Nandankanan Zoological Park

Nandankanan Zoological Park (Odia: ନନ୍ଦନକାନନ ଜୀବ ଉଦ୍ୟାନ) is a 437-hectare (1,080-section of land) zoo and professional flowerbed in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Set up in 1960, it was opened to general society in 1979 and turned into the first zoo in Quite a while to join World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) in 2009. It additionally contains a professional flowerbed and some portion of it has been pronounced an asylum. Nandankanan, in a real sense meaning The Garden of Heaven, is situated close to the capital city, Bhubaneswar, in the environs of the Chandaka backwoods, and incorporates the 134-section of land (54 ha) Kanjia lake.

A significant redesign was done in 2000 (after the harm brought about by the super-typhoon of 1999 in beach front Odisha). More than 2.6 million guests visit Nandankanan consistently.

History

Woodland authorities chose in 1960 that remembering uncommon plants and creatures for the Odisha structure at the World Agricultural Fair in Delhi would help increment participation. Word was shipped off the backwoods division to catch whatever number little creatures as could be allowed for the showcase. Taking all things together, the woodland division figured out how to catch two spotted deer (Axis hub), two yapping deer (Muntiacus muntjak), two dark buck (Antilope cervicapra), one mouse deer, one panther feline, one flying squirrel, one racket-followed drongo, one hornbill, two parrots, two slope mynah, one peacock, and a mongoose. Moreover, the divisional timberland official of Deogarh caught a pangolin (textured insect eating animal) and two porcupines, and the divisional backwoods official of Puri caught a couple of wild hogs and a Python. These creatures were conveyed to the Delhi reasonable and displayed at the Odisha structure.

The State Finance Department mentioned criticisms regarding a zoo in Odisha in light of the expense of both setting up and keeping up the office. While the issue was being discussed, creatures showed up back at Bhubaneswar in May 1960, presenting issues to the timberland office for lodging and taking care of them. P. Mohandra (Divisional Forest Officer, Puri) and G. K. Das (Divisional Forest Officer, Deogarh) fabricated brief designs at Khandagiri for the creatures, and the local area of Jain aided feed them. Conversations about a genuine zoo began not long after Dr. H. K. Mahatab, at that point Chief Minister of Odisha, visited the creatures.

The underlying proposition set the zoo at Ghatikia near Khandagiri and Udayagiri caverns. In any case, this was considered to present water issues later on. A zoo needs part of water to address the issue of creatures, cleaning of creatures sheds and for different purposes. The at that point Range Officer, Chandaka proposed Jujhagarh backwoods block on Kanjia lake close to Barang Railway station as the best area. The then Chief Conservator of Forests, Divisional Forest Officer, Puri, Range Officer, Chandaka and D.P. Ghosh, Forest Ranger visited the spot and were intrigued with its picturesque excellence. with lavish green vegetation on the two sides of the lake introduced a beautiful site. Jujhagarh Forest Block enjoyed every one of the benefits for finding the zoo with the exception of correspondence from Bhubaneswar and the lone methodology was by means of Chandaka covering a distance of 38 km.

A board of trustees comprising of Dr. Radhanath Rath, Sri G.C. Run and Sri D.N. Choudhury, the then Minister of Forests, Secretary, Forest and the Chief Conservator of Forests, individually, visited the spot. They were particularly dazzled with its stylish magnificence and suggested area of the zoo there with development of a straight street (a distance of 14 to 15 km) from Bhubaneswar. Appropriately, it was chosen to find the Zoological Park in Jujhagarh Forest Block, Botanical nursery in Krushnanagar Forest Block and create Kanjia lake for Boating and Angling. The Director, Fisheries consented to build up a segment of the lake for raising different sorts of fish for guests to see. At first it was chosen to keep spotted deer, yapping deer, dark bucks, wild hogs, sambars, nilagai and bears in extensive walled in areas. Different creatures like panther feline, mongoose, flying squirrel, porcupine, python, monkeys, hyena, jackal, civet feline, pangolin, wilderness feline, parrots, mynah and different birds in appropriate enclosures. It was chosen to invest amounts of energy to catch tigers and panthers which could be displayed in reasonable confines for the present and the appropriate open nooks would be worked for them later on. It was additionally settled to raise a decent bloom garden and to plant significant species and therapeutic plants of Odisha inside proposed Botanical nursery in Krushnanagar D.P.F. Ultimately the site around the 134-section of land (54 ha) Kanjia Lake was picked. The lake would be created for amusement also. A 15-kilometer (9.3 mi) street was worked to the site, and Nandankanan Biological Park was formally initiated on 29 December 1960, by Sri S. K. Patil, at that point Indian Minister of Food and Agriculture.

A professional flowerbed was opened in 1963. The primary tiger showed up at the zoo in 1964 from the Alipore Zoo in Calcutta, alongside a couple of African lions, a couple of Mugger crocodiles, and a panther. The workplace was renamed Nandankanan Zoological Park in 1981.

In 2009 Nandankanan Zoological Park turned into the first zoo in Quite a while to turn into an individual from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA)

Creatures and displays

The zoo is home to around 1660 individual creatures addressing 166 species, including 67 types of vertebrates, 81 types of birds, and 18 types of reptiles.[9] The demise pace of creatures here during the 2008–2009 financial year was one of the most minimal in India, at 3.1% each year contrasted with the public normal of 10%.

Tigers

The zoo contains a few Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) of a few sizes, not many of them white and not many of them pseudo-melanistic.

Chilika Lake

Chilika Lake is a salty water tidal pond, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam areas of Odisha state on the east shoreline of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, streaming into the Bay of Bengal, covering a space of more than 1,100 km2. It is the biggest seaside tidal pond in India and the biggest saline water tidal pond on the planet after The New Caledonian obstruction reef. It has been recorded as a conditional UNESCO World Heritage site.

It is the biggest wintering ground for transient birds on the Indian sub-landmass. The lake is home to different bargained kinds of plants and animals.

The lake is an organic framework with gigantic fishery resources. It upholds more than 150,000 fisher–individuals living in 132 towns on the shore and islands.

The lagoon has in excess of 160 kinds of birds in the apex transient season.  Birds from to the extent the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea and other distant pieces of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Kazakhstan, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas come here. These birds travel significant stretches; some of them potentially travel upto 12,000 km, to arrive at Chilika Lake.

In 1981, Chilika Lake was assigned the principal Indian wetland of worldwide significance under the Ramsar Convention.

As per an overview, 45 percent of the birds are earthly in nature, 32% are waterfowl, and 23 percent are waders. The tidal pond is likewise home to 14 kinds of raptors. Around 152 uncommon and imperiled Irrawaddy dolphins have likewise been accounted for. Furthermore, the tidal pond upholds around 37 types of reptiles and amphibians.[14]

The exceptionally beneficial Chilika Lagoon eco-framework with its rich fishery assets supports the occupation for some anglers who live in and close to the tidal pond. The water spread space of the tidal pond ranges somewhere in the range of 1165 and 906 km2 during the rainstorm and summer separately. A 32 km long, thin, external channel interfaces the tidal pond to the Bay of Bengal, close to the town Motto. All the more as of late another mouth has been opened by CDA which has carried another rent of life to the tidal pond.

Microalgae, marine ocean growth, ocean grasses, fish and crab additionally thrive in the salty water of the Chilika Lagoon. Particularly the recuperation of seagrass beds lately is an inviting pattern which may in the long run bring about re-colonization of imperiled dugongs.

History

Land proof demonstrates that Chilika Lake was important for the Bay of Bengal during the later phases of the Pleistocene time frame (1.8 million to 10,000 years BP).

Unearthings were led by the Archeological Survey of India at Golabai Sasan (20°1′7″N 85°32′54″E) only north of Chilika lake in Khurdha area. Golabai gives proof of a succession of Chilika region culture in three stages: Neolithic (c. 1600 BCE), Chalcolithic (c. 1400 BCE to c. 900 BCE) and Iron Age (c. 900 BCE to c. 800 BCE). Radiocarbon dating followed the soonest level of Golbai to 2300 BCE. The site is situated on the left bank of the Malaguni River, a feeder of the Daya River, which streams into Chilika Lake. This area, which offered admittance to the ocean through Chilika Lake, gives solid proof of the sea exercises of this locale. The recuperation of numerous carpentry adzes and different relics shows that Golabai was a boat-building focus. Essentially, Golabai is the lone uncovered site in Odisha where boat building has been uncovered. This likewise shows that Chilika lake was near Golabai and it worked with the oceanic exchange of individuals nearby during the antiquated period.

Some antiquated writings say the southern area of Chilika was a significant harbor for oceanic trade, when Kharavela (c. 209 BCE–after 170 BCE), the King of Kalinga, was known as the “Ruler of the Sea”.

Ptolemy (150 CE), the Greek geographer, alluded to Palur as the port Paloura, found near the take-off point arranged outside of the southern tip of the lake at Kantiagarh, from where boats destined for various pieces of Southeast Asia cruised. After 639, the Chinese pioneers Fa-Hien and Hiuen-Tsang notice a renowned port “Che-li-ta-loChing” close to the shore of the sea which was a lane and resting place for seagoing brokers and outsiders from far off lands. This port was situated at ‘Chhatragarh’ on the banks of Chilika Lake.

A fourth-century legend, regularly advised to clarify the introduction of Chilika, states that the privateer ruler, Raktabahhu, intended to assault Puri with an immense armada of boats. To keep away from location, he subtly moored far away, off the mouth to the ocean. The trickery was uncovered by boats’ deny skimming to the shore, subsequently cautioning the town’s kin, who got away with every one of their assets. Raktabahu felt sold out when he tracked down a neglected town and coordinated his rage towards the ocean that had double-crossed him. The ocean separated to allow the military to walk in, at that point flooded back, suffocated the military and framed the current lake. Archeological unearthings found seventh-century transport anchors and stone journals committed to fight saints at a town named Kanas, around 25 km (16 mi) north of Chilika on the banks of Nuna stream, which streams into the lake. This gives proof of a notable maritime commitment off the coast.

Konark

Konark is a medium town in the Puri locale in the territory of Odisha, India. It lies on the coast by the Bay of Bengal, 60 kilometers from the capital of the state, Bhubaneswar. It is the site of the thirteenth century Sun Temple, otherwise called the Black Pagoda, implicit dark rock during the rule of Narasimhadeva-I. The sanctuary is a World Heritage Site.The sanctuary is currently generally in ruins, and an assortment of its figures is housed in the Sun Temple Museum, which is controlled by the Archeological Survey of India.

Konark is additionally home to a yearly dance celebration called Konark Dance Festival, committed to old style Indian dance structures, including the customary traditional dance of Odisha, Odissi.In February 2019, the Konark Dance Festival (presently called Konark Music and Dance Festival) will have its 33rd version. The state government is likewise arranging yearly Konark Festival and International Sand Art Festival at Chandrabhaga Beach of Konark.

Historical underpinnings

The name Konârka is gotten from the Sanskrit word Kona (which means point) and word Arka (which means sun) concerning the sanctuary which was committed to the Sun god Surya.

The Sun Temple

The Sun Temple was implicit the thirteenth century and planned as a tremendous chariot of the Sun God, Surya, with twelve sets of ornamented wheels pulled by seven ponies. A portion of the wheels are 3 meters wide. Just six of the seven pony actually stand today. The sanctuary fell into neglect after an agent of Jahangir befouled the sanctuary in the mid seventeenth century.

As indicated by old stories, there was a precious stone in the focal point of the symbol which mirrored the sun beams that passed. In 1627, the then Raja of Khurda took the Sun icon from Konark to the Jagannath sanctuary in Puri. The Sun sanctuary has a place with the Kalingan school of Indian sanctuary engineering. The arrangement of the Sun Temple is along the east–west heading. The inward sanctum or vimana used to be overcomed by a pinnacle or shikara however it was annihilated in the nineteenth century. The crowd lobby or jagamohana still stands and includes dominant part of the vestiges. The top of the ballroom or natmandir has tumbled off. It remains at the eastern finish of the remnants on a raised stage.

History

In 1559, Mukunda Gajapati came to seat in Cuttack. He adjusted himself as a partner of Akbar and a foe of the Sultan of Bengal, Sulaiman Khan Karrani. After a couple of fights, Odisha at long last fell. The fall was additionally helped by the inward unrest of the state. In 1568, the Konark sanctuary was harmed by the multitude of Kalapahad, a general of the Sultan.[12] Kalapahad is likewise supposed to be liable for harms to a few different sanctuaries during the success.

Kalijai Temple

Kalijai Temple is arranged on an island in Chilika Lake. It is viewed as the homestead of the Goddess Kalijai. Goddess Kalijai is really Kali, the source and the principal ‘Mahavidya’ of ‘Dasmahavidyas’. Profoundly adored by the neighborhood people, the divinity has been loved in the nearby fables and legends. The island gives an astounding objective to explorers just as travelers. Consistently in January, an enormous affair reasonable is held during the celebration of Makar Sankranti.

Legend

Rumors from far and wide suggest that a recently hitched young lady (named Jaai) alongside her dad planned to meet her significant other. As her in-law’s home was on an island in Chilika Lake they needed to take a boat to ship them across the lake. Odisha’s coast is exceptionally inclined to Cyclones and during this boat trip they were experienced with an extreme Cyclone, thus their boat was inverted in the Chilika Lake. Just the boatman and her dad endure this occasion aside from the young lady Jaai. They looked for her yet couldn’t find her. After this coincidental demise of that recently marry young lady, she turned into the Goddess of individuals living close by and work now, she is revered as an EXCERPT of Kali. Also, this is the way the spot got its name.

As per a sonnet by Pandit Godabarish Mishra, Jaai was a young lady who planned to get hitched in Parikud island. The boat upset in the tempest. She met her deplorable passing and turned into the divinity Kalijai. Nonetheless, it’s ascribed to the creative mind of the artist and may not be proven. Dr. Radha Charan Panda makes reference to in The History of Parikud (1930) that this sanctuary was worked by Sri Jagannath Mansingh, lord of Bankad (as of now known as Banapur) in the year 1717.