About Kalahandi

Kalahandi, a district of Orissa, India, was known as Mahakantara (Great Forest) in ancient India. It is also known as Karunda Mandal, which means treasure of precious stones like karandam (Manik), Garnet (red stone), Beruz, Neelam (blue stone), and Alexandra etc. Kalahandi was a feudatory of earstwhile Kalinga-Utkala empire of Gajapati rulers of Orissa. Maharaja Pratap Keshari Deo, the Ex-Maharaja of Kalahandi, in one of his articles expressed his view that the historical significance of naming Kalahandi as Karunda Mandala is based on the availability of Corundum in this region.

Maa Manikeswari (the goddess of Manikya), the clan deity of the Naga kings of Kalahandi may have also necessitated the adoption of the name.

The present District of Kalahandi was a former princely state. After Indian Independence, Kalahandi joined with the Union of India on January 1, 1948, and was subsequently merged with Orissa on November 1, 1949. The former capital of the State of Kalahandi, Junagarh, located 26 kilometers from Bhawanipatna has a well-built fort and a number of temples of Hindu pantheon, with sculptural evidence of the rite of sati.

The language spoken by the people of Kalahandi is Sambalpuri-a dilect of Oriya language.