Bhubaneswar
—  Capital  —
Lingaraj Temple
Nickname(s): Temple City of India (City Of Temples)
Bhubaneswar
Coordinates: 20°16′N 85°50′E / 20.27°N 85.84°E / 20.27; 85.84Coordinates: 20°16′N 85°50′E / 20.27°N 85.84°E / 20.27; 85.84
Country	India
State	Odisha
District	Khurdha
Government
• Mayor	Anant Narayan Jena
Area
• Capital	419 km2 (162 sq mi)
Elevation	45 m (148 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
• Capital	837,737
• Rank	56
• Density	4,900/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
• Metro[2]	39,20,450 (2,011)
Languages
• Official
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	751 0xx
Telephone code	0674
Vehicle registration	OR-02
Website	www.bmc.gov.in

Bhubaneswar /ˌbʊvəˈneɪʃwər/, also spelled Bhubaneshwar (Oriya: ଭୁବନେଶ୍ଵର Bhubanēsbara  pronunciation (help·info)), is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially spelled Odisha. The city has a history of over 2000 years starting with the Chhedi dynasty (around 2^nd century BCE) who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital. Bhubaneswar has been known by names such as Toshali, Kalinga Nagari, Nagar Kalinga, Ekamra Kanan, Ekamra Kshetra and Mandira Malini Nagari (City of Temples) otherwise known as the Temple City of India. Bhubaneswar, literally means the Lord (Eeswar) of the Universe (Bhuban).^[3] It is the largest city of Orissa, and a center of economic and religious importance in the region today.

Bhubaneswar's possession of magnificent sculptures and architectural heritage, coupled with the sanctity as Ekamrakshetra make this one of the great religious centres of Orissa since early medieval days.^[4] With its large number of Hindu temples (over 600 in number), which span the entire spectrum of Kalinga architecture, Bhubaneswar is often referred to as a Temple City of India and together with Puri and Konark it forms the Swarna Tribhuja (Golden Triangle); one of the most visited destinations in East India.

The modern city of Bhubaneswar was designed by the German architect Otto Königsberger in 1946. Like Jamshedpur, Chandigarh, it is one of the first planned cities of modern India.^[5][6] With the Chandaka reserve forest on the fringes, the city with an abundance of in-city greenery, is one of the cleanest and greenest cities of India.

Bhubaneswar replaced Cuttack as the political capital of the state of Orissa in 1948, a year after India gained its independence from Britain. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are often commonly together known as the twin-cities of Orissa. The metropolitan area formed by the twin cities has a 2011 population of 1.4 million.^[7][8] Bhubaneswar is categorized as a Tier-2 city. An emerging Information Technology (IT) hub, the boom in the metals and metal processing industries have made Bhubaneswar one of the fastest developing cities of India in recent years.

History[link]

The history of Bhubaneswar may be viewed as two phases: ancient Bhubaneswar and modern Bhubaneswar. While the ancient city has a history that goes back more than 2000 years, the modern city came into existence in 1948.^[9]

Entrance of the State museum

Entrance of the Tribal arts museum

The first mention of Bhubaneswar in Indian history is in the Kalinga War which was held near Dhauli (presently located in south Bhubaneswar) in the 3^rd Century BCE. The later Emperor Kharavela established his capital in Sisupalgarh which is on the outskirts of the city. The Hathigumpha inscriptions at the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves by Kharavela give a good account of that period which is estimated as 1^st-2^nd century BCE. Later, innumerable temples built throughout ancient and medieval history in tune with its status as Temple City give a chronicle of the city's history until Indian independence in 1947.

It was the ancient capital of the Kalinga Empire and the architectural legacy of the period is its greatest attraction. There are many sites in the city that testify the importance of the region during the 7^th to 11^th century CE when the Kalinga kings ruled Orissa and the regions beyond it. The Ananta Vasudeva Temple and Bindusagar Tank in the only temple of Vishnu in the city of Shiva. The temples in Bhubaneswar are thus regarded as having been built from the 8^th to 12^th century of Shaiva influence.^[10]

The Jain and Buddhist shrines give a picture of the settlements around Bhubaneswar in the first two centuries BCE, and one of the most complete edicts of the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka, dating between 272-236 BCE, remains carved in rock five miles to the southwest of the modern city.^[11]

In 1936, Orissa became a separate province in British India with Cuttack as its capital. Notably, Cuttack was Orissa's capital since 12^th century. When India got independence in 1947, Orissa became one of the states of the Indian union. But because of Cuttack's vulnerability to floods and space constraints, the capital was changed to Bhubaneswar which was built into a modern city. The city planning of Bhubaneswar was given by German Architect Otto Königsberger. Bhubaneswar was formally inaugurated on April 13, 1948, as the capital of the Indian state of Orissa.

Modern Bhubaneswar was planned by Königsberger to be a city with wide roads, gardens and parks.^[12] Though part of the city has stayed faithful to the plan,^[13] it has grown rapidly over the last few decades and has made the planning process unwieldy.

The State Museum of Bhubaneswar offers archaeological artefacts, weapons, local arts and crafts as well as insights into Orissa's natural and tribal history. The Tribal Research Institute Museum with its authentic tribal dwellings, created by the tribal craftsmen offers a view of the State's tribal heritage.

Geography and climate[link]

Weather[link]

Bhubaneswar is situated between 21° 15' north latitude 85° 15' longitude, at an altitude of 45 meters above sea level. Geographically, Bhubaneswar is situated in the eastern coastal plains of Orissa and south-west of the Mahanadi River. The city is subdivided into townships and housings.

The city has a tropical savanna climate. The average temperatures range between a minimum of around 12 °C (54 °F) in the winter to a maximum of 45 °C (113 °F) in summer. Sudden afternoon thunderstorms are common in April and May. The south-west monsoons appear in June. The average annual rainfall is 154 cm, most of which is recorded between June and October.

Economy[link]

Jaydev Vihar Interchange

Bhubaneswar was meant to house the state's machinery and hence was designed to be a largely residential city with outlying industrial areas. The city's economy had few major players till the 1990s and was dominated by Public Sector Units (PSU), retail and small scale manufacturing.

With the economic liberalisation policy adopted by the Government of India in the 1990s, Bhubaneswar received investment in telecommunications, Information Technology(IT) and higher education, particularly engineering. The city is home to around 105 engineering colleges (as of 2011)^[14] and the number is growing every year. The city is also home to tutorials and coaching institutes who prepare students for entrance exams.

Retail and Real Estate have also emerged as big players. Recent times have seen retail chains such as Reliance, Vishal Megamart, Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Pal Heights, The World etc. having outlets in Bhubaneswar. There has been a boom of Reliance retail chains with Reliance Fresh opening in the city, as well as Reliance Digital, Reliance Jewels, Reliance Super, Reliance Footprints, and Reliance Trendz. Large corporates like DLF Universal and Reliance Industries have also entered the real estate market in the city. The city is witnessing a boom in mall infrastructure with several of them opening in the last five years.

The minerals resources of Orissa have been the backbone of the economy dominated by government, the. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and private organizations like Essar Group, Indian Oil Corporation, Bhushan Steel, NALCO, Sterlite, Jindal, Vedanta and TATA Group.

Some of the populace live in slums. Migration from rural areas, especially from the northern districts of Andhra Pradesh, has led to the growth of slums which are a major challenge to the city's growth. The main problem of the city is transport, as the quality and length of roads have not increased with respect to the rise in number of vehicles.

Rajpath at night

The government has fostered growth by the development of IT Parks such as Infocity-1, the new Infocity-2, STPI-Bhubaneswar and JSS STP. The Infocity was conceived as a five-star park, under the Export Promotion Industrial Parks (EPIP) Scheme to create infrastructure facilities for setting up Information Technology related industries. Infosys and Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (known as Mahindra Satyam) have been present in Bhubaneswar since 1996. Other software companies include TCS, Mindfire Solutions, Wipro, IBM, Genpact, Firstsource, Mindtree, MphasiS, etc. Apart from the big multinational Information Technology (IT)/ Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) companies, there are about 300 small and mid-sized IT companies and business start ups which have set up their offices in Bhubaneswar. The availability of local workers, the quality of life in the city and the pro-active local administration are the primary forces towards IT investments into the city. The The Ind-US Entrepreneurs (TiE) and Invest Bhubaneswar help in creating a platform to connect the businesses in Orissa and entrepreneurs worldwide.

Transport[link]

Road[link]

Bhubaneswar roads

The headquarters of the Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) is located in Bhubaneswar. The Bhubaneswar Bus Station is situated at Barmunda, 8 km from the city centre and OSRTC and other private operators run a fleet of buses connecting Bhubaneswar to cities in Orissa like Cuttack, Jajpur, Jajpur Road, Bhawanipatna, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Baripada, Balasore, Jeypore, Rourkela and also connects it with the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

Bhubaneswar is connected to the rest of the country by National Highways-NH 5 and NH 203. Bhubaneswar has its city public transport run by Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Service Limited (BPTSL) and Dream Team Sahara (DTS). The fleet of 150 buses are coloured green. Route information is displayed on LED display boards for commuters. The routes cover all major destinations across the city.

The buses were bought by the state government under the JNNURM scheme. They ply on intercity routes following the order of Orissa High Court and provide connectivity to Cuttack and Puri too. To make its usage more feasible and cater to the safety of passengers, additional bus-bays are being constructed by BMC (Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation). In addition to this, the launch of radio taxis in Bhubaneswar is planned. Autorickshaws are available for hire and on share basis for communication throughout the city. To ease traffic-jams in major junctions, a number of over-bridges are being constructed at major road junctions such as CRPF Square, Vani Vihar, Master Canteen, etc.

Rail[link]

East Coast Railway HQ

The East Coast Railway has its headquarters in Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar Railway Station (BBS) is one of the main stations in India. It is located in the city center and is connected to major cities of the country such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Jamshedpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Guwahati, Siliguri, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Jodhpur, Bokaro etc., by daily express and passenger trains. It has five railway stations within its city limits, namely (from north to south) Patia Halt, Mancheswar, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar station (near Master Canteen) and Lingaraj Temple Road.

Air[link]

Biju Pattnaik Airport

Biju Patnaik Airport also known as Bhubaneswar Airport is the only major domestic airport in Orissa. It is situated 3 km south of the city. There are flights to destinations across India to Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Raipur, Goa, Srinagar, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Bagdogra, Coimbatore, and Port Blair. Former Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had announced that the Biju Patnaik Airport would soon be upgraded to an international one, connecting the city to South-East Asia and the Middle East.^[15][16][17]

Demographics[link]

As per the estimate of IIT Kharagpur, which made a development plan for the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Urban complex,^[18] the metro area of Bhubaneswar has a population of 1,900,000. As per the census,^[19] Males constitute 56% of the population and females 44%. In 2001, the city had an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 65.4%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Although Oriyas comprise the vast majority, there are large groups of Marwaris, Punjabis, Bengalis and Telugus. A good majority are followers of the Jagannath cult as is the case throughout the state of Orissa. Due to the boom in the education sector, the city has seen a huge influx of students from outside the city and state. Most of the students are from the neighbouring states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Chattisgarh.

The main language spoken in the city is Oriya, however, Hindi and English are understood by most people of the city.

Culture[link]

Ekamra Haṭa

Udaigiri

Artwork on Lingaraj temple

Dhauli

Bhubaneswar is supposed to have had over a thousand temples. Although a large number of temples have given way for urban infrastructure, Bhubaneswar still abounds in temples of various deities. This has earned it the tag of the Temple City of India. The most famous ones are Lingaraj Temple, Lakshmanesvara group of temples, Parasuramesvara Temple, Svarnajalesvra Temple, Muktesvara Temple, Rajarani Temple, Vaital Temple, Brhamesvara temple, Meghesvara temple, Vaskaresvara Temple, Ananta Vasudeva Temple, Sari Temple, Kapilesvara Temple, Markandesvara temple, Yamesvara temple, Chitrakarini temple, Sisiresvara Temple.^[20]

Apart from the ancient temples few other important temples were built in recent times that includes Ram Mandir, Maa Kanakdurga Pitha, ISKCON, etc. The Lingaraj Temple towers above the cityscape and is visible from far.

There is an awareness towards preserving the ethos of Oriya culture in the form of Classical Odissi dance, handicrafts, sand artistry, sculpturing as well as theatre and music. Boundary walls and gardens are increasingly being redone to depict the folk art of the region.^[21]

The Ekamra Haat is a hand-loom and handicrafts market. SRJAN, the Odissi dance academy founded by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra the legendary Odissi dancer is located here. The Rabindra Mandap in central Bhubaneswar plays host to cultural engagements and has an amphitheatre to host theatre and private functions.

At Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udaygiri (on the way to Paradip), Buddhist sites of great historical significance have been excavated. The site at Ratnagiri is the most extensive.

Khandagiri and Udayagiri (Jain heritage)[link]

The twin hills of Khandagiri & Udayagiri, 8 km from Bhubaneswar, served as the site of an ancient Jain monastery which was carved into cave-like chambers in the face of the hill. These caves, with artistic carvings, date back to the 2nd century BCE. Of particular note of their artistic carvings are the Rani Gumpha (Queen's Cave) and the Hati Gumpha (Elephant Cave). The Hati Gumpha has carved chronicles of King Kharavela's reign.

Lingaraj Temple[link]

The 10th- or 11th-century Lingaraja temple of Bhubaneswar has been described as "the truest fusion of dream and reality."^{[citation needed]} It is dedicated to Shiva. The Lingaraja temple has been rated one of the finest examples of Hindu temples in India by Ferguson, the noted art critic and historian. The surface of the 55 m-high Lingaraja temple is covered with carvings. Tradition among Hindus exist to visit the Lingaraj Temple before visiting the Jagannath temple at Puri.

Lingaraj Temple

Dhauli Giri[link]

Just 8 km away from Bhubaneswar looking down on the plains that bore witness to the gruesome war waged on Kalinga by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka stand the rock edicts of Dhauli. It was here that Ashoka, full of remorse after the Kalinga War in 261 BCE, renounced his bloodthirsty campaign and turned to Buddhism. Ashoka erected two main edicts in Kalinga, one in Dhauli and the other in Jayagarh. The principles of Ashoka which reflect his compassion were inscribed on all the other edicts in his empire except Kalinga. In the Kalinga edicts, he warned the people of Kalinga not to revolt and that he would take appropriate action if they did.^[22]

The edicts are well preserved, despite the fact that they date back to the 3rd century BCE. A sculpted elephant, the symbol of Gautama Buddha, tops the rock edicts. The Shanti Stupa or "peace pagoda", built through Indo-Japanese collaboration, is located on the opposite hill.

Fairs and festivals[link]

On the day of Ashokashtami in the month of March, the image of Lingaraja (Shiva) and other deities are taken in a procession from Lingaraja Temple to the Rameshwara Temple. Hundreds of devotees participate in pulling the temple car that carries the deities. The deities remain in the Rameshwara Temple for four days.

At the end of January comes Adivasi Mela, a fair that displays the art, artifacts, tradition, culture, and music of the tribal inhabitants of Orissa.

Durga Puja is also an important festival. Various pandals are constructed throughout the city. The largest pujas are the Shahid Nagar Durga Puja, the Nayapalli Durga Puja, and the Rasulgarh Durga Puja. Lakshmi Puja at Laxmisagar near Jharapada is also very famous.

Ratha-Yatra "Temple car Festival" is the most important festival in Orissa. The festival is held to commemorate Jagannath, who is said to have been the incarnation of India's revered deities, Vishnu and Krishna. Held for nine days, the colorful Jagannath Yatra attracts tourists from India and abroad. On the first day of this Yatra, statues of Jagannath - whose temple car's name is Nandighosh - Jagannath's brother Balarama and his sister Subhadra are taken in a procession to the Gundicha Temple, which is two kilometers away from the Jagannath Temple. On the ninth day, the statues are brought back with due ceremony. All these deities are worshipped by the lakhs of devotees that throng the city during these nine days.

Cuisine[link]

Bhubaneswar is known for its seafood and sweets.

Pahala Rasagolla

Lobsters and crabs brought in from the Chilika Lake nearby are sold each morning at the local Haats (Markets) along with fish, meat, fruits and vegetables. The Haat is a special feature of Bhubaneswar which initially evolved as weekly markets, but now are open throughout the week. Rasgulla, Chhena Poda, Rasabali, Chennajhilli and other sweets that originated in Orissa as well as spicy fast food such as the local Cuttack-chaat and "dahi bara-aloo dum" are sold all over the city. There are restaurants specialising in North Indian, South Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Continental and Thai cuisines. Traditional Oriya food such as Dahi-Pakhal are also being marketed for tourists as well as the working professionals.

Another culinary delight is the "Mahaprasad" from the Jagannath Temple, Puri and the Abadha of Lingaraj Temple and Ananta Vasudeva Temple in Bhubaneswar. Temples started giving "prasad" for devotees on daily basis and some of them are ISKCON Temple, Shani Temple at Vani Vihar Square and Kali temple at Baramunda. Bhubaneswar is known for its Khhaii which are made up of paddy, jaggery and coconut pieces. Also famous are the peethas like Chakuli Pitha, Manda Pitha, Podo Pitha, Haladi Patra Pitha, Arisa Pitha, Enduri Pitha and Kakara Pitha.

Education[link]

Vani Vihar square

Bhubaneswar is home to many educational institutions including the IIT Bhubaneswar, Xavier Institute of Management, Institute of Physics, Institute of Mathematics and Applications, Utkal University, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, NISER, IIIT Bhubaneswar. Biju Patnaik University of Technology, is the affiliating university to most of the engineering and other professional courses in Orissa.

Other institutes of importance include College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Siksha O Anusandhan University, KIIT University, Silicon Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, International Management Institute, Centurion University, Orissa Engineering College, C. V. Raman College of Engineering, Mahavir Institute of Engineering and Technology, Krupajal Engineering College, and Institute of Life Sciences, an autonomous institute of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

Some of the private medical colleges are Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital and Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital. National Institute of Science Education and Research, National Institute of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Siksha O Anusandhan National Institute of Law, KIIT Law School, Institute of Management and Information Science, Rama Devi Women's College, BJB College as well as over 100 other private colleges geared towards engineering, biotechnology and management.

Some of the private vocational training centers for Computer Software and Hardware Training are Lakshya, Java Point, ISDAC, Interface, etc. The regional office of CBSE board for Orissa is located in Bhubaneswar.

Media[link]

Bhubaneswar has newspaper publications, television and radio stations. Oriya dailies enjoy the maximum readership share in the city. Oriya language newspapers are Samaja, Sambad, Dharitri, Anupam Bharat, Khabar, Pragatibadi, Orissa Bhaskara and Samaya. Oriya language magazines are Saptahik Samaya, Saptahik Samaja, etc. English language newspapers published and sold in Bhubaneswar include the Times of India, The Telegraph, The Pioneer, Orissa Post and The New Indian Express. The Hindu (Orissa edition) is published in Visakhapatnam. Newspapers are also printed in other Indian languages.

Indian and international television channels can be watched in Bhubaneswar through one of the Pay TV companies or the local cable television provider. The national television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free terrestrial channels.

The Oriya cable channels available include Orissa TV, Tarang TV, ETV Oriya, Kamyab TV, Kanak TV, Naxatra News, DD Oriya, Ollywood TV, Tarang Music, Prathana, STV Samachar, MBC TV, Ekamra. The web portals (news) based in Bhubaneswar include Breaking News Online, The Broken Scooter, Orissa Diary, Orissa News Today and Tathya News Agency.

Radio stations in Bhubaneswar include Red FM, Big FM, and FM Rainbow broadcasting on the FM band, Radio Chocolate and All India Radio stations broadcasting on the AM band.

Ollywood, the Oriya film industry based in Bhubaneswar-Cuttack twin city, produces around 30 films every year.

[edit] Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate

Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate, established in 2008, is a city police force with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Bhubaneswar-Cuttack area. It was formed under the Orissa Urban Police Act, 2003 by a gazette notification which came into effect on 1 January 2008. It has 40 police stations under its jurisdiction. B. K. Sharma is Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate.

Structure and jurisdiction[link]

The Police commissionerate is situated at Bhubaneswar, and is divided into two urban police districts- Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The commissionerate is responsible for law enforcement over the urban agglomeration of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack with the help of 40 police stations.

The commissionerate is headed by the Commissioner of Police, who is an Indian Police Service officer in the rank of Inspector-General of Police (IGP).[3] The commissioner is assisted by two additional commissioners. There are six deputy commissioners of police, Law Officer, Public Relation Officer, Accounts Officer and 31 additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, 68 Inspector/ Subedars and other officers and ministerial staffs to assist the commissioner. The police stations are headed by an Inspector. The Bhubaneswar division comprises police stations at Capital, Kharvelnagar, Saheed Nagar, Nayapalli, Khandagiri, Mancheswar, Chandrasekharpur, Lingaraj, Badagada, Airfield, Laxmisagar, Jatni, Mahila, Spl. Energy, Chandaka, Balianta, Balipatna, Infocity, Nandankanan and Traffic.

Healthcare[link]

Kalinga Hospital was the city's first corporate hospital. Other healthcare facilities include Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities, Apollo Hospitals, L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Aditya CARE Hospital, and Hemalata Cancer Hospital.

Diagnostic labs like Ranbaxy Laboratories, Piramal Diagnostics, Thyrocare and Dr. Lal Pathlabs have opened up centers in the city. Cryobanks International India, which deals in umbilical cord blood stem cell banking, has opened a collection center in Bhubaneswar.

Private medical colleges like Hi-Tech Medical College, Sum Medical College and Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, have been established. AIIMS-Bhubaneswar is currently under construction and the enrollment for its first batch is planned for Aug., 2012.^[23]

Sports[link]

Bhubaneswar's major sporting arena is the Kalinga Stadium. It has facilities for athletics, football, hockey, basketball, tennis, table tennis and swimming. The second phase construction of Railway Stadium is in progress which includes galleries modeled along stadiums in New Zealand. It hosted its first Ranji Trophy match in November 2010. Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, Orissa's only venue for international cricket matches, is located around 25 km away. With the completion of the second phase of the Railway Stadium, Bhubaneswar will have an international standard cricket stadium. 

OPL (Odisha Premier League) started in 2010. The city has its own franchise Bhubaneswar Jaguars. The league started with 10 teams from different places in Orissa. The champions for the 1^st year league were Western Samurais (Rourkela). The OPL for 2012 would have participation from 12 teams.

Sister cities[link]

• Cupertino, California, United States

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bhubaneswar

• Bhubaneswar travel guide from Wikitravel
• Bhubaneswar Development Authority
• Official website of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation
• Travelogue on Bhubaneswar
• Tourist destinations in Bhubaneswar

v t e State of Orissa Capital: Bhubaneswar State symbols Animal: Sambar Bird: BhadaBhadalia Flower: Ashoka Tree: Ashwatha Governance Governors Chief Ministers Legislative Assembly Political parties Raj Bhavan High Court Police Topics Arts Cinema Cuisine Culture Economy Education Election Flora and Fauna Geography History Literature People Politics Tourism Districts Angul Balasore Bargarh Bhadrak Balangir Boudh Cuttack Debagarh Dhenkanal Gajapati Ganjam Jagatsinghpur Jajpur Jharsuguda Kalahandi Kandhamal Kendrapara Kendujhar Khordha Koraput Malkangiri Mayurbhanj Nabarangpur Nayagarh Nuapada Puri Rayagada Sambalpur Subarnapur Sundargarh Cities Balasore Baripada Berhampur Bhadrak Bhubaneswar Cuttack Puri Rourkela Sambalpur Orissa Portal

v t e State and Union Territory capitals of India Agartala Aizawl Bangalore Bhopal Bhubaneswar Chandigarh Chennai (Madras) Daman Dehradun New Delhi Dispur Gandhinagar Gangtok Hyderabad Imphal Itanagar Jaipur Jammu (in winter) Kavaratti Kohima Kolkata (Calcutta) Lucknow Mumbai (Bombay) Panaji (Panjim) Patna Puducherry (Pondicherry) Port Blair Raipur Ranchi Shillong Shimla Silvassa Srinagar (in summer) Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)

Kiran Bedi
Bedi at the "Successful Women in Management" (SWIM) conference, 2007
Born	(1949-06-09) June 9, 1949 (age 63)[1] Amritsar, Punjab, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Panjab University, Chandigarh University of Delhi IIT Delhi
Occupation	IPS Officer (1972–2007) Social activist
Religion	Hinduism[1]
Awards	Suryadatta National Award 2007 United Nations Medal 2004 Ramon Magsaysay Award 1994 President’s Gallantry Award 1979
Website
Kiran Bedi

Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.^[1] Bedi joined the police service in 1972 and became the first woman officer in the IPS.^[2] Bedi held the post of Director General at the Bureau of Police Research and Development before she voluntarily retired from the IPS in December 2007.^[3] Bedi was the host and judge of the popular TV series "Aap Ki Kachehri" (English, "Your Court"), which is based on real-life disputes and provides a platform for settling disputes between consenting parties.^[4]

She has also founded two NGOs in India: the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation for welfare and preventative policing in 1988^[5] which was later renamed as the Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007, and the India Vision Foundation for prison reformation, drug abuse prevention and child welfare in 1994.^[6] Bedi was awarded Ramon Magsaysay award in 1994 for Government service.^[7]

Early life and education[link]

Kiran Bedi was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India. She is the second of four daughters of Prakash Peshawaria and Prem Peshawaria. Her three sisters are; Shashi, an artist settled in Canada, Reeta, a clinical psychologist and writer, and Anu, a lawyer.^{[citation needed]}

She attended the Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar, where she joined the National Cadet Corps(NCC). She took up tennis, a passion she inherited from her father, a tennis player.^[1] She won the Junior National Lawn Tennis Championship in 1966, the Asian Lawn Tennis Championship in 1972, and the All-India Interstate Women's Lawn Tennis Championship in 1976.^[8] In addition, she also won the All-Asian Tennis Championship, and won the Asian Ladies Title at the age of 22.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English (Hons.) from the Government College for Women, Amritsar in 1968. She then earned a Master’s degree in Political Science from Punjab University, Chandigarh, graduating at the top of her class in 1970. She later obtained Bachelor of Laws in 1988 from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. In 1993, she obtained a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Department of Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi,^[9] where the topic of her thesis was 'Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence'.^[10]

In 1972, Kiran Bedi married Brij Bedi,^[1] a textile machine manufacturer whom she met at the Amritsar tennis courts. Neither of them were particularly religious, so they married in a quasi-religious ceremony at a local Shiva temple.^[1] Three years later, in 1975, they had daughter Saina, who is now also involved in community service. In one of her lectures to a corporate meeting, Kiran Bedi expressed her belief that everyone in society has an important role to play which will enable others to fulfill their duties (or important tasks), quoting the example of her uneducated housemaid whose help in Bedi's daily household work had helped Bedi to complete an important task of writing a book.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

She began her career as a Lecturer in Political Science (1970–72) at Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar. In July 1972, she joined the Indian Police Service, becoming the first woman to do so.^[11] Bedi joined the police service "because of [her] urge to be outstanding".^[12]

She served in a number of tough assignments ranging from New Delhi traffic postings, Deputy Inspector General of Police in Mizoram, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Chandigarh, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau, to a United Nations delegation, where she became the Civilian Police Advisor in United Nations peacekeeping operations.^[13] For her work in the UN, she was awarded a UN medal.^[14] She is popularly referred to as Crane Bedi for towing the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's car for a parking violation,^[11] during the PM's tour of United States at the time.^[9]

Kiran Bedi influenced several decisions of the Indian Police Service, particularly in the areas of narcotics control, Traffic management, and VIP security. During her stint as the Inspector General of Prisons, in Tihar Jail (Delhi) (1993–1995), she instituted a number of reforms in the management of the prison, and initiated a number of measures such as detoxification programs, Art of Living Foundation Prison Courses,^[15] yoga, vipassana meditation, Murat redressing of complaints by prisoners and literacy programs.^[16] For this she won the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award, and the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship', to write about her work at Tihar Jail.^[10]

She was last appointed as Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development.

In May 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in recognition of her “humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing”.^[17]

On 27 November 2007, she expressed her wish to voluntarily retire from the police force to undertake new challenges in life. On 25 December 2007, the Government of India agreed to relieve Bedi of her duties as Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

Social initiatives[link]

Kiran Bedi along with 17 other police officers set up Navjyoti India Foundation (NIF) in 1987,^[5] NIF started with a de-addiction and rehabilitation initiative for the drug addicts and now the organization has expanded to other social issue like illiteracy and women empowerment.^[5] In 1994 Bedi setup India Vision Foundation which works in field of police reforms, prison reforms, women empowerment and rural and community development.^[18] Her efforts have won national and international recognition, and her organizations were awarded the "Serge Soitiroff Memorial Award" for drug abuse prevention by the United Nations.^{[citation needed]}

Lokpal Movement[link]

Kiran Bedi is one of the prominent members of the India Against Corruption (IAC) along with Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal. IAC has been actively protesting against corruption and is urging the government of India to enact a strong Lokpal Bill.^[19] On August 16, 2011, Key members of the India Against Corruption including Bedi were arrested four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike by Hazare.^[20] However, Bedi and other activist were later released in the evening same day.^[21] After twelve days of protests and many discussions between the government and the activists, Parliament passed a resolution to consider three points in drafting of Lokpal bill.^[22]

Honours and Awards[link]

Controversies[link]

In July 1994, Kiran Bedi, the then Inspector-General of Prisons of Tihar Jail was pulled up by the Supreme Court of India for ignoring the apex court directives for providing medical attention to a foreign under-trial prisoner by initiating contempt proceedings against her. She escaped from punishment despite being heavily reprimanded, in view of her winning the Magsasay Award, the court exonerating her from further proceedings.^[30] In 1988 Wadhwa Commission criticized Bedi for her role in lathi-charge on lawyers protesting against a colleague’s arrest outside Bedi’s office.^[31] Karan Thapar, host of many popular interview shows published an article on controversies surrounding Bedi after she pulled out of one of Thapar's interview show.^[32]

Bedi was criticized for being a hardliner in the negotiations with government over Lokpal bill.^[33] Later members of parliament proposed to bring a breach of privilege motion against Kiran Bedi and a few other activists for allegedly mocking the parliamentarians during the lokpal bill protests,^[34] however withdrew the notice later.^[35]

Kiran Bedi was alleged to have charged her hosts full fare for air tickets despite her paying discounted fare. She was also alleged to have charged her hosts business class fare while flying economy class.^[36][37]Kiran Bedi was also accused by an NGO of claiming business class fare from Delhi to Mumbai, while her travel intineray communicated to them showed she was flying from nearby Pune.^[38] Kiran Bedi has said that money was not earned for personal gains, but given to her NGO.^[39]

In 1992 Kiran Bedi's daughter was given admission for MBBS course in Delhi's Hardinge College under a quota for student's from North-East. Kiran Bedi was posted in Mizoram at that time. She had defended the move to get her daughter admitted in a reserved seat saying that Central Government employees are entitled to such schemes.^[40]

On 26 November 2011, based on a complaint filed by a Delhi-based lawyer Devinder Singh Chauhan, the additional chief metropolitan magistrate Amit Bansal has directed the crime branch of Delhi police to register a case against Kiran Bedi within 24 hours, for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for her NGOs.^[41] Consequently, Delhi Police has registered a case against Bedi under Section 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 120 b (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.^[42]

In films and literature[link]

A non fiction feature film on Kiran Bedi's life, Yes Madam, Sir, has been produced by Australian film maker, Megan Doneman. This film is being screened in film festivals around the world. Its commentator is an Academy Award winner, Helen Mirren. Kiran Bedi was present during its screenings in Toronto, Dubai and Adelaide, and to address the Q&A sessions at the end of each show.

The documentary has made a clean sweep of the award categories---“Best Documentary” with a cash award of $100,000, the biggest prize for a documentary in any film festival in the US and the Social Justice Award with $2500 at Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Yes Madam, Sir got a unanimous vote from the jury.

In 2006, Norwegian Mpower Film & Media and film maker Oystein Rakkenes released another documentary on Bedi and her prison revolution in Tihar Central Jail, In Gandhi's footsteps. The film was awarded Best Documentary at the Indo-American Film Festival in Atlanta, in November 2006.

Kiran Bedi also became host in 2009–10 on the TV show Aap Ki Kachehri Kiran Ke Saath on Star Plus.

Biographies of Bedi:

• I dare!: Kiran Bedi : a biography by Parmesh Dangwal^[43]
• Kiran Bedi, the kindly baton by Meenakshi Saxena^[44]

Bibliography[link]

• It's always possible: transforming one of the largest prisons in the world (1999) by Kiran Bedi^[45]
• "What Went Wrong?", collection of The fortnightly column written by Kiran Bedi.
• The Motivating Bedi by Kiran Bedi.^[10]
• Government@net: new governance opportunities for India(2001) by Kiran Bedi, Sandeep Srivastava and Parminder Jeet Singh^[46]
• As I see-(2005) by Kiran Bedi^[47]
• Himmat Hai by Kiran Bedi^[48]

See also[link]

• Jan Lokpal Bill

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kiran Bedi

• Kiran Bedi Official Website
• Kiran Bedi Blog
• Safer India Official website
• India Police
• Navjyoti India Foundation website
• Aap Ki Kachehri Kiran Ke Saath
• TED talk: Kiran Bedi: A police chief with a difference