Kendujhar
—  city  —
Kendujhar Location of Kendujhar in Orissa and India
Coordinates	21°38′N 85°35′E / 21.63°N 85.58°E / 21.63; 85.58Coordinates: 21°38′N 85°35′E / 21.63°N 85.58°E / 21.63; 85.58
Country	India
State	Orissa
District(s)	Kendujhar
Population	51,832 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 596 metres (1,955 ft)

Kendujhar is a city and a municipality in Kendujhar District (also spelled Keonjhar District and Kendujhargarh District) in the Indian state of Orissa. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district.

Geography[link]

Keonjhar is a land locked district with an area of 8240 km². It is situated in the northern part of Orissa. It is surrounded by Singhbhum district of Jharkhand in the North, Jajpur in the South, Dhenkanal and Sundargarh in the West and Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak in the East. It lies between 21°1'N and 22°10'N latitudes, between 85°11'E and 86°22'E longitude and at 480 meter altitude.Baitrani river originate from keonjhar plateau

Demographics[link]

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[1] Kendujhar had a population of 15,61,990. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kendujhar has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 67%. In Kendujhar, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History[link]

Following the integration of the feudatory states with Orissa on 1 January 1948 the erstwhile princely state of Keonjhar emerged as one of its districts with its head-quarters at Keonjhargarh and since then it is continuing as such. The whole district of Keonjhar was a princely state before its merger with Orissa. The early history of the State is not adequately known. It was most probably a part of the old Khijjinga territory with headquarters at Khijjinga Kota, identified with modern Khiching. It became a separate state with Jyoti Bhanja as its ruling chief in the first half of the 12th century A.D. The then State of Keonjhar comprised only the northern half of the modern district for a long time prior to the installation of Jyoti Bhanja as King. During the latter part of the 15th century the southern half was occupied by King Govinda Bhanja under whose rule Keonjhar was extended from Singbhum in the north to Sukinda(a Zamindari in Cuttack district) in the South and from Mayurbhanj in the East to the borders of the States of Bonai, Pallahara and Anugul in the West. During the rule of Pratap Balabhadra Bhanja (1764-1792 A.D.) two small areas of Tillo and Jujhpada were purchased from the Zamindar of Kantajhari and were added to the State. These were recognised as parts of Keonjhar in the Sanad granted by the East India Company to Raja Janardan Bhanj in 1804. Since then there had been no territiorial changes of the State till its merger with the Province of Orissa. But after merger largely for the reasons of administrative expediency the areas of Tillo (7.51 km²) and Jujhpada (9.06sq.km.) were transferred to the districts of Baleshwar and Cuttack respectively, while a number of villages called Ambo group (14.84 km².) of Balasore district were added to Keonjhar district.

Education[link]

Colleges in Keonjhar include:

• Dharanidhar (DD) Government College
• Anandapur College
• Government Women's College
• Orissa School of Mining Engineering (OSME), under Biju Patnaik University of Technology
• Keonjhar School of Engineering (KSE)
• Keonjhar Law College
• Kushaleswar Anchalika Mahavidyalaya

The schools in Keonjhar include:

• Dhanurjaya Narayana (DN) High School
• Narasingh Swain(NS) Police High School.
• Green Field School
• Nirmala convent School
• Kendriya Vidyalaya
• Govt Girls High School
• Police Line High School
• Tarimul High School
• Kushaleswar High School
• Janamangal High School, Keshadurapal, Keonjhar
• Aum Maa Saraswati Bidyapitha, Ganpur, Angarua, Keonjhar

Politics[link]

Er. Subarna Naik of BJD is the current MLA from Keonjhar assembly constituency. Mohan Charan Majhi won assembly elections in both 2004 and 2000. Earlier MLAs from this seat were Jogendra Naik of BJP (1995), C. Majhi of JD (1990), Chhotaray Majhi of JNP (1985), Jogendra Naik of INC(I) in 1980 and Kumar Majhi of JNP (1977).^[2]

Present MP from Keonjhar (Lok Sabha constituency) is Y.N.S Laguri of BJD.

Transport[link]

Accidents[link]

• Accidents

References[link]

External links[link]

• Satellite map
• Government of India website for Kendujhar