Jajpur district

ଯାଜପୁର ଜିଲ୍ଲା

Jajpur district: Biraja Kshetra on the Baitarani, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri Buddhist sites, Kalinganagar steel and Sukinda chromite. History, places, travel.

Headquarters: Jajpur
Population (2011): 1,827,192
Area: 2,899 sq km
Villages: 1,798
Literacy (2011): 80.1%
Towns (2011): 8

Jajpur (ଯାଜପୁର) is a district in coastal Odisha whose headquarters, Jajpur town, is an ancient pilgrimage centre on the Baitarani river known as Biraja Kshetra. Jajpur district combines old temples and Buddhist monasteries with one of Odisha's largest industrial zones at Kalinganagar and the chromite mines of Sukinda.

Jajpur district was formed on 1 April 1993, when the old Cuttack district was divided. It covers 2,899 sq km in the 2011 Census, while the district administration gives 2,887.69 sq km. Its population in 2011 was 1,827,192. The district is densely settled and largely rural, with only about 7 percent of people in towns.

Jajpur town itself is small: its municipality had 37,458 residents in 2011. Over the centuries it has been known as Viraja, Viranja, Varanja-nagara and Yajanagara before the present name, according to Wikipedia.

Unusually, Jajpur has a single sub-division, Jajpur, divided into 10 tahasils and 10 community development blocks. Its municipalities are Jajpur and Vyasanagar (Byasanagar), the town that grew up around Jajpur Road station.

The district is known for the Biraja temple, revered as a Shakti Peetha. It is also home to the Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri and Udayagiri, the steel plants of Kalinganagar and India's main chromite belt in the Sukinda valley.

People of Jajpur district

Census 2011 counted 18,27,192 people in 4,07,851 households in Jajpur district. 7.4% lived in towns, and the literacy rate (age 7 and over) was 80.1%. The census recognised 8 towns in the district.

Population: 18,27,192; 9,26,034 male · 9,01,158 female
Households: 4,07,851; about 4.5 people each
Literacy (age 7+): 80.1%; men 86.8% · women 73.3%
Females per 1,000 males: 973
Girls per 1,000 boys (0–6): 926
People per km²: 630

Rural16,92,095 (92.6%)
Urban1,35,097 (7.4%)

Scheduled Castes: 4,33,387 (23.7%)
Scheduled Tribes: 1,51,432 (8.3%)

What the 5,52,234 workers did

Cultivators1,06,239 (19.2%)
Agricultural labourers1,06,247 (19.2%)
Household industry14,067 (2.5%)
Other work1,81,011 (32.8%)
Marginal workers1,44,670 (26.2%)

Marginal workers worked less than six months of the year.

Source: Census of India 2011, Primary Census Abstract (district, sub-district and town level). Figures are from 2011, the most recent census with published district, town and village figures.

Facilities in the villages of Jajpur

How many of the 1,597 inhabited villages of this district had each facility within the village itself, from the Census 2011 Village Directory. Together the 1,782 villages cover 2,825 km², 50% of it sown with crops and 12% forest.

Education

Primary school1,370 of 1,597
Middle school916 of 1,597
Secondary school465 of 1,597
Senior secondary school93 of 1,597
Degree college50 of 1,597

Health

Primary health centre2 of 1,597
Health sub-centre203 of 1,597
Anganwadi centre1,440 of 1,597

Water & power

Treated tap water0 of 1,597
Hand pump1,082 of 1,597
Electricity for homes1,553 of 1,597

Roads & transport

All-weather road1,095 of 1,597
Public bus143 of 1,597
Mobile phone coverage1,547 of 1,597

Services

Post office or sub post office262 of 1,597
Commercial bank6 of 1,597
Ration (PDS) shop830 of 1,597
Weekly haat111 of 1,597

Primary schools: 1,961
Middle schools: 1,033
Secondary schools: 601
Degree colleges: 50
Primary health centres: 7
Health sub-centres: 203

Main crops named by villages: Paddy (1,586), Ground Nuts (263), Pulses (206), Black Gram (176), Rabi Crops (152), Vegetables (130), Vegetable (64), Groundnut (50). Handicrafts: Bamboo Products (1), Clay Pots (1).

Source: Census of India 2011, District Census Handbook: Village and Town Directory (Odisha). The facilities were recorded for the 2011 census (reference year 2009 for most items); many places have changed since. Facilities in towns are not included.

Towns of Jajpur

2 statutory towns (municipal corporation, municipality, notified area council or industrial township) and 6 census towns — places the census counted as urban but which are governed by gram panchayats.

Town	Type	Population	Literacy	Wards
Byasanagar	Municipality	48,911	87.3%	29
Jajapur	Municipality	37,458	89.1%	17
Brahmabarada	Census town	10,721	86.7%	–
Sayadpur	Census town	8,798	86.8%	–
Anjira	Census town	6,561	76.2%	–
Kalarangiata	Census town	5,505	75.2%	–
Kaliapani	Census town	5,028	72.9%	–
Kabatabandha	Census town	4,080	87.0%	–

Population of the town itself; for towns with outgrowths, the town page also gives the figure including them. Ward counts are the census wards of 2011.

Census sub-districts: town and country

Sub-district	Population	Rural	Urban	Literacy
Sukinda	80,344	80,344	0	68.0%
Tomka	45,810	45,810	0	66.4%
Kaliapani	38,517	27,984	10,533	59.6%
Kalinganagar	49,415	49,415	0	64.2%
Jakhapura	17,424	17,424	0	78.5%
Jajapur Road	98,293	41,347	56,946	83.3%
Korai	96,874	96,874	0	82.4%
Panikoili	65,386	65,386	0	83.9%
Jajapur	1,34,859	97,401	37,458	85.0%
Jajpur Sadar	1,27,778	1,27,778	0	81.9%
Dharmasala	1,64,969	1,54,248	10,721	81.3%
Jenapur	87,741	77,100	10,641	78.1%
Kuakhia	1,11,408	1,11,408	0	84.1%
Badachana	1,29,826	1,29,826	0	79.9%
Balichandrapur	1,11,449	1,11,449	0	80.0%
Binjharpur	1,96,780	1,87,982	8,798	82.2%
Bari - Ramachandrapur	1,23,956	1,23,956	0	80.6%
Mangalpur	1,46,363	1,46,363	0	83.7%

Odisha's census sub-districts are police-station areas, not revenue tahasils.

History

The district administration records that the area was known in ancient times as Viraja and as Baitarani Tirtha. In tradition it is one of the Shakti Peethas, where the navel of Sati fell, which is why it is also called Nabhi Gaya. The Mahabharata tells of the Pandavas bathing at Viraja with the sage Lomasha.

From the 7th century the Bhaumakara kings ruled much of Odisha from Guheswar Pataka, a capital near Viraja. Buddhism flourished in this period, and monasteries such as Ratnagiri and Udayagiri were active for centuries. According to the district administration, the town of Jajpur was founded in the early 10th century by the Somavamsi king Yayati (Jajati) Keshari. Tradition says he performed the Dasaswamedha sacrifice here, inviting 10,000 Brahmins from northern India. The Eastern Ganga king Anangabhima Deva later built a Jagannath temple at Jajpur.

The district administration says a battle at Gohira Tikiri, involving Mukunda Deva Harichandan, opened the way for Afghan rule in Odisha in the 16th century. Under the British, the Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay served as deputy magistrate at Jajpur from 1882 to 1884; the district administration says he wrote his novel Devi Chaudhurani during this posting. In 1934 Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated the Sevaghar ashram founded by Rama Devi at Bari, in present-day Jajpur district.

Jajpur became a separate district in 1993. On 2 January 2006, police fired on tribal people protesting against land acquisition for industry at Kalinganagar; 13 protesters were killed and more than 40 wounded. The protesters said their land had been taken cheaply by the state industrial corporation and resold to companies, and the firing became a landmark in debates over industrial land acquisition in Odisha.

Places to visit

Biraja Temple

The temple of Goddess Biraja (Viraja) is the heart of Jajpur town. The goddess is shown as a two-armed Durga, spearing the demon Mahishasura with one hand and pulling his tail with the other. The main festival is the autumn Durga Puja, observed here over 16 days, along with a chariot festival in which the goddess rides a chariot called Simhadhwaja, whose flag bears a lion. Navaratri, Raja and the harvest festival of Navanna are also observed. The temple is built in the Kalinga style, and the nearest railway stations are Jajpur Keonjhar Road and Cuttack. The goddess also gives her name to the Biraja Panjika, a widely used Odia almanac.

Dasaswamedha Ghat and the Baitarani

The Dasaswamedha Ghat on the Baitarani is a place for holy dips and ancestral rites. The district administration also lists the Varaha temple and the Trilochaneswar temple among Jajpur's important shrines.

Ratnagiri and Udayagiri

These two excavated Buddhist sites, with Lalitgiri in neighbouring Cuttack district, form Odisha's Diamond Triangle. Ratnagiri, excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1958–61 under Debala Mitra, flourished from about the 5th to the 13th century CE. It has a large monastery with richly carved doorways, a main stupa surrounded by hundreds of votive stupas, and an ASI site museum. Udayagiri is the largest of the three sites and the least excavated; inscriptions name its two monasteries Madhavapura Mahavihara and Simhaprastha Mahavihara. See our Diamond Triangle guide and the Odisha Buddhist trail.

Langudi Hill

The Buddhist remains on Langudi hill, discovered in the 1990s, have led some scholars to question the older identification of Ratnagiri with Puspagiri, the monastery described by Xuanzang.

Chandikhol

The Chandi temple at Chandikhol is named after the goddess worshipped there by the monk Baba Bhairabananda, according to the district administration.

Ashokjhar Waterfall

A waterfall in Sukinda block, about 8 km from the block headquarters. The nearest railway station is Sukinda Road.

How to reach

By air: Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar, about 102 km away, according to Odisha Tourism.
By rail: Jajpur Keonjhar Road station, at Byasanagar on the Howrah–Chennai main line, serves Jajpur town and Kalinganagar. Cuttack is the nearest large junction.
By road: NH-16 runs through the district, linking the district with Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to the south and Bhadrak to the north.

Odisha Tourism recommends October to March and about two days for the district. See also how to reach Odisha.

Temples (16)

Amarabati Temple
Balunkeswara Temple · ବାଲୁଙ୍କେଶ୍ୱର ମନ୍ଦିର
Biraja Temple · ବିରଜା ମନ୍ଦିର
Chandi temple · ଚଣ୍ଡୀ ମନ୍ଦିର
Dharma Mahakal Temple
Gopinathajiu Temple
Jagannath Temple
Jagannathjiu Temple
Maa Borei Temple · ମା ବୋରେଇ ମନ୍ଦିର |
Mahavinayak Temple · ମହାବିନାୟକ ଦେଉଳ
Raghunathajiu Temple
Suabarnesvara Temple
Trilochaneswar Temple · ତ୍ରିଲୋଚନେଶ୍ଵର ମନ୍ଦିର
Trilochaneswar Temple
Varahanatha Temple · ବରାହ ମନ୍ଦିର
Varahanatha Temple

Photos and map links in the temple directory. Today's tithi, sunrise and Rahu Kala here.

Protected monuments (12)

Hill containing many valuable sculptures, images and inscriptions, etc, Ratnagiri N-OR-5
Four colossal images in the compound of Collectorate Jajpur namely N-OR-8
Three Buddhist images in the compound of Collectorate Jajpur N-OR-9
Ruins of Buddhist temples and images, Naltigiri N-OR-10
Major ruined Buddhist site with 3 monasteries and hundreds of stupas, Ratnagiri N-OR-11
Mahratta bridge, Jajpur N-OR-12
Dharma Mahakal Temple (beside the Buddhist site), Ratnagiri N-OR-69
Jagannath Temple, Jajpur N-OR-70
Trilochaneswar Temple, Jajpur N-OR-71
Varahanatha Temple, Jajpur N-OR-72
Udayagiri N-OR-73
Pushpagiri Vihara Langudi Hill, Mauza Panimuhani N-OR-74

Monuments of National Importance protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. All of Odisha.

Railway stations

18 stations and 3 halts inside the district, as mapped on OpenStreetMap; some on new lines may not yet have regular trains.

Culture and festivals

Jajpur's religious calendar centres on Biraja and the Baitarani. Pilgrims come year-round for ritual baths and ancestral rites. The district administration highlights the women's floor and wall art of the area in three forms, jhoti, chita and muruja, made with rice paste, powdered stone, dried leaves and marigold petals. Women honour the goddess Lakshmi at harvest time in the month of Margasira (see Manabasa Gurubara), and make muruja designs beside the tulasi plant during Kartika.

Jajpur also has a literary tradition. The 18th-century poet and musician Abhimanyu Samanta Singhara, author of Bidagdha Chintamani, was born at Balia, and the district administration also names Upendra Tripathy and Govind Das among Jajpur's writers. Odisha Tourism mentions tussar weaving and golden grass craft as crafts visitors can see.

Odia is spoken by about 90 percent of people, with Urdu and Ho the next most common languages (2011).

Food

No dish is officially registered to Jajpur. Odisha Tourism's guide to the district suggests everyday Odia food: pakhala bhata, dalma, machha besara, and sweets such as chhena poda and rasagola.

Geography and climate

According to Wikipedia, Jajpur is bounded by Kendujhar and Bhadrak to the north and north-east, Kendrapara and Cuttack to the south, and Dhenkanal to the west. The Baitarani runs along the eastern side of the district past Jajpur town, and the Brahmani crosses its south. The west rises into hills: the Sukinda valley lies between the Mahagiri and Daitari ranges, rich in chromite and iron ore.

Feature	Detail
Area	2,899 sq km (Census 2011); 2,887.69 sq km (district administration)
Main rivers	Baitarani, Brahmani
Average maximum temperature	About 38°C
Average minimum temperature	About 12°C
Average annual rainfall	About 1,014 mm

Economy

The district administration describes agriculture and mining as the backbone of Jajpur's economy. Paddy is grown on the river plains of the Baitarani and Brahmani.

Kalinganagar is a planned industrial complex with steel plants of Tata Steel, Jindal, VISA Steel, the public-sector Neelachal Ispat Nigam and other companies.
Sukinda valley, a strip of about 50 sq km between the Mahagiri and Daitari hills with around a dozen mines, holds most of India's chromite. Wikipedia states that Odisha has about 98 percent of the country's proved reserves, about 97 percent of them in this valley. The open-cast mines have caused serious water pollution, and in 2007 the Blacksmith Institute listed Sukinda among the world's most polluted places, an assessment local officials disputed.
Daitari has iron ore mines, which the district administration says earn substantial mineral revenue for the state.

Climate of Jajpur

In Jajpur district (at 20.85°N, 86.34°E), the hottest month is Apr (average highs of 37°C) and the coolest nights come in Jan (15°C). About 1570 mm of rain falls in a year, most of it in the monsoon; Aug is the wettest month.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high (°C)	27	31	35	37	37	34	31	31	31	31	29	27
Average low (°C)	15	19	23	26	27	27	26	26	25	24	20	16
Rainfall (mm)	14	16	28	36	91	225	335	358	269	143	31	20
Rainy days	1	1	3	3	5	16	24	25	22	11	2	1

Averages for 1995–2024 at that point (16 m above sea level), from the Open-Meteo historical weather API (ERA5 reanalysis by ECMWF/Copernicus, CC BY 4.0) — modelled values on a ~25 km grid, not station readings from the India Meteorological Department. A rainy day has 2.5 mm or more.

Notable people

Yayati (Jajati) Keshari, the Somavamsi king credited by the district administration with founding Jajpur in the early 10th century.
Abhimanyu Samanta Singhara (1760–1806), born at Balia, Odia poet and Odissi musician, author of Bidagdha Chintamani.
Dutee Chand, born in 1996 at Chaka Gopalpur, sprinter, Indian 100 m record holder (11.24 s, 2016), double silver medallist at the 2018 Asian Games and Arjuna Award recipient.

Blocks, sub-districts, panchayats & villages

Choose a block, sub-district or town to see its details and its gram panchayats and villages. Open any village for its own page.

Counts below: Local Government Directory, December 2022 snapshot (LGD villages, which can differ from the district administration's revenue-village count).

Blocks: 10
Sub-districts: 18
GPs: 311
LGD villages: 1,798

Community development block

Badchana

Gram panchayats: 43
Villages: 261
LGD block code: 3394
District: Jajpur

Open full block page

Villages (…)

All blocks in Jajpur

Block	GPs	Villages	Village pop.	Literacy	ST share
Badchana	43	261	2,34,965	79.8%	7.7%
Bari	29	109	1,54,773	80.8%	0.2%
Binjharpur	29	114	1,57,629	82.2%	0.1%
Dahrmasala	45	317	2,15,771	79.7%	7.3%
Danagadi	23	120	1,14,921	68.2%	31.7%
Dasarathapur	35	155	1,95,050	83.4%	0.5%
Jajpur	26	194	1,69,872	82.8%	1.3%
Korei	28	229	1,58,766	82.9%	7.8%
Rasulpur	28	172	1,56,862	83.5%	2.0%
Sukinda	25	127	1,33,257	66.2%	37.1%

GPs and villages: Local Government Directory (Dec 2022). Village population, literacy and Scheduled Tribe share: sum of the block's villages in Census of India 2011, Primary Census Abstract (village level).

All census sub-districts

Towns (urban local bodies)

Jajapur · Municipality
Vyasanagar · Municipality

Assembly constituencies in Jajpur

48BinjharpurSCPramila Mallik · BJD
49BariBiswa Ranjan Mallick · BJD
50BarchanaAmar Kumar Nayak · BJP
51DharmasalaHimanshu Sekhar Sahoo · IND
52JajpurSujata Sahu · BJD
53KoreiAkash Dasnayak · BJP
54SukindaPradeep Bal Samanta · BJP

Source: Local Government Directory (lgdirectory.gov.in), Government of India — data dump of December 2022 via github.com/planemad/india-local-government-directory. Sub-districts follow the Local Government Directory, which for Odisha uses the Census sub-districts (police-station areas) — these are not the same as revenue tahasils. Boundaries and names change over time; check the district administration for current status.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Jajpur called Biraja Kshetra?

Jajpur town grew around the temple of Goddess Biraja (Viraja), one of the Shakti Peethas. The district administration notes that the place was anciently known as Viraja and as Baitarani Tirtha.

When was Jajpur district formed?

Jajpur became a separate district on 1 April 1993, when it was carved out of the old Cuttack district.

Which Buddhist sites are in Jajpur district?

Ratnagiri and Udayagiri, two of the three Diamond Triangle sites, are in Jajpur district. The third, Lalitgiri, is just across the boundary in Cuttack district. The Langudi hill site is also in Jajpur.

What is Sukinda known for?

The Sukinda valley holds most of India's chromite. Wikipedia states that Odisha has about 98 percent of the country's proved chromite reserves, about 97 percent of them in the Sukinda valley.

What is the nearest railway station to Jajpur?

Jajpur Keonjhar Road, at Byasanagar on the Howrah–Chennai main line, is the main station for Jajpur town and Kalinganagar.

Sources & references

1Jajapur District: Census 2011 data — Census2011.co.in (compiled from Census of India 2011)
2History — District Administration, Jajpur, Government of Odisha
3About Us — District Administration, Jajpur, Government of Odisha
4Culture & Heritage — District Administration, Jajpur (NIC)
5Jajpur — Odisha Tourism, Government of Odisha
6Biraja Temple — Wikipedia
7Sukinda — Wikipedia
8Jajpur district — Wikipedia

Last reviewed 6 October 2026. How we check articles

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Travel

Diamond Triangle: Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri

ରତ୍ନଗିରି, ଉଦୟଗିରି ଓ ଲଳିତଗିରି

Odisha's Diamond Triangle of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri is a cluster of excavated Buddhist sites near Cuttack and Jajpur. History, museums, travel tips.

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