Sunadhar

Sunadhar is a coastal village, situated near the bank of Devi river in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. It is a part of Gandakula region (a grand village many years ago;now it officially get divided into two villages as Sunadhar & Bairakha). It is a village having population of about 600+ peoples, and is located about 36 km from the district town Jagatsinghpur on the cuttack-naharana road, about 5 km from the Bay of Bengal to the east. The village is popularly known for historical Gandakula yajna & yatra, Gadibrahma temple,Maa Kochilai Youth Club (MKYC)[1], Devi river bank, Zethi sites, Jham tree forests & clean,healthy,regulated environment. Its chief cultivated & produced food products are paddy, Cashew & Mango.

Map of Sunadhar, Odisha

This village comes under "Naharana" panchayat which falls under Balikuda-Erasama (Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency) of Jagatsinghpur district. There are 139 families in this village according to 2011 census. There are five entrances to enter into village. It consists of five divisions i.e. Taalipada, Gobarddhan Pada, Jena Sahi (Majhi Pada), Gadipadia & Bandha mula Swain Sahi.

In the Heart of village "MKYC" is located. There is a primary school named after Sunadhar near Taalipada. A big natural pool is situated near this school called "school pokhari" is mostly known for lotus flowers in local areas. Gadipadia is the tiny market of Sunadhar (Gandakula).

There a lot of sea creatures including many types of fish,crab,prawn etc. are seen in Devi River. In winter & other seasons, many foreign birds come here & create a beautiful vision for visitors. Fishermen operate their occupation by fishing in river for their family sustenance. It is the destination of professional fishermen, businessmen, general peoples for salty fishes, crabs,prawns like sea food products. These products export to Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Paradip like cities through the local fisheries. Govt. has taken great responsibilities for flood management & providing constitent water flow in the river after a soil bridge construction.

"Maa Kochilai" & "Maa Baasulei" are the worshiped goddesses (Gramadevati) for the villagers. Most of the villagers are farmers & businessmen. All the villagers are educated without some old generation peoples. Many Teachers,Doctors,Engineers & other govt. professionalists are being born on this soil that is the strong evidence, how they are literate. There are different types of self-help-groups created by village women by which they are living in a good economic standard & also they are working for village development. This village is well connected to roads,waterlines & good communication facility to all across town areas. It is known as a historical holy place for the situation of "Gadibrahma Temple". Since many years, thousands of people join Gandakula Yajna during the auspicious day of Magha Purnima. It is operated by Khandagiri Gadibrahma Puja committee. This committee also arrange an opera show programme for 4–5 days. MKYC is also active in these village programmes. Other Special one is "Boita Bandaana". Many peoples also join this programme at Devi bank to see it. The villagers celebrate a lot of festivals that are in odia culture & tradition, e.g. Dushera,Raja festival,Kumar Purnima,Dola,Manabasa,Janmashtami,Ganesh Puja,Saraswati Puja,Holi,Deewali & many more. Among these, MKYC observe Saraswati Puja as grand arrangement. Villagers also celebrates Independence Day, Republic Day & New Year annually. Since 27years, a state level Cricket tournament is arranged annually during X-mas. An Inter-highschool level competition named "PRERANA" is arranged in village by MKYC every year.