Synopsis This book is a compendium of some definite particulars relating to various facets of the land and the life of the people of Orissa to serve the need of general readers to obtain a bird's-eye view of an ancient and historic region of the Indian subcontinent. For scholars who feel interested to derive a comprehensive knowledge of Orissa, this treatise is like an abstract to indicate several angles from which to look at the subject.Many scholarly works written by learned specialists pertaining to different aspects of the land, from its geographical and physical features to its social and cultural traits, are available for study. This work presents only an outline of what Orissa is. Material from authoritative sources, findings of eminent researchers and field investigation by the writers of this book, constitute the base of each theme. The authors are indebted to some renowned scholars who explored varied fields in respect of their specific disciplines and brought to light immensely valuable results. Those results, updated, together with the summary of fresh facts make this composition handy enough for easy reading and reference.