Sambalpur University is located at Sambalpur, India in the Indian state of Orissa. Popularly known as Jyoti Vihar. It offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Governor of Orissa is the Chancellor of the university. The campus is located 15 km away from Sambalpur in Burla.

On 10 December 1966 Sambalpur University Act was passed by the Orissa Legislature for establishment of a University in the Western part of Orissa. This institute started from 1 January 1967. The first Vice-Chancellor of this varsity was Prof. Parsuram Mishra. First, the University started functioning in 1967 in a rented private building at Dhanupali, Sambalpur; then in a government building at Ainthapali, Sambalpur. In 1973 the University was shifted to the present campus named Jyoti Vihar at Burla.

It is also a designated 'Manuscript Conservation Centre' (MCC) under the National Mission for Manuscripts established in 2003.

The present campus of the University is located at Burla, 2 km away from NH 6. The campus of this university is in the vicinity of Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited, VSSUT and located on the foothills of the world famous Hirakud Dam.

Sambalpur  pronunciation (help·info) (Oriya: ସମ୍ବଲପୁର )(Also pronounced as Samalpur) in the eastern state of Orissa, is the second largest city by population in Western Orissa and is the district headquarter of Sambalpur district.

Sambalpur is the seat of Sambalpur Metropolitan Area which consists of Hirakud and Burla. The administrative entity for most of the city is Sambalpur Municipality which has 1,83,383 inhabitants in thirty different wards as per the 2011 census, Hirakud and Burla are two different Notified Area Councils of Sambalpur Metropolitan Area. The total population of Sambalpur Metropolitan Area is 2,69,565. In the year 1883, Sambalpur was established as a municipality, along with Hirakud and Burla Sambalpur is the region's economic and education hub. The city contains many historic buildings and parks, and is also the commercial capital of Kosal. In 1967 a university was established at Burla, known as Sambalpur University. Hirakud Dam, the longest earthen dam in the world and the largest artificial lake of Asia is situated at Hirakud.

Swami Vivekananda (pronounced: IPA: [ʂāmiː biːbeːkānoːnɗoː]  listen (help·info)) (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendra Nath Datta (IPA: [nôreːnd̪roː naːt̪ʰ d̪ôttoː] was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world, mainly in America and Europe and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century CE. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech which began: "Sisters and Brothers of America," through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Swami Vivekananda was born in an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family of Calcutta on 12 January 1863. Vivekananda's parents influenced his thinking—his father by his rationality and his mother by her religious temperament. From his childhood, he showed an inclination towards spirituality and God realisation. His guru, Ramakrishna, taught him Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism); that all religions are true and that service to man was the most effective worship of God. After the Mahasamadhi of his guru, Vivekananda became a wandering monk, touring the Indian subcontinent and acquiring first-hand knowledge of conditions in India. He later travelled to Chicago and represented India as a delegate in the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. He conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating Vedanta and Yoga in America, England and Europe. He also established the Vedanta societies in America and England.