Odia language in the context of "Orissa"

Arabic has had a great influence on other languages, especially in vocabulary. The influence of Arabic has been most profound in those countries visited by Islam or Islamic power.

Arabic loanwords have made into many languages as diverse as Abkhaz, Afrikaans, Amharic, Albanian, Armenian, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Balochi, Bengali, Berber, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chechen, Circassian, Croatian, English, French, Georgian, Greek, Gujarati, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Kazakh, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Malay, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Nepali, Odia, Ossetian, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romani, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sicilian, Spanish, Sindhi, Somali, Swahili, Tagalog, Tajik, Tatar, Tigrinya, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek, Visayan, Wolof, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu, as well as other languages in countries where these languages are spoken. Other languages such as Maltese and Nubi derive from Arabic, rather than merely borrowing vocabulary. Arabic words were being used from the Iberian Peninsula all the way to Maritime Southeast Asia prior to the spread of European international words.

Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akademi, India's highest literary body, also has 24 recognised literary languages.

The earliest works of Indian literature were orally transmitted. Sanskrit literature begins with the oral literature of the Rig Veda, a collection of literature dating to the period 1500–1200 BCE. The Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata were subsequently codified and appeared towards the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. Classical Sanskrit literature developed rapidly during the first few centuries of the first millennium BCE, as did the Pāli Canon and Tamil Sangam literature. Ancient Meitei appeared in the 1st century CE with sacred musical compositions like the Ougri, and heroic narratives like the Numit Kappa. In the medieval period, literature in Kannada and Telugu appeared in the 9th and 10th centuries, respectively. Later, literature in Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, and Maithili appeared. Thereafter literature in various dialects of Hindi, Persian and Urdu began to appear as well. In 1913, Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore became India's first Nobel laureate in literature.

Odisha (Odia: oṛiśā, pronounced [oˈɽisa] ) is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the third-largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India. It neighbours the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south. Odisha has a coastline of 485 kilometres (301 mi) along the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. The region is also known as Utkaḷa and is mentioned by this name in India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana.

The ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE resulting in the Kalinga War, coincides with the borders of modern-day Odisha. The modern boundaries of Odisha were demarcated by the British Indian government, the Orissa Province was established on 1 April 1936, consisting of the Odia-speaking districts of Bihar and Orissa Province, Madras Presidency and Central Provinces. Utkala Divas (lit. 'Odisha Day') is celebrated on 1 April. Cuttack was made the capital of the region by Anantavarman Chodaganga in c. 1135, after which the city was used as the capital by many rulers, through the British era until 1948. Thereafter, Bhubaneswar became the capital of Odisha.

The Odia script (Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅକ୍ଷର, romanized: Oṛiā akṣara, also Odia: ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲିପି, romanized: Oṛiā lipi) is a Brahmic script, mainly used to write the Odia language. To a lesser extent, it is also used to write Sanskrit and other regional languages. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. The script has developed over more than 1000 years from a variant of Siddhaṃ script which was used in Eastern India, where the characteristic top line transformed into a distinct round umbrella shape due to the influence of palm leaf manuscripts and also being influenced by the neighbouring scripts from the Western and Southern regions.

Odia is a syllabic alphabet or an abugida wherein all consonants have an inherent vowel embedded within. Diacritics (which can appear above, below, before, or after the consonant they belong to) are used to change the form of the inherent vowel. When vowels appear at the beginning of a syllable, they are written as independent letters. Also, when certain consonants occur together, special conjunct symbols combine the essential parts of each consonant symbol.

The Tirhuta script, also known as Mithilakshar or Maithili script, has historically been used for writing the Maithili, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by almost 35 million people of Mithila region. The scripts of Maithili and Bengali are very much similar. Maithili, Bengali, Assamese, Newari, Odia and Tibetan are a part of the same family of scripts.

A Hindu wedding, also known as vivaha (विवाह, pronunciation) in Hindi, lagna (लग्न) in Marathi, biyah (बियाह) in Bhojpuri, bibaho (বিবাহ) in Bengali, bahaghara (ବାହାଘର) or bibaha (ବିବାହ) in Odia, tirumanam (திருமணம்) in Tamil, pelli (పెళ్లి) in Telugu, maduve (ಮದುವೆ) in Kannada, and kalyanam (कल्याणम्, కళ్యాణం; കല്യാണം) in Malayalam and other languages, is the traditional marriage ceremony for Hindus.

The weddings are very colourful, and celebrations may extend for several days and usually a large number of people attend the wedding functions. The bride's and groom's homes—entrance, doors, walls, floor, roof—are sometimes decorated with colors, flowers, lights and other decorations.

Lakshmi Puja ( Odia: ଲକ୍ଷ୍ମୀ ପୂଜା, romanized: Lakṣmīpūjā), Sanskrit: लक्ष्मीपूजा, romanized: Lakṣmīpūjā, Bengali/Assamese: লক্ষ্মী পূজা is a Hindu occasion for the veneration of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and the Supreme Goddess of Vaishnavism. The occasion is celebrated on the amavasya (new moon day) in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar month of Ashvin (according to the amanta tradition) or Kartika (according to the purnimanta tradition), on the third day of Deepavali (Tihar) in Nepal and most parts of India.

According to tradition, Lakshmi is believed to visit her devotees and bestow good fortune and her blessings upon them on this occasion. To welcome the goddess, devotees clean their houses, decorate them with finery and lights, and prepare sweet treats and delicacies as offerings. Devotees believe that the happier the goddess is during her visit, the more she blesses the family with health and wealth.

Jagannath (Sanskrit: जगन्नाथ, Odia: ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ, romanized: Jagannātha, lit. 'Lord of Universe', Odia pronunciation: [dʒɔɡɔnːat̪ʰɔ]; formerly English: Juggernaut) is a deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and his sister, Subhadra.

Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, Purushottama, and the Para Brahman. To most Vaishnava Hindus, particularly the Krishnaites, Jagannath is a form of Krishna, sometimes as an avatar of Vishnu. To some Shaiva and Shakta Hindus, he is a symmetry-filled tantric form of Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation.