Jeypore


Jeypore, in Odisha, India, was established by King Veer Vikrama Dev in 1648-49CE. It served for some time as the capital of the erstwhile Jeypore state. The kingdom covered an area that stretched from the Eastern Ghat range to the Godavari river in the south. It is encompassed by hills of the Eastern Ghats and the Araku hills on three sides like a horse shoe with the western side opening up to Chhattisgarh in central India.

History

King Veer Vikram Dev left Nandapur and settled in a valley lying south of their kingdom and named it 'Jeypore' or 'city of victory'. Later, his grandson Vishwambhar Dev established a feudal system and expanded his kingdom till Srikakulam in the east and introduced many feudatories that paid homage to his seat. He stopped slave trade of the Dutch East India Company and was popular as 'Sumber Deo' among the Dutch which was a mispronounced form of his name.
In 1710, Maharajah Ram Chandra Deo and his younger brother Balaram Dev had a personal feud that led to the downfall of the kingdom. The problems arose because of minister Viziaram Raz who was planning to usurp the throne from the weak ruler. Although, Balaram remonstrated Viziaram Raz in the court he was favored by Ram Chandra who heavily relied on him.
In 2013, Vishweshvar Dev was crowned as the titular ruler of Jeypore becoming the twenty-seventh ruler on the 570th anniversary of his dynasty.

Geography and climate

Jeypore is located at. It has an average elevation of 659 metres.
The town of Jeypore experiences a tropical monsoon climate, like the rest of Odisha. The monsoon season here is not as harsh as it is in other parts of the state, and summers here are hot and winters very cold.
Summers in the town of Jeypore are slightly hot, and this season runs during the months of March, April, May, and June. The summer months will experience a maximum temperature of around forty five degrees and a minimum temperature of around nineteen degrees. Visiting Jeypore during the summer months is not a very good idea.
The monsoon season in Jeypore brings about moderate rainfall, and this season is mainly during the months of July, August, September and October. The weather during this time is pleasant and Jeypore can be visited during this time too.
Winters in Jeypore are during November, December, January and February. These months will experience a maximum temperature of around twenty two degrees and a minimum temperature of around four degrees. This is a good time to visit Jeypore, and this is the main tourist season in the region.

Demographics

India census, Jeypore had a population of 76,560. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Jeypore has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 77%, and female literacy is 61%. In Jeypore, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Education

There are several Oriya medium schools in the town such as Government Boys High School, Girls High School, Municipal High School No. I, II and III, Upper Kolab Project High School, Saraswati Sishu vidya mandir, etc. The English medium schools are Modern English school, Jeypore Public school, Deepti Convent School, DAV Model Senior Secondary School, Redwoods English School and Siddharth English Medium School.
Government Colleges include Vikram Dev College Jeypore, which is one of the oldest and prominent colleges of Odisha established in 1947. The college started at the present P. G. Block was known as 'Jeypore College' from 1 July 1947. As a tribute to the philanthropist king, Rajarshi Vikram Deb Verma, the college was renamed to "Vikram Deb College" in 1961. Honors subjects teaching were imparted from during 1968–73 and Post Graduate courses were started from 1979. The other colleges being Govt. Women's College and Law College. Of late many private colleges have started in the town making the environment highly competitive. Among them prominent are Narayani Junior College and vidwan institute of basic sciences.
Jeypore also has colleges offering professional courses such as Gopal Krushna College of Engineering & Technology, which was established in the year 1989. Jeypore college of Pharmacy is another renowned pharmacy institute. Along with it various Engineering Diploma colleges are present namely Institute of engineering & Management, Hi-Tech Institute of Information & Technology and Jeypore School of Engineering and Technologies.

Business and economy

Though traditionally an agrarian economy, Jeypore is the business hub for southern Odisha as well as the bordering towns of Andhra Pradesh. There is high potential growth of this town due to high minerals, opportunities, resources around the district adding to all the facilities like rail, air in this town. There are many renowned industries in and around Jeypore. Business units include Sewa Paper Mills, now a part of BILT, and numerous rice & cashew processing units. PSU company Power Grid Corporation of India has its 400/220kV substation at Kaliagaon for evacuation of power from eastern grid to southern grid. POWERGRID has also installed STATCOM for voltage control and FSC system for enhanced power evacuation, at their above sub-station. NALCO, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Coffee Board are government based units situated nearby. Huge granite deposits on hills, rich forests and forest-based produce are important contributors to Jeypore's economy. Apparel, shoes and animal products are also economic contributors.
Upper Kolab Hydro Electric Project, was taken up for excavation in the year 1976 by the Irrigation and Power Department, Govt. of Odisha. This multipurpose project utilises the water potential of river Kolab a tributary of river Godavari, for hydro-electric power generation, providing irrigation facilities by lift canal irrigation, and supplying drinking water to Damonjodi, Koraput, Sunabeda, and Jeypore town.

Festivities and culture

Besides the annual Rath Yatra, another festival celebrated in the town is the 'Ghata Porbo' or 'Thakurani Yatra' held usually during summer. During the festival, every community has the chance to take its goddesses out of the temples and visit all other localities. The processions last for days and weeks, with dramas and other entertainment held during the nights. Local musical instruments like 'Dombo baido' and 'Singha baido' accompany such processions.

Entertainment

- Jeypore, is one of the oldest Radio Stations in Odisha, established on 28 June 1964. It is possible to receive Jeypore Radio Signal at the below AM and Short Band frequencies 1467 kHz, 5040 kHz,6040 kHz. There is local FM program also running at FM frequency.
Acquatica is a refreshment and recreation center where there are gym, swimming pool, saloon, rain dance, function hall, and spa. There are also tennis court and a play ground in the town.

Tourism

at an altitude of about above sea level on river Kolab, stands the Kolab Reservoir generating Hydro Electric Power.
Bagara it is known for waterfalls. The place is reached on kutcha road for 3 miles from Khondaguda which is 10 miles from Koraput and 6 miles from Jeypore. There are three small waterfalls from a height of about 30 ft on the river Kolab. It has a rest house at the site of the falls for use of the visitors.

Transportation

Airways

was made non-operational a few years after its inauguration in 1962 but now has a daily flight service to Bhubaneswar and is also used for charter planes and VIP travel. The nearest international airport is at Visakhapatnam, 221 km away.
The airport is a part of the UDAN scheme being run by the Government of India - a regional airport development and regional connectivity scheme aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread for national economic development, job growth and infrastructure.
In the 1980s, a private airline started operating flights from Jeypore but the service was stopped after a flight crashed. Air Odisha started flights from Jeypore in 2016 but its services were stopped because the service used single-engine planes.
The runway width has been expanded to 24-metres from 15 metres. Similarly, a boundary wall extending to 2.5 km was built around the airstrip. The airport code is PYB.

Railways

One can reach Jeypore from Visakhapatnam by boarding the Kirandul passenger train or take one of the other trains connecting to Jeypore or numerous taxis/cabs. The 221 km ride takes approximately seven hours, covering approximately 150 km of the hills of Araku Valley. It is also possible to reach Jeypore by buses available from Berhampur, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram RTC bus-stations. Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, is 520 km and the biggest city of southern Odisha, Berhampur is 333 km from Jeypore. From Bhubaneswar, apart from the regular bus service, the Hirakhand Express train takes travellers to Jeypore in about 14 hours. The train runs daily to and from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar via Jeypore.
Jeypore Railway station is having reservation counter for booking ticket to/from any part of India. Recent days due to high number of train and passenger this station is developed and there are more plans develop the station with all facilities. Trains which pass through Jeypore include the Samaleshwari Express.

Roadways

Jeypore zone of OSRTC is very old and despite huge losses and almost close down of OSRTC this zone was running in profit and now when OSRTC has revived there are many luxury buses connected to many parts of the state, Chhattisgarh and AP from Jeypore. Frequent buses run from Visakhapatanam and Jagdalpur to Jeypore. Jeypore Private bus association is having highest number of buses in this region operates to and from many short and long distances places.

Cuisines and accommodations

Jeypore is known for its Oriya cuisine like pakhala, Khasi mansa/Mutton, Machha besara, Puri, Vada, Upma take stage with South Indian dishes such as Idli and Dosa.
There are also a few Punjabi Dhabas and Gujarati hotels. There are a number of shops serving authentic Oriya sweets such as Chenna Poda and Rasgulla. Nearby Ambaguda is famous for its Rasmallais, while numerous stalls on the roadside of the town serve chaats, fast foods like egg and chicken rolls in the evening. however as in all Indian towns food is generally unhygienic and flouts all known sanitary rules.
There many small and Big cashew industries around the town. The Odisha state government is having Cashew Board office located in Jeypore. There are around 40 cashew industries in this area. Some of the product is exported.

Politics

After independence, in the first General Election held during 1952, Late Laichan Nayak was elected as the first MLA of Jeypore and reelected for a subsequent term during 1957. Raghunath Patnaik has been elected for 6 times to the state legislative assembly. Rabi Narayan Nanda has been elected for 3 successive terms starting from the assembly elections in 2000. Tara Prasad Bahinipati is the present MLA.
Jeypore is part of Koraput.