Siko, also knowns their by the mouza village as Chandrashekharpur, is the second largest populated

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in eastern Odisha,

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 has a mixed, rich culture mainly consisting of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

s and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s, with Hindus making up a majority. Ardent

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

s from Siko participated in the

Paika Paika is a small town from Palai on the Pala-Ponkunnam road of Muvattupuzha - Punalur SH:08, in Kottayam district, Kerala, India. It is part of Meenachil Taluka, known as one of the most fertile agricultural regions of Travancore. This region ...

rebellion of 1817. Today, some " Paika akhada" are found in Siko. They display their

warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

acts in various festivals.

Geographical location

Siko is located in the

Khordha district Khordha district is an administrative division of the state of Odisha, India. It was formed on April 1, 1993, by the division of former Puri District into Puri, Khordha and Nayagarh districts. In the year 2000 the district name was changed to K ...

Odisha, India Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the third ...

. It is connected by a section of NH-16 to New Jagannath Road. It is from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

and from

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 ...

. Road transport is the only mode of

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

to this village.

Education

Being situated in a rural area,

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s in Siko are run by the government. Most of the teachers are natives. Siko has one co-educational

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and one girls' high school. A new college was established in 2014 for higher

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

and provides intermediate-level courses in the arts. There is also a private school named Sri Aurobindo Interegal Education Centre.

References

{{coord, 20, 03, N, 85, 25, E, display=title, region:IN_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Villages in Khordha district