Iqq ON ORISSA PROPER 



banrekha and Pergunnah Pattaspur, &c. north, and by the Chilka Lake 

 on the south; East, by the ocean, and west by the Bermul Pass, that 

 Orissa was relinquished to the Berar Mahrattas, by the famous Aliverdi ' 

 Khan in 1755-6 A. D. in lieu of the sums which he had stipulated to pay 

 as Chouth : and it is to this tract, the modern zillah of Cuttack, which may 

 not inaccurately be called Orissa Proper from its comprising the ancient 

 original country of the TJria or Odra nation, and from the circumstance 

 of its retaining amongst the natives of the present day the exclusive appel- 

 lation of Or Desa or Oresa, that the following description is intended chief- 

 ly to apply. 



The Purans and Upapurans are lavish in their praises of Utkal K'hand,* 

 the real etymology of which word I apprehend to be, " The famous portion 

 or country," and not, the famous country of Kala, as rendered by a very high 

 authority. It is declared to be the favorite abode of the Devatas, and to boast 

 a population composed, more than half, of Brahmins. The work called the 

 Kapila Sanhita, in which Bharadwaja Muni explains to his inquiring pupils, 

 the origin, history, and claims to sanctity of all the remarkable Khetrs of 

 Orissa opens with the following panegyric : " Of all the regions of the earth 

 Bharata K'hand, is the most distinguished, and of all the countries of Bha- 

 rataK'hand, Utkala boasts the highest renown. Its whole extent is one unin- 

 terrupted Tirt'h (place of pilgrimage.) Its happy inhabitants live secure 

 of a reception into the world of spirits, and those who even visit it, and 

 bathe in its sacred rivers, obtain remission of their sins though they may 

 weigh like mountains. Who shall describe adequately its sacred streams, 

 its temples, its khetrs, its fragrant flowers and fruits of exquisite flavour, 

 and all the merits and advantages of a sojourn in such a land. What ne- 

 cessity indeed can there be for enlarging in the praises of a region, which 

 the Devatas themselves delight to inhabit ?" The Panjias or Annalists of 

 Orissa are fond of relating, that when the famous Sivai Jay Sinh, the Ge- 



* Some of the Pundits of Cuttack explain it to mean the region famous in the Caliyuga for its 

 temples and khetrs. 



