Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers: Puri

Before Independence, British administrators in India published imperial district gazetteers, including those for Angul, Balasore, Cuttack, Koraput, Puri and the ‘Feudatory States of Orissa’. This gazetteer, published in 1929, describes various aspects of Odisha’s Puri district. It surveys the district’s economy, society, politics and administrative setup as well as its history, geography, climate, biodiversity and natural resources. The gazetteer says that the district had two main divisions: the headquarters subdivision, which occupied three-fifths of the total area, and the hilly Khurda subdivision. The district got its name from the town of Puri, which was then called Jagannath by ‘up-country Hindus’ and Purushottam Kshetra locally. Puri was (and still is) home to the 12th century Jagannath temple, which attracted (and still attracts) Hindu devotees from across the country every year. Situated on the northwestern shore of the Bay of Bengal, the town was also a favoured holiday resort for Indians and Europeans because of its pleasant weather. After Independence, in 1957, the responsibility of compiling the district gazetteers was transferred from the Centre to the states. In 1999 (in Odisha), this responsibility was transferred from the Revenue Department to the Gopabandhu Academy of Administration.