A History Buried Underneath The Golden Sands And Glorious Temples

Odisha’s past focuses on the war of Kalinga, where King Ashoka showed his indomitable power to conquer Odisha. However, little do we know about Odisha in its pre-historic days where early humans dwelled and the land was quite underdeveloped, with unknown animals roaming around. Let’s sit in the time machine and travel to that era of Odisha which is unknown and unexplored.

Timeless Tales Of Golden Sands; Image Source: Behance

Odisha’s history is not limited to the days of the Kalinga War and the rule of the Gajapati kings, but it dates back to an era where humans were primitive and had no access to any idea of civilisation or modernisation. With time, these primitive creatures transformed into human beings just to realise the potential their homeland holds for them.

Similarly, Odisha too was an undeveloped land with unknown creatures dwelling in there. The journey of Odisha from an unknown land to the eighth largest state of India was quite a long journey and with every step, the state underwent new transformations.

140 million years ago, peninsular India was a part of the supercontinent, Gondwana. The name Gondwana originates from a tribe named Gondi, who lived in different parts of India. Yet another theory suggests that the name Gondwanaland has been derived from Gondwana.

Also, some of the earliest rock formations were first found in Odisha after archaeological excavations. These rocks consisted of some really old rocks like the Mayurbhanj granite pluton, which dates back to 3.09 billion years ago. Also, some of the famous rivers of Odisha like Mahanadi and Ib are said to be some of the richest fossil sites in the subcontinent.

In many districts of Odisha like Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundergarh, and Sambalpur, Acheulian tools dating back to Lower Paleolithic times have been excavated. Rock carvings and paintings dating back to the Upper Paleolithic age have been found in the Gudahandi hills of the Kalahandi district.

Hoes, chisels, ponders, mace heads, grinding stones, pieces of pottery, and various other Neolithic tools have also been excavated from Kuchai near Baripada.

Apart from tons of tools and various utilitarian items, prehistoric paintings and inscriptions have also been having been found in Garjan Dongar in Sundergarh district, Ushakothi in Sambalpur district, and Vimkramkhol in Jharsuguda. However, the inscriptions found at Ushakothi and Vimkramkhol have no certainty of being proto-Brahmi scripts. Cave paintings from the Neolithic age can be seen in the Yogimath caves near Khariar.

With time, some of these ancient remains have managed to survive. However, most of these remains have been destroyed with time and increased pollution.

Henceforth, archaeologists and excavators have come forth with various ideas and inventions to preserve these remains, so that future generations get a glimpse of what their glorious past held for them.