Daya River in the context of "Malaguni River"

The Kalinga war (ended c. 261 BCE) was fought in ancient India between the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great and Kalinga, an independent feudal kingdom located on the east coast, in the present-day state of Odisha and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. It is presumed that the battle was fought on Dhauli hills in Dhauli which is situated on the banks of Daya River. The Kalinga War was one of the largest and deadliest battles in Indian history.

This is the only major war Ashoka fought after his accession to the throne, and marked the close of the empire-building and military conquests of ancient India that began with the Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. The war cost nearly 250,000 lives.

Dhauli or Dhauligiri is a hill located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India.

Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water lagoon with estuarine character that sprawls along the east coast of Indian sub-continent in Asia and second largest coastal lagoon in the world, covering an area of over 1,100 square kilometres (420 sq mi). It is spread over the Puri, Khordha and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal.

It has been listed as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site. Its salinity varies by region, from freshwater where rivers flow in, to oceanic salinity levels due to tidal influx.

Kuakhai River is a distributary of Mahanadi River which flows by Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Mahanadi River branches off at Naraj, Cuttack as Kathajodi River, then immediately it is bifurcated, with its southern branch flowing as Kuakhai River. The Kushabhadra River branches off from the Kuakhai River in Gandarpur, Balianta and flows in a south-western direction towards Nimapara and Gop into the Bay of Bengal. The Daya River starts as a branch of the Kuakhai River at Saradeipur (near Badahati) and is then joined by the Malaguni River below Golabai and flows through Khordha and Puri districts before emptying into the north-eastern corner of Chilika Lake. Most of the water supply of Bhubaneswar is met by the Kuakhai river, along with Daya River.