Brahmapur, Odisha, India

🇮🇳 Brahmapur. (also known as Berhampur) is a city on the eastern coastline of India.

History Jaugada, present 35 km away from Brahmapur on the banks of the Rushikulya, was an ancient fort and city existing from 3rd century BC to 7th century AD. Its existence before and after this time period cannot be ruled out. Also called Samapa, it was a provincial headquarter of Maurya Dynasty along with Dhauli as evident from the edicts found at both places. Specific history about the place and civilisation does not exist after the Maurya Dynasty and the fort is now buried.

The cult of Buddhi Thakurani originated along with the emergence of Brahmapur town in and around 1672 AD. Telugu Lengayat Dera (weaver) community, who came to Mahuri on the invitation of Raja Saheb of Mahuri to take up their profession of weaving, started Ghata Yatra (Pot Festival) for highlighting the divinity of Mahamayee Thakurani of his capital town Brahmapur. The Chief of the Dera community, Kota Chandramani Kubera Senapati, led his community people to migrate to Mahuri and Brahmapur who settle down into their hereditary profession of weaving tussar silken products or Patta Matha. The Ghata Yatra was initiated for the purpose of highlighting the tradition of worshiping Thakurani as well as to use it as a platform for sales promotion of their silken products.

In April 1923, a meeting of the 'Utkal Union Conference' was held at Brahmapur under the chairmanship of Kalpataru Das. Many Congress workers took part in it. They supported the main idea of amalgamation of the Odia areas under one administration, but differed on the course of action to be taken to fulfil the objective.

Administration The city is administered by the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BeMC). The city used to be a first municipality which was formed in 1867, and was upgraded to a municipal corporation on 29 December 2008. The Municipal body completed its 150 years in 2017.

The Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern range is located in Brahmapur and covers the undivided Ganjam, Koraput, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts.

The headquarters for Brahmapur Tehsil, District Education Office (Ganjam) and Brahmapur Sub-Division are also situated here.

Demographics It is the fourth most populous urban city in Odisha state and 126th in India.

The effective literacy rate of Berhampur was 90.04%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male and female literacy rates were 93.83% and 85.92%, respectively. 8.2% of the population were children ages 0–6 years. The adult and child sex ratios were 917 and 898 females per 1000 males, respectively.

Transport: Road Brahmapur city is connected with National Highways NH-16 (Chennai–Kolkata), NH-59 (Brahmapur-Khariar), NH-516 (Narendrapur-Gopalpur), State Highway 17 (Odisha) and State Highway 22 (Odisha) which connect almost all other cities and towns of Odisha.

Three-wheeler auto taxis are the most important mode of transportation in this city, with Taxis also on the city's roads. Online "C-cabs" and "ola" taxi-service app is also available. The state government has constructed a new bus station at Haladiapadar, at the outskirts of the city. The Ganjam Urban Transport Services Limited (GUTSL) with joint partnership with Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) have an agreement to run a city-bus service for Brahmapur to urban centres on its periphery (Chatrapur, Gopalpur and Hinjili, Taratarini, Bhairabi) since 27 February 2014.

Transport: Rail Brahmapur is served by its own railway station under the Khurda Road division of East Coast Railway, and is situated in the Howrah - Chennai Main Line.

Transport: Air The city has an airport at Rangeilunda. The airstrip was in use during British Raj and World War II. However, post independence, it has lied in a dilapidated condition with no scope of expansion due to its adjacence to Berhampur University. Demands for a new greenfield airport have been echoing throughout the years but have remained futile due to government inaction.

In 2018, the airport was selected for developing it into a commercial airport by the government's UDAN scheme. In view of this, in March 2023, it started commercial operations to Bhubaneswar, with flights operated twice a week.

Sea The Gopalpur port was recommisioned after renovation and expansion.

Education • Berhampur University • Binayak Acharya College • Ganjam Law College • Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Berhampur (IISER, Berhampur) • Kalam Institute of Technology (KIT) • Khallikote Unitary University • Lingaraj Law College • Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital • Parala Maharaja Engineering College (PMEC) • Roland Institute of Technology • Uma Charan Pattnaik Engineering School • Vignan Institute of Technology and Management • Asian Institute of Social Science & Technology

(AISST) • Berhampur City College • Berhampur School of Engineering & Technology • Bharat Institute of Engineering & Technology Polytechnic College • Biju Patnaik Homeopathic Medical College & Hospital • Biswakarma ITI • Brundaban Nayak Memorial Industrial Training Centre • College of Fisheries, Rangeilunda (OUAT) • College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mohuda • Disha College of Management and Technology • Gandhi Academy of Technology and Engineering (GATE) • Gandhi School of Engineering (GSE) • Gayatri Institute of Science & Technology • Government ITI, Brahmapur • Imperial College of Hotel Management & Tourism • Kaviraj Ananta Tripathy Sharma Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital • Mahamayee Mahila Mahavidyalaya • National Institute of Science & Technology (NIST) • New Hope Society School of Nursing • Om Sai College of Pharmacy & Health Science • PG Centre For Management Studies • Rahul Institute of Technology • Roland Institute of Computer and Management • Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Science • Royal College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences • Sanjaya Memorial Institute of Technology • Sashi Bhusan Rath Government Women's College • School of Nursing & Health Sciences, Bijipur • Shalom Institute of Management Studies • Sivananda College of Pharmacy • Xavier College of Hotel Management

Culture Brahmapur is famous for its food and markets and also known as food capital of Odisha.

Most famous markets are Annapurna Market, Bada Bazaar, Sano Bazaar, Bhapur Bazaar, Giri Market, Hanuman Market, Ganesh Market and Sai Complex. The mango market of Brahmapur is one of the largest wholesale mango markets in India. The Balunkeswara Bana Market here is one of the largest in the state.

Arts Brahmapur has been an important site of the state's culture due to its unique Odia culture and has held several national level Odia and Telugu literary meets.

Sri Sitaram Vilas Talkies (SSVT) was the first cinema theatre in Odisha.

There has been a critical lack of museums. The open air Scrap Museum near ITI is one of the largest in India.

Festivals The Thakurani Jatra(biennial) is the most important festival in the city and is one of the state festivals of Odisha. The cult of Buddhi Thakurani originated along with the emergence of Brahmapur town in and around 1672 AD. The Ghata Yatra was initiated for the purpose of highlighting the tradition of worshiping Thakurani as well as to use it as a platform for sales promotion of silken products.

The date for Thakurani Yatra was fixed by the yatra management committee at the house of Desi Behera, Chief of the Dera community. Buddhi Thakurani is considered as the daughter of the Desi Behera and the deity stays with her father's family during the entire Yatra period.