బాలాసోర్ జిల్లా: కూర్పుల మధ్య తేడాలు

[[File:Sari draping style of Balasore (Baleswar) region, Odisha state museum, Bhubaneswar 2013.JPG|thumb|[[Sari]] draping style of Balasore region]]

Balasore District is very much famous for its glorious history, art and culture, culture and tradition. There are many beautiful temples and spots to be seen here at Balasore District. The people of the various religious beliefs residing here, viz. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians etc., amply display the cultural genesis of Balasore District. The copper coins collected from Bhograi and the collection of statues of Lord Buddha from places like Avana, Kupari, Basta and Ayodhya magnifies the existence of Buddhism here. Buddhism is also popular during “Bhoumakar”. The statue of Lord Jaina at Jaleswar, Balasore and Avana hints about Jainism that is practiced in this District, which was also popular during 10th and 11th centuries.

Balasore District is highly famous for its Saibapitha”s and many a temples of Lord Shiva are seen at places throughout the district. The temples of Lord Shiva at Chandaneshwar, Baneshwar, Jhadeshwar, Panchalingeshwar, Bhusandeshwar and Maninageshwar are highly popular.

The District has also attained fame for its Saktipitha’s, found at “Bhudhar Chandi” of Sajanagarh, “Danda Kali” of Khantapara and “Chandi Mandir” at Kharjureshwar. The Sun temples of Ayodhya, Seragarh, Nilagiri and Bardhanpur makes one to reminiscence about the images of the “Sun Devotee”. Vaishnab Dharma is popular here from the time of Gupta dynasty. Vishnu temples at different places of the District and the Khirochora temple (built during the period of second Narasingha Dev) highlight the religious and cultural inclinations of the District”s people.

The two Jagannath temples at the heart of Balasore and other Jagannath temples at Nilagiri, Mangalpur, Gud, Jaleswar, Kamarda, Deuligan and Baliapal unfolds the culture of this region. Many a Masjid, Church, Gurudwara (at Remuna) etc. identifies the different religions and places of worship in this District.

Famous festivals like Makara Sankranti, Raja Sankranti, Ganga Mela, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Ganesh Chaturthi, Saraswati Puja, Laxmi Puja, Bishwakarma Puja, Chandan festival, Car festival, Maha Shivaratri, Dola Purnima, Id, Moharrum, Christmas Day etc. are performed with much pump and fanfare by the people of this region. Balasore is famous for the most attractive and enjoyable game of “Akhada”, played during Durga Puja by Hindus & during Moharrum by Muslims. People of this District had played a dominant role in the language revolution, during the making of the separate Odisha province. The important newspapers “Bodhadayeenee” and “Balasore Sambad Bahika”, by the efforts of Vysa Kabi Fakir Mohan Senapati had sown the seeds of Oriya language revolution and for the development of Oriya literature.

Odisha’s cultural history will ever remember the contributions of Raja Baikuntha Nath Dev, Vysa Kabi Fakir Mohan and Rai Bahadur Radha Charan Das, for their efforts in making Odisha a separate province and in glorifying Oriya language and literature.