Harishpur or Harishapur is a community in the

Jagatsinghpur district Jagatsinghpur District is one of the thirty districts of Odisha in the eastern coast of India. It became a new district on 1 April 1993 (Vide Government Notification No.14218/R dated 27.03.1993 and EOG No.459 dated 01.04.1993) being separated f ...

of the Indian state of Odisha. The Gada Harishpur Panchayat is the location of the Sarabanta Jagatnath temple (height 82 meters) situated near by the Bay of Bengal. Most of the people here are dependent on the Bay of Bengal for their food and clothing. Harishpur was one of the main ports of Odisha during the period of the Ganga dynasty, which ruled from the 11th century to the early 15th century. After Odisha was conquered by the Muslims in the time of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

, Harishpur rose to greater prominence. During the early 19th century, Harishpur was an important port for export of fabrics made in Odisha. However, the textile industry declined in the face of European imports, leading to a collapse of trade. The community was badly affected by a super-cyclone during the

1999 North Indian Ocean cyclone season The 1999 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and ...

. (29 October which was a black pole for the community) In 2001, thousands of dead olive ridley sea turtles were found on the stretch of coast between Harishpur and

Devi river Devi river is one of the principal distributaries of Mahanadi. It flows through Jagatsinghpur district and Puri district across Odisha state in India and joins Bay of Bengal. Course The river forms the final part of a great network of Mahanadi ...

mouth. Again in 2007, Harishpur was one of the locations on the Odisha coast where large numbers of dead turtles were found, apparently killed by mechanized fishing boats. Now about 1200 families or about 50000 of population is living in this panchayat or community. This community or panchayat is consisting of Noliasahi, Kadamnasi, Sarabanta, Gada Harish pur, Ahanda, Pathara kunda and Garia villages.

Festivals

In Gada Harisha Pur panchayat, Sitala puja festival takes place at the beginning of the Gada Harish Pur village
Maa Manasha Puja
festival which take place at the middle of the Gada Harish Pur Village and Ganga puja takes place at the end of the village.

References

Cities and towns in Jagatsinghpur district Maritime history of India {{Jagatsinghpur-geo-stub