Rourkela is one of the fastest-growing cities located in Sundargarh district situated in the northern part of the state of Odisha. It is the fourth largest city of the state after Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Berhampur. It is the district headquarter of Sundargarh district. The city is covered with various hill ranges and beautiful rivers like Brahmani, Sankha, and Koel. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has one of its largest steel plants in Rourkela. It is planned city 3rd largest Urban agglomeration in Odisha state. The place is famous as Ispat Nagar. A prestigious educational institution of India NIT is situated here. The city is declared as a smart city on 20th September 2016 and ranked 12th among 27 cities. On 3rd March every year, Rourkela Day is observed. It is reported as the fastest moving city of India.
Rourkela is the combination of two words Ror and Kela, which means Your village. The word is originated from the local Sadri language.
During ancient times the twin town of Rourkela and Fertilizer Township was covered by dense forests. The interesting fact is that during the past, the place was the hunting spot of the king. During 1950-60 the place was the most significant German colony outside Germany. German business Krupp and Demag helped to establish the first public sector steel plant in India. Merchants from outside came to the place and started to settle down here for business purposes. The Railway station of Rourkela is even named after the village of Rourkela. The revenue village of Rourkela is famous as old Rourkela nowadays.
Rourkela is declared as an Urban town in 1931 when the B.N.R constructed Howrah – Nagpur railway which passed through Rourkela. So the adjunct areas of the railway station were proclaimed as a town. The population of the city was around 493 as per the census report. The area was not so much developed during that time only primary school, a liquor shop, tea shop, a small health center, and a forest officer was around the place. Then the railway line expanded and another station was built 10km from here in another village Panpsoh and the population, the area, began to grow gradually. Between Rourkela and Panposh there was a village called Durgapur. Hills and other natural beauties surround the village. Now that Durgapur village is famous as Udit Nagar.
After Independence of India, the first prime minister of India Pandit Nehru dreamed of Industrilize states as per the Soviet model of Social development. To make his dream, Biju Patnaik gave suggestions to make a steel plant in Rourkela. Rourkela is a mineral abundant region. In 1952 the survey started to build a steel plant at Rourkela. Then the Government of Odisha gathered about 80 acres of area for the construction of steel plants.
Private German company Krupp and Demag came forward to provide both financial and technical support for the construction of the steel plant. The professional expert of the company asked for more land, so 32 km more area acquired for the area. For this reason, a lot of people lost their homes and came to the road. Then another 11000 acres of land acquired for the construction of Mandira Dam to fulfill the water requirement of the plant. Later the Government bought more land to lay more railway tracks to Hatia and Barsuan. At first, there was a lot of de satisfaction among the people, but later they provided home and employment in the plant. Some of the tribal communities like Jada, Birsa, Bondamunda moved to the area near Koel river for re-establishment.
So a network of township like Rourkela steel plant, Fertilizer township, Fertilizer plant, Mandira dam established. About 50 revenue villages got displaced, and other colonies got established like the Jharpani resettlement colony, Bondamunda resettlement colony. Various technical personnel from Germany came to Rourkela. Some of the technicians even came with their family and settled here and formed the Indo-German club to socialize. The club also exists now and popular as Max muller Library. A large community of people from another part of Odisha mostly from coastal Odisha was trained by German technicians to work in the steel plant. The steel plant is surrounded by dense forest even wild animals are also seen. The Koel river still accounts for human casualty as some days tripper drowned in the river being unaware of the maelstrom.
Different Odia festivals like Pana Sankranti, devasnana Purnima, Raja, Nuakhai observed with a grand celebration. The recent year Brahmani river festival is organized as the presentation of tribal art, culture, their social and cultural life around Rourkela and Sundargarh.population from various parts of India used to live here in Rourkela after Industrialization. So you can find different culture in a particular area.so it has adopted pan Indian culture a particularly a Unique culture that represents almost every corner of Odisha.
Rourkela has an Odia cuisine with tenderly spicy flavors. Mouthwatering food ranging from vegetarian to non-vegetarian variance. To name a few Pakhala, Kankada Jhola, Pancha Phutana, Machha Besara, Chingudi Jhola. You can find food to suit all your mood. The restaurants here are decent and a great place to hang out with your friends. Apart from Odia cuisine, we can find Indian, Chinese, Continental, etc. The street food is another specialty of the town. The chappati food will full your mouth with all kinds of flavors, from Nirmal Dhara ka Rasmalai to Shalimar Chaat.
Rourkela is an amiable city promising an enjoyable experience. The best time to visit the place is from October to March. It will take you around three days to roam around the city. The bag packers can have a budget of 2.5-3 thousand to have a suitable stay. The midrange travelers can have around 3.5-4 thousand to have decent accommodation. For luxury travelers, it will be around 5-6 thousand. They can have a transportation service for the entire stay for their convenience.