About Odisha Day
Odisha Day, or Utkala Dibasa, marks 1 April 1936, when Odisha became a separate province of British India, carved out of Bihar and Orissa with Odia-speaking areas added from the Madras Presidency and the Central Provinces. It is a public holiday in Odisha, and in 2027 it falls on Thursday, 1 April 2027.
For most of the nineteenth century, an Odia speaker in Cuttack, one in Ganjam and one in Sambalpur lived under three different governments, and in some of them Odia was not the language of the school or the court. Odisha Day marks the end of that split.
Why is Odisha Day celebrated on 1 April?
Odisha Day falls on 1 April because on 1 April 1936 the British government made Orissa a province in its own right. Until then the Odia-speaking districts were divided: the coastal districts sat in the Bihar and Orissa Province, Ganjam and Koraput were in the Madras Presidency, and western areas were attached to the Central Provinces. The new province joined them, with Cuttack as its capital and Sir John Austen Hubback as its first Governor.
It was the first province in India drawn on the basis of a shared language, twenty years before the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 applied that principle across the country. The new province had six districts: Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Koraput. After independence, in 1948 and 1949, twenty-four princely states such as Mayurbhanj were merged into it, and the capital moved to Bhubaneswar in 1948. The state's English name changed from Orissa to Odisha in 2011.
Who led the movement for a separate Odisha?
The movement for a separate Odisha was led by the Utkal Sammilani, the Utkal Union Conference, which Madhusudan Das founded in 1903 to demand that all Odia-speaking tracts be brought under one administration. Das, known as Madhu Babu and Utkal Gourab, the pride of Utkal, was the first Odia to earn a BA, a lawyer, and a businessman who set up the Utkal Tannery and a workshop for Cuttack's silver filigree. He died on 4 February 1934, two years before the province he argued for came into being. His birthday, 28 April, is kept as Lawyers' Day in Odisha.
Others carried the demand alongside him. Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, the social reformer and editor, and the novelist Fakir Mohan Senapati, whose work helped establish modern Odia prose, are named with him in almost every account. Krushna Chandra Gajapati, the ruler of Paralakhemundi in Ganjam, pressed the case with the British and became the first Prime Minister, as the head of a provincial government was then called, of the new province in 1937.
Ganjam, then in the Madras Presidency, mattered more than its size suggests. Eight of the twenty-five sessions of the Utkal conference were held there, seven in Berhampur and one in Paralakhemundi, and Shashi Bhushan Rath's newspaper Dainik Asha, started in Berhampur in 1913, gave the movement a daily voice.
- 1903Utkal Sammilani founded
Madhusudan Das brings Odia leaders together to demand one administration for all Odia-speaking areas.
- 1912Bande Utkala Janani first sung
Laxmikanta Mohapatra's song is sung at the Sammilani session in Balasore.
- 1912Bihar and Orissa Province
Bihar and Orissa are separated from Bengal; Ganjam and the western tracts remain outside.
- 1934Madhu Babu dies
Madhusudan Das dies in Cuttack on 4 February.
- 1 April 1936Orissa Province formed
The separate province comes into being, with Cuttack as its capital.
- 1948–49Princely states merge
Twenty-four former princely states join the province, and Bhubaneswar becomes the capital.
How is Utkal Divas celebrated?
Utkal Divas is a public holiday in Odisha, and the day is marked by the state government, schools, colleges and Odia associations in other cities and abroad. Official programmes open with Bande Utkala Janani, the state song, which the government has asked officials to play with due respect at every function. Leaders lay flowers at statues and portraits of Madhusudan Das and the other founders. Schools hold quiz and essay competitions on the state's history, and evenings bring Odissi dance, Odia music and poetry recitals.
Bande Utkala Janani was written by Laxmikanta Mohapatra in 1912 and was sung at meetings of the statehood movement. The state cabinet gave it the status of state anthem on 7 June 2020.
Bande Utkala Janani, charu hasamayi charu bhashamayi
The line salutes Mother Utkala, lovely in her smile and in her language. The second half of that line is the point of the whole day: Odisha was made around a language.
Odia families outside the state often mark the day with a community lunch of dalma, santula and chhena poda, and Odia associations in cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad hold cultural evenings on the nearest weekend.
How do you wish someone a happy Odisha Day in Odia?
The simplest Odia greeting is "Utkala Dibasara hardika shubhechha", heartfelt wishes on Utkal Day. "Shubha Utkala Dibasa" also works as a short line on a card. For a colleague who is not Odia, plain English is fine; for Odia family and friends, the Odia line is what they will notice.
Utkala Dibasara hardika shubhechha, Bapa and Bou. Thank you for making sure I read and write Odia, even here.
Happy Odisha Day. Wishing you and your family a proud Utkal Divas, and a proper plate of chhena poda somewhere today.
Happy Utkala Dibasa. Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur or Berhampur, wherever home is, hope you hear Bande Utkala Janani today.
Utkala Dibasara shubhechha. The state was built on the language you teach every day. Thank you for keeping it alive.
Happy Odisha Day to every Odia on the team. Madhu Babu started this in 1903; we are glad to celebrate it with you.
Happy Utkal Divas. The people who made Odisha a state were lawyers, writers and teachers. Read one of them this week.
- Utkala Dibasa
- Odia for Utkal Day, the state's name for Odisha Day.
- Utkal
- An old name for the land of the Odia people, used in the state song.
- Hardika shubhechha
- Heartfelt good wishes.
- Utkal Sammilani
- The Utkal Union Conference, founded in 1903, which led the movement.
- Utkal Gourab
- Pride of Utkal, the title given to Madhusudan Das.
- Utkalmani
- Jewel of Utkal, the title given to Gopabandhu Das.
Bihar marks its own separation from Bengal on Bihar Day, 22 March. Odisha's best-known festival is Rath Yatra in Puri, and in autumn Odia girls keep Kumar Purnima on Sharad Purnima.
How to wish someone on Odisha Day
Odisha Day is about language and the people who fought to keep Odia-speaking regions together, so the best wishes mention Odia itself, the state's towns or its leaders rather than generic "state pride". A line in Odia, "Utkala Dibasara hardika shubhechha", reads warmly to family. For colleagues, a short English wish that names Odisha is enough.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + regional language.
When is Odisha Day in 2026 and 2027?
Odisha Day is on 1 Apr every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
Why is Odisha called India's first linguistic state?
Odisha became a separate province on 1 April 1936 specifically to unite Odia-speaking areas that had been split between Bihar and Orissa, the Madras Presidency and the Central Provinces. It was the first province in India created on the basis of language.
Who is known as the father of modern Odisha?
Madhusudan Das, called Utkal Gourab and Madhu Babu, is widely regarded as the leading figure of the movement. He founded the Utkal Sammilani in 1903 but died in 1934, two years before Odisha became a province.
What is the state song of Odisha?
Bande Utkala Janani, written by Laxmikanta Mohapatra in 1912, is Odisha's state song. The state cabinet gave it official state anthem status on 7 June 2020, and it is sung at the start of Utkal Divas functions.
Which districts made up Odisha in 1936?
The province of Orissa began with six districts: Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Koraput, with Cuttack as its capital. Princely states such as Mayurbhanj joined in 1948 and 1949.
When did Orissa become Odisha?
The state's official English name changed from Orissa to Odisha in 2011, and the language's name from Oriya to Odia, to match how the words are pronounced in Odia.
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