Pingua
Pingua is a village in Dhenkanal district, Odisha, India. Pingua is a village situated alongside of the Bramhani River bank. Fertile farm lands, innocents peoples, marvelous culture and Eco friendly environment make this village and surrounding villages an example to others. Khandaandha, Puruna Amanga, Toloro Passi etc. are the main neighbouring villages. Pingua is a Village in Gondia Tehsil in Dhenkanal District of Odisha, India. It is located 48 km towards East from District headquarters Dhenkanal. 16 km from Gondia.35 km from jajpur road.48 km from Cuttack. 72 km from State capital Bhubaneswar Pingua Pin code is 759016 and  postal office at pingua. Kasipur ( 5 km ), Nihal Prasad ( 6 km ), Bega ( 8 km ), Laulai ( 8 km ), Mrudanga ( 10 km ) are the nearby Villages to Pingua. Pingua is surrounded by Sukinda Tehsil towards North, Dahrmasala Tehsil towards East, Bhuban Tehsil towards west, Rasulpur Tehsil towards East . Bhuban, Byasanagar, Dhenkanal, Duburi, Jajapur are the nearby Cities to Pingua. The majority of this village is covered with Cultivating land. The principal forest products of the village are timber, bamboo, firewood and kendu leaf, and medicinal herbs and plants. The Jagar Jatra (Maha Shivaratri) is a famous festival celebrated here in the winter  season. History. Pingua was a river valley civilisation near the banks of BRAHMANI river. The main reason for choosing an area near river bank was the ease of doing business of its traditional oil, textile, metal works, agricultural products and soil arts. Topography. The Geographical area of Pingua can be divided into three natural divisions: This village has mainly five varieties of soil: Economy. Some large and medium scale industries have established their base far from the village. Some of them are Transport. Air. Bhubaneswar, the nearest airport (80 km) is connected to Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore , Raipur, Goa, Srinagar, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Bagdogra, Coimbatore, and Port Blair. Train. Cuttack (55 km), on the main Howrah Chennai route, links Dhenkanal to New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Guwahati and Puri. Dhenkanal is also directly connected to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vizag, Raipur and Mumbai. Culture. This region is inhabited mostly by Hindus. Situated in the south west corner of pingua village, 35 km from the village. The temples is situated at about 2239 feet above the sea level. Narasinghdeva-I constructed the temple for Sri Chandrasekhar in 1246 CE. The temple has a wooden Jagamohana. The deities  of Sri Ganesh, Kartikeya, Gangadevi, etc. are found in the temple. Patita Pavana Jaganath also remain in the temple as "Parsa Deva". Lord Biswanath temple is also situated in Kapilas. According to some scholars this temple is older than the Chandrasekhar Jew temple, hence it is known as "Budha Linga". There are many legends about Kapilas pitha and its significance. One can proceed 12 km in the Sankarpur road after reaching at Dhenkanal Bus stop and then turn west at the Badagila chowk and pass 2 km to reach Saptyasajya, a place of scenic beauty, where the holy temple of  Maryada Purusottama Sri Ramachandra is located at about 900 feet at the hilltop. A mountain stream flows down as if touching his holy feet in veneration. Mythologically this place is important and legends abound. Its name is Sapta Sajya because, there are seven hills surrounding the area. Another facet behind the naming of this place is that, the Saptarashi had their ashramas here in this place. There is also a mythological story, that, Sri Ram during his exile or "Vanabasha" had spent seven days in this beautiful spot. Secondly, the Pandavas during their 12 years of exile and one year  of "Agyanta Vasa" had chosen this mountains for shelter. The State Government had constructed the Pucca road in 1982. Inside the temple complex "Maa Annapurna" temple was constructed in 1982, the 1st floor "Kalki" temple in 1985, the "Surya Narayan" temple in 1990. Now the temple of Sri Rameswaram Shiva, Sri Ganesh, Sri Mahavir, and the Nabagrah Temple with each room for each graha are found. Mahakali, Mata Saraswati, Sri Nrushingha temple are conceived to be built in the holy complex. This scenic spot has become a good tourist and picnic spot where thousands of tourists and devotees gather from  different corners of Odisha and India. It is situated in the North side of Pingua village, 0.5 km from the village. The temples is called as ବାବା ବୁଢାଦିଅ଼଼ଂ ମନ୍ଦିର. According to village mythology it is a belief that baba protects village from problems. At night baba roams around village to provide security, survilence, prosperity to every people. There are a beautiful temple, a picnic spot and a park around the temple. This place is 35 km. from pingua, which is famous as the religious headquarters of 'Mahima Dharma', the only religious cult started from Odisha. Joranda houses the samadhi of  Mahima Gosain, the preacher and propounder of the Mahima Cult. The other sacred temples are the Sunya Mandira, Dhuni Mandira and Gadi Mandira. Pilgrims in large numbers pour forth to Joranda fair held on full-moon day of "Magha" which falls in January–February every year. All of the principal texts of the religion like the Stuti Chintaamani were composed by Bhima Bhoi. This is mainly celebrated by the religious people belonging to the "Alekh/Mahima" dharma. Places of interest in and around pingua. Since 1874, this unique festival has been held every year. Mahima Swami can be credited for  this great fair. Every year the people belong to Mahima religion gather here to celebrate their annual function, termed as Joranda Fair. The devotees from each nook and corners of Odisha come to this place to discover calmness in their life and how to achieve nirvana (Swarg) after death. According to the devotees they pray altogether to their God by reciting Alekh Brahma and burn ghee in Jajnan Kund to being peace back into the earth's life. They believe that this devotion will provide pureness to earth and fulfill all the basic needs people cherish in their day-to -day life. 67 km. from Dhenkanal, 23 km from Angul and 3 km. from Talcher one finds the Anantasayan image of Lord Vishnu on the rocky bed of the river Brahmani at Saranga. The hoods of Ananta, the serpent king spread over the head of Lord Vishnu as the crown and cover. The primal lotus, housing Brahma, the creator, originates from Vishnu's naval, the supreme being enjoys deep delight of his cosmic sleep in the water of the river Brahmani. Education. School and Colleges :- Pingua is home to the literate students, studying in Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, NITs , BPUTs, Ravenshaw University, OUAT, etc. Other colleges, universities, and institutes include: