During my school days and service period, I have had the opportunity of visiting many places around the country, including the big cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. But after spending a few days in any place, the urge to return to Sambalpur has always prevailed upon me. This is the town where I was born and spent my time until the last stage of education before moving to other places for service. Wherever I have gone and stayed, the usual comment from friends has been, “Why are you desirous of going back to Sambalpur, leaving such a good and beautiful place?” It indirectly means Sambalpur is not as good as the place I am leaving. But this is not the fact. No place is bad. If somebody lives in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, or Kolkata for a few years, the metropolis or megalopolis would appear to be too good for them. I have seen people from my area settle down in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru without ever thinking of returning. Whenever they come, they talk of returning after a few days and go on heaping lavish praises on their respective metropolis. While doing so, they would highlight the good qualities of their place to the point of hiding its weak points. This is because though their place may not be the best, they have been attached and used to it physically, mentally, and emotionally, and some sort of psychology works on them. For a person living in Mumbai, the weak points of Bengaluru would appear more to them, and vice versa. But the fact is that no place can really be called good or bad, and every place has its advantages and disadvantages. For me, Sambalpur is the best place since, being my hometown, it has borne and groomed me.
Though Sambalpur is emerging as a big and bustling city of modern India, it is not a new city and has a glorious past behind it. In the hoary past, it was a small village known as ‘Semelpur,’ which later developed into the name ‘Samalpur’ or ‘Sambalpur.’ The presiding deity of the village was Devi Samlei, who was worshipped under a ‘Semel’ tree and derived Her name from it. In the second century, Greek geographer Ptolemy referred to the area as ‘Sambalaka’ and the Mahanadi as ‘Manada.’ From the accounts of French traveler Tavernier and British historian Gibbon, it is known that the area was called ‘Hirakhanda,’ which was quite prosperous and exported diamonds to Rome. History, therefore, makes it clear that the present town of Sambalpur and the Mahanadi flowing by bear witness to a glorious history behind it. Later in the sixteenth century, Balaram Dev, the first Chauhan ruler of Sambalpur, built the fortified city of Sambalpur along the river Mahanadi and accepted Devi Samlei as his presiding deity. After the rule of the kings, the British Raj held reins, and after their departure, Sambalpur became a district of western Odisha in independent India. Since then, Sambalpur town has remained the district headquarters.
I am talking about Sambalpur during the year 1966, when I went to school for the first time and started to know about things around me. Sambalpur was a small town then with a population below the one-lakh mark. Two big tanks in Modipara supplied water to the whole town. The entry point to the town from the Cuttack side was Dhanupali, which was a village then but later formed part of the city of Sambalpur. From Dhanupali, via Govindtola, Charbhati, Commissioner’s Colony, and Jail Chowk, one could have a round of the town, moving through Kutchery Chowk, Bad Sadak, Kunjelpara, and Badbazar, then returning to Jail Chowk via Khetrajpur, Modipara, Pensionpara, and Bhutapara. There were other major roads like San Sadak, the Khetrajpur-Remed road, the Sakhipara-National Highway road, and the Badbazar-Durgapali road, in addition to the small lanes. These were the lifelines of the town of Sambalpur. In the absence of mobile phones and television, cinema and radio were the main sources of entertainment. The Gaiety Talkies, the Luxmi Talkies, and the Ashoka Talkies were the three cinema halls showing mostly Hindi films and occasionally Odia films. All India Radio, Sambalpur, broadcasting on Medium Wave, was the only radio station in the western part of Odisha and quite popular for its local programs. People also tuned into Vividh Bharati and Radio Ceylon for entertainment programs. Besides, circus and opera parties came to the town at regular intervals for the entertainment of the people. Gole Bazar was the main business area, with the vegetable market in the middle and shops and showrooms on all sides. Khetrajpur was known for its wholesale business, and retailers and small businessmen, not only from the town but also from nearby areas, depended on it.
The Hirakud dam, the Gandhi Minar, the Nehru Minar, the Chiplima powerhouse, the Peetha of Devi Ghanteswari, the Budharaja hills, the Jamadarpali airstrip, the Samaleswari temple, the Rajabakhri and Ranibakhri, the Gopaljee temple, the Brahmapura temple, and a row of temples in the old town, and the Maneswar Mandhata Baba temple are the major spots for tourist attraction within the Municipal Corporation area of the city. With a long array of temples built during the regime of the Chauhan rulers, along with the newly built temples, Sambalpur may very well be called ‘Mandiramalini’ or the temple city. The Sambalpuri handloom saree and Sambalpuri folk music are the other attractions of Sambalpur, which have always attracted people from far and wide. Nuakhai and Pushpuni festivals are unique to the area. Durga Puja is also celebrated with great pomp and splendor every year, and approximately forty pandals are constructed for the same in and around the city, attracting huge crowds.
In school, we thought of Sambalpur as a big city. I lived in Dhanupali, then a village three to four kilometers from the town of Sambalpur. We called it Sambalpur town, and the word automatically comes even now, though Dhanupali has become part of the city of Sambalpur. Up to the fifth standard, I went with my father or grandmother to the town, where every year the Rathyatra and Sitalshashthi yatra are celebrated with great pomp and splendor. Mythological and children’s films also attracted us, which we visited with our families.
After passing the fifth standard, I got a bicycle to go to Sambalpur for high school studies. The bicycle brought about a change in our lives, and we friends not only made rounds of the town but also visited nearby areas like Burla, Hirakud, and Maneswar. The National Highway linking Mumbai to Kolkata moves outside Sambalpur, and it was our favorite haunt. We also visited Hindi and Odia movies in the three cinema halls. We visited hotels near Ashoka and Luxmi Talkies, Gole Bazar, and Baidyanath Chowk for our favorite snacks. The old bus stand was our favorite place for buying books and magazines for boys.
Though in college and university, we had already been familiar with the idea that Sambalpur was only a small town and there were bigger cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai, we still loved Sambalpur, which has remained a lifelong passion.
Today, Sambalpur has undergone a sea change. It has turned out to be the fifth-largest city, with a population of approximately four lakh people. The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation has come into existence, comprising the towns of Hirakud and Burla. As an educational hub, it has developed considerably. The IIM has added to the educational atmosphere of Sambalpur. All the cinema halls have been razed to the ground. A cineplex has come up. New market areas and residential colonies have come into existence. The lighting system in the city has improved considerably. New flyovers have been constructed. The ring road has become an attraction of the city. The Samaleswari temple project, completed in recent times, has been attracting devotees and tourists from far and wide. New industries in nearby Jharsuguda district have come up. The city has been beautified. The Khetrajpur railway station has been upgraded, and the new city station has come up. People have lost the Fatak railway station. The new bus stand has come up at Ainthapali. New government offices have been constructed, and old buildings have been remodeled. Still, there is a lot of scope for development, and Sambalpur will emerge as a prominent city of modern India in times to come.
We cannot stop changes from taking place, which are mostly for the better. Today, the city of Sambalpur is wearing a new look. The light posts with facilities for kerosene lamps have become a thing of the past. The last time I had spotted such a dilapidated post in the Fatak area of the city was in the year 1971 or 1972. Development is taking place, and one day the city will be included in the list of smart cities. But sometimes I become nostalgic and miss the green fields within the town area, the less congested roads, the dim light of the light posts, the blank area behind the Budharaja hills, and, last but not least, fondly remember my proud feeling that despite being small, Sambalpur is a big, big city.
(The views expressed are the writer’s own)
Mr. Prafulla Kumar Majhi,
Retired Asst. Director, A. I. R, is an eminent Scholar and freelance writer in English & Odia. His areas of interests are sociocultural, economic, literary, historical and analytical studies and writings.
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