Utkal Divas

Utkal Divas, also called Odisha Day, commemorates the formation of Odisha as a separate province on 1 April 1936. Before that reorganisation, Odia-speaking populations were divided among the Bihar and Orissa Province, the Madras Presidency and the Central Provinces. From the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, leaders, writers and organisations such as the Utkal Sammilani worked for the administrative unification of Odia-speaking areas and for protection of the Odia language and cultural identity. The creation of the separate province in 1936 was therefore an important milestone in India's history of linguistic regional organisation. Utkal Divas celebrates this achievement as well as Odisha's heritage in literature, classical and folk arts, temple architecture, maritime history and community traditions. Public buildings and streets are often decorated, while cultural programmes and tributes remember the people associated with the movement for a unified Odia homeland.

Utkal Divas helps remember an important person, institution, event or public value in India.