Karanjia

Karanjia
Town
Karanjia Location in Odisha, India Show map of Odisha Karanjia Karanjia (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 21°47′N 85°58′E / 21.78°N 85.97°E / 21.78; 85.97
Country	India
State	Odisha
District	Mayurbhanj
Elevation	389 m (1,276 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	22,865
Languages
• Official	Odia
• Major local language	Santali, Ho, Mundari
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	757037
Telephone code	06796
Vehicle registration	OR-11/OD-11

Karanjia is a town in the state of Odisha, about 221 kilometres (134 mi) north of the State capital Bhubaneswar. It is the sub-divisional headquarter of Panchphir Subdivision and Nagar panchayat of Mayurbhanj District of Odisha. It is bounded on its South-East by Deo River which is also forms the natural District border for Mayurbhanj.

Karanjia is located at 21°28′N 85°35′E / 21.47°N 85.58°E / 21.47; 85.58.^[1] It has an average elevation of 389 metres (1276 feet).

As of the 2011 Indian census^[2] Karanjia had a population of 22,865. Males constitute 49% of the population, females 51%. Karanjia has an average literacy rate of 83.35% higher than state average of 72.87%, male literacy is 89.10%, and female literacy is 77.76%. In Karanjia, 10.45% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Maa Ambika, the presiding deity of the town and one of the most famous shrine in northern Odisha, is situated in the north of the town. The other major temples of the town are Jagannath temple, Shyamarai Temple, Purneshwar Shiva temple, Mangala temple, Rani Sati temple, Barkhanda temple of Gadsahi, Bamanashala & Sri Ganesh statue, Thakur Ankulchandra temple, Satyasai temple, Rameswar Baba Shiva Temple Brameswara Mandir karadia etc.

The mosque of Karanjia is one of the oldest in Mayurbhanj district and is situated in the center of the Bazaar area of the town.

The famous shrine of 8th century Kichakeshwari temple, Khiching along with ancient ruins of forts, temples are situated 27 km away from Karanjia town. Karanjia is famous for its Dola Yatra and Mela which is celebrated in falgun month of Oriya Panjika(calendar). It is a century old festival of this locality.

Bhimkund a natural water tank situated 40 km away from Karanjia is a popular tourist place of Odisha.Simlipal National Park, which is a Tiger reserve, is 40–50 km away from the town.Tourists attractions such as Maa Tarini Temple, Rani Sati Mandir, Brameswara Mandir, Lord Jagannath Temple, Ramtirtha waterfalls, Sanaghagara Waterfall are located near the town.

Khiching is not far away from this place, Maa Kichakeshwari Temple is located there. Kichakgarh and Viratgarh are other attractions at Khiching. Khiching is surrounded by two rivers on east Kantakhairi and on west Khairibhandan.

Schools:

There are more than 20 schools in Karanjia. Some of them are as follows:

• Vikash Convent School, Karanjia
• Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir (Vani Teertha)
• D.M.Public School
• DAV Public School
• Karanjia Boys High School
• Karanjia Govt.Girls High School
• Khajuri Sagar School
• Similipal English Medium School
• Srabanya Sikhyashram
• Karadia Ug.Me School
• St Xavier School

College:

• Karanjia (Auto)College, Karanjia
• Panchpir Women's College, Karanjia
• Similipal +2 Residential College
• Karanjia Industrial Training Institute
• Maa Mangala College of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Karanjia is part of Keonjhar (Lok Sabha constituency).^[3]

Current MLA from, Karanjia Assembly Constituency is Bijay Kumar Naik. He also won the seat in State elections of 2009 as a candidate of Biju Janata Dal. In 2014 Assembly elections Bijay Kumar Naik, defeated Bharatiya Janata Party Jyostna Bhansingh by a margin of 13,551 votes.^[4]

As Karanjia is part of Keonjhar Loksabha constituency, the MP seat for Keonjhar also goes to Biju Janata Dal candidate Mrs. Sakuntala Laguri who won it by defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Ananta Nayak . ^[5]