Bhubaneswar: Odisha and its mother tongue Odia are not just words but represent the emotion and sentiment of every Odia people. The language Odia plays the pertinent role to establish relationship, create bonding between themselves. The people residing in the remotest village to those living in cities are connected with this one string of Odia language. Our language and literature is the sweetest of all.
On the occasion of Utkal/ Odisha Divas ( the day celebrated to commemorate the foundation of the state Odisha in the past) the whole state is celebrating this day 1 April with utmost joy and pride. When Odisha was going through a rough time with regard to its language then the Odia writers and poets of the land kept up the culture and language to eventually turning this into a great piece of land with pride. But in the 19th century when the western language, education and press became prominent the Odia language slowly lost its dominance. The crashed Odia nation has faced many turmoil in the past. The removal of Odia language from the school curriculum and incorporating Bengali language hit the state hard as it was a conspiracy to include Odisha with West Bengal. Existence of Odisha as a separate state, culture and identity was at stake. Similarly, Telugu State used to try capturing the south regions. In the year 1895, Hindi language was made the medium for government works and education in Sambalpur. In this situation there were protests and movements started in various places of Odisha for a united state.
Utkal Sammilani was formed in 1903 for sustaining and securing the Odia language and literature. The movement took its pace led by Utkalgourab Madhusudan Das, supported by many kings and landlords. Eventually the Odisha state was founded based on the Odia language. It is one of the notable histories of modern Odisha.
That day was 1 April, 1936 when Odisha got the special recognition of a separate state based on language. Earlier it was scattered for five hundred years without any particular statehood, language and borders. Thereafter it got the recognition of a special state and this day has been celebrated as Utkal/ Odisha foundation day since then.
-OdishaAge
