this name include: ;Shyam *Shyam (actor) (1920–1951), Indian Hindi film actor *Shyam (composer) (born 1937), an Indian music compose ...

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 2009, Mrs.

(BJP) in 2000, Laxman Majhi of INC in 1995, Chaitanya Prasad Majhi of

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

(JD) in 1990, Bhabendra Nath Majhi of INC in 1985, Sidhalal Murmu of INC(I) in 1980, and Arjun Majhi of

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

(JNP) in 1977. Rairangpur is part of Mayurbhanj (Lok Sabha constituency).

Notable people

, 15th

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

. *

Raghunath Murmu Raghunath Murmu (5 May 1905 – 1 February 1982) was an Indian Santali writer and educator. He developed the Ol Chiki script for Santali language. Until the nineteenth century, Santali people had no written language and knowledge was transmit ...

, Santali

Ol Chiki The Ol Chiki () script, also known as Ol Chemetʼ (, , ), Ol Ciki, Ol, and sometimes as the Santali alphabet is the official writing system for Santali, an Austroasiatic language recognized as an official regional language in India. It was ...

script inventor, born near Rairangpur

References

* * http://censusindia.gov.in/NprStateReport.aspx?stcd=21&distcd=07

External links

On Wikimapia
Rairangpur Town all banks, Tourist Places

Website for Rairangpur(Mayurbhanj)
{{Mayurbhanj Cities and towns in Mayurbhanj district