Kaliṅga was an ancient kingdom on the eastern coast of Bhārata, along the Bay of Bengal. It covered the land of present-day Odisha and parts of Andhra Pradesh. It was one of the ancient mahājanapadas (great realms) of Bhārata.

In the Mahābhārata’s Vana Parva, the tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage tour) told by Lomaśa passes through Kaliṅga and its coastal sacred places. These include the Vaitaraṇī river and the Mahendra parvata, the abode of Paraśurāma on the coast. The Mahābhārata also names a famous king of Kaliṅga, Śrutāyus, in its war narrative.

The land and its people

Kaliṅga had a distinctive culture. It was known for its sea-faring traditions, its fierce armies and its sacred places along the coast. The region lay between the Godāvarī in the south and the Mahānadī in the north. The Mahendra parvata was its most sacred mountain.

Kaliṅga on Lomaśa’s tīrtha-yātrā

In the Vana Parva, Lomaśa tells the Pāṇḍavas about the tīrthas (sacred places of pilgrimage) of the whole land. The eastern coastal route through Kaliṅga is part of this full circuit. The sacred places on this route are:

the Vaitaraṇī river tīrtha;
the Mahendra parvata, where Paraśurāma lives;
the coastal shrines linked with the sacred character of the ocean.

Kaliṅga in history and in the Purāṇas

In the memory of Bhārata, Kaliṅga is most famous for the Kaliṅga war of Emperor Aśoka (3rd century BCE). The result of that war changed Aśoka’s outlook. It led him to take up dharma and non-violence.

In the Purāṇic tradition, Kaliṅga is known mainly for its tīrthas, for the mountain home of Paraśurāma, and as part of the sacred land of the eastern coast.

Sources

Mahābhārata, Vana Parva (the tīrtha-yātrā told by Lomaśa)
Mahābhārata (king Śrutāyus of Kaliṅga in the war narrative)