All about Dhenkanal

The famous Laxmi Puja celebration came to an end with immersion of Laxmi idols on Friday evening.

This news article highlights the dilapidated condition prevailing at the 81-year-old Dhenkanal railway station.

A few more news clippings on Dhenkanal's ongoing Laxmi Puja. - A total of 36 puja pendals constructed in this edition of Puja celebration ( Read here ) - Dhenkanal Mahotsav and Gramshree Fair gets underway. ( Read here ) - Octopus ride and Nagaland's Giant: major attractions of Laxmi Puja ( Read here ) Tons of paper will be spent on eulogizing Tendulkar's feat today. If you have interested in reading another piece on him, please read this article on Tendulkar by one of the most revered Cricket writers, Peter Roebuck. - Another article on Tendulkar's achievement Also read ten athletes who changed the face of sport (watch out for Kapil Dev's name)

Dhenkanal is celebrating the 85th Laxmi Puja with fervor and gusto.

Laxmi Puja in Dhenkanal started way back in 1923 at Kunja Sahu Chowk -presently known as Ganesha Bazaar. Subsequently all other bazars, sahis and organizations constructed their own idols and started celebrating the puja. Currently, 36 puja pratistans participate in this 10-day (sometimes 2 weeks) long celebrations. These pratistans are spread over a 7-km stretch of road starting from College road to Korian Chhak. Given below are the bazars and the year they joined in the Laxmi Puja celebrations. 1923: Kunja Sahu Chowk (Ganesh Bazar) 1943: Meena Bazar 1948: Jawahar Chowk 1949: Laxmi Bazar 1950: Ganesh Bazar 1951: kanchan Bazar 1952: Anand Bazar 1955: Karigar Sahi 1957: Golden Street (or Gudianali) 1958: Radha Krushna Bazar, Padma Bazar and Kunjakanta 1959: Kaibalya Bazar 1960: Jublee Town II 1963: Arnapurna Puja Santhan and Station Bazar 1965: Ratna Bazar 1967: Chandan Bazar 1969: Gandhi Bazar and Bus Stand 1971: Korian 1975: Durga Bazar 1976: Kalika Nagar 1978:

Dhenkanal celebrates 85th Laxmi Puja in traditional style... Read more PS: This is the 7th year in a row that I have been unable to make it to the Laxmi Puja. I am missing all the fun and frolic.

Again this from an email sent by Prof. Baral of Arizona State University. Advertisement for Faculty Positions and Registrar of IIT Bhubaneswar Invitation for Faculty Positions Download Application Form PDF / DOC Invitation for the post of Registrar Download Application Form PDF / DOC The faculty ad starts as follows: IIT Bhubaneswar (Orissa) invites applications for faculty positions at the level of Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor in the following disciplines. Disciplines : Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Humanities & Social Sciences (Economics, English, Psychology)

The 10th Dhenkanal Mahotsav got underway with an tracking expedition from the foothills of Kapilash. Read more

Kuntala Kumari Dalei of Samajwadi Party has been elected as the 1st Woman Chairman of Dhenkanal Municipality. In a closely contested election, the congress supported Ward No. 23 Counselor defeated Jayanti Patra (BJP-BJD) by a margin of 5 votes. Read more about BJP infighting here

"In view of the looming Lok Sabha elections in 2009, the district administration has decided to organize the Dhenkanal Mahotsav during Lakshmi Puja which would be celebrated in September this year."

The Dhenkanal Civic Poll results are as follows: BJP-11, Congress-8, BJD-3, SP-1. The winners of respective wards are given below. Ward 1: Jayanti Sahoo/Sahu (W-Congress) (W-stands for Women) Ward 2: Santosh Kumar Rout (BJP) Ward 3: Mamata Acharya (W-BJP) Ward 4: Ajay Kumar Dash (Congress) Ward 5: Laxmidhar Patra (BJP) Ward 6: Santosh Kumar Rout (Congress) Ward 7: Ramesh Chandra Sahoo/Sahu (Congress) Ward 8: Sarbeswar Nayak (BJP) Ward 9: Subrat Kumar Behera (BJD) Ward 10: Ajay Kumar Palai (BJD) Ward 11: Narayan Ragad (Congress) Ward 12: Anima Nayak (W-BJP) Ward 13: Shagir Mohammad (Congress) Ward 14: Kuntala Dalai (W-SP) Ward 15: Nirad Kumar Sahoo/Sahu (BJP) Ward 16: Abdul Chan Khan (BJP) Ward 17: Pushpalata Mohapatra (W-Congress) Ward 18: Pratap Chandra Rout (BJP) Ward 19: Jayanti Patra (W-BJP) Ward 20: Gopal Chandra Sahoo/Sahu (Congress) Ward 21: Bapuji Mallik (BJP) Ward 22: Monika Sharma (W-BJP) Ward 23: Lalita Rath (W-BJD)

Read this interesting article on farm workers swiping biometric cards to receive their wages !! Complete article

Please mark the sentence where Dhenkanal MP Tathagat Satpathy mentions that "Dhenkanal is the heart of Orissa". I wish, he was right .... Read the complete article, obviously, in The Dharitri.

Just a couple of days back, we celebrated our 61st Independence day ( read this interesting article on contemporary India by Chetan Bhagat ). At a time when India seriously needs young and dynamic politicians, I came across this news article on "8 Lessons of Leadership" from a leader who is as big as Mahatma Gandhi. He is none other than the African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, who turned 90 last month. Given below are his 8 lessons on leadership. No. 1 Courage is not the absence of fear — it’s inspiring others to move beyond it No. 2 Lead from the front — but don’t leave your base behind No. 3 Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front No. 4 Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport No. 5 Keep your friends close — and your rivals even closer No. 6 Appearances matter — and remember to smile No. 7 Nothing is black or white No. 8 Quitting is leading too

Eight out of the 23 wards of Dhenkanal Municipality has been reserved for women candidates. Moreover, the Chairman's post of the municipality has also been reserved for women. With the promulgation of municipal election, all the political parties have started their frantic search for women candidates for various wards of the municipality. Complete article here

Dhenkanal boasts of many beautiful and scenic places, therefore its well connected by air, rail and road to promote tourism. The nearest airport, located at Bhubaneswar, is 100 km/ 60 miles from Dhenkanal. Everyday buses run - from 4.30 AM in the morning through 9.00PM in the night- from the state capital Bhubaneswar to Dhenkanal. The travel time is ~ 2.00 hrs and the fare is Rs 40.00 (~ US $1). The bus passes through a very beautiful scenic patches of woods. Local train is another popular mode of transportation from Bhubaneswar. The train schedule can be obtained from www. indianrail.gov.in website. A few authorized travel agencies (obtained from Orissa Tourism website ) can also help in scheduling the tour/trip. Given below is a list of travel agents and their contact addresses. Also given is a list of hotels situated in the center of the town. A. A list of travel agents and their contact addresses: 1. Blue Fox Traveling Agency 9-Municipal Market Building, Dhenkanal Ph: (0676

Its been 7 years since I last attended Dhenkanal's famous Laxmi Puja. Even though I have been to Dhenkanal quite a few time since 2001, but I was never there during the time of Laxmi Puja. Thats why I felt emotional and nostalgic while watching the following series of videos on Laxmi Puja. Part 1: A brief introduction on Dhenkanal and the origin of Laxmi Puja Part 2: Greetings from a few Municipal administrators Part 3 and Part 4 : Laxmi idols of all the Bazaars and their light work and decorations Part 5: Expositions and exhibitions (includes Dhenkanal Mahotsava, cultural programmes and all the fun rides) Part 6: Kapilas and Saptasajya (I will write more about it in future) Part 7: Joranda

Brajanath Badajena High School (BBHS), Dhenkanal celebrated its 112th foundation day on 1st of July, 2008. Established as "Dhenkanal State High School", the school was rechristened to "Brajanath Badajena High school" - after the famous War Poet - in 1950. Despite of being one of the oldest as well as largest school (with a strength of 1100) in the state of Orissa, it still does not have basic facilities - such as drinking water, a cycle stand, a play ground- for its students. Moreover the auditorium, which I expected to become a state-of-the-art facility, is in incomplete state for the last 5 years. I earnestly hope that Dhenkanal's MP, MLA and other eminent personalities as well as BBHS's alumni will come together to improve the condition of the high school. Excerpts from Oriya daily Dharitri (02nd of July 2008) .