Marjakud,An Island Village.

Once the Father Of Nation Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi said "The Soul Of India Lives In Its Villages". According to the 2011 census in India 68.8% people lives in 6,40,867 different villages. In India few villages have a population of 10 people and few have more than 10,000. Today I am here in the Island Village of Boudh district and it is  lesser known to others.

The island village is called "Marjakud" in the river Mahandi. The village has a population of 4000 people. The village can be reached through Deshi Danga / boats. There is an interesting folk tale about the village.

Once upon a time there was a cat in Boudh. The present Marjakud village was a small rock inside the river.The rock was so closed to Boudh and it is said that the cat used to jump from the rock to Boudh. One rainy day the cat failed to land properly and was washed by the flooded water. After its death it cursed the rock.The rock went away from Boudh and became larger by size.

                    Water in the Mahanadi river

             Mahanadi during summer

View Of the Hanuman Temple Inside Mahanadi river from Boudh Side

There are more than 700 families and more than 4000 people staying in this village. Few families left the village as it has a poor connectivity and this situation becomes worst during rainy days.We met few old people who said they even don't know about their originality.

       A concrete road inside the island village

           It has a proper electricity connection

A well developed village with good all weather road and electricity facility. Now they are working hard to supply water to every house. Most of the houses are cemented. You can find a modern village here.

Mahadev Temple

    Pitadei Mandir On the Bank Of Mahanadi 

A small temple of Maa Pitadei cand be found on the bank of  river Mahanadi. Maa Pitadei is the village deity.In every occasions the villagers seek her blessing. Mr. Mohana Meher one elder person said "Maa Pitadei always help the villagers during their bad times. Many times it has been seen that the Boudh is affected by the flood but the village has escaped."

                     Marjakuda High School

For the better education the village has a Primary and a high school.As the connectivity is a problem and the teachers comes through Boudh during rainy days the schools are effected due to flood. Now a days many families are migrating to Boudh for a better life and a better education.

Once upon a time this huge island had some unused land which was later on used by the villagers.The main livlihood of the villagers is cultivation and they have all the resources easily available. There are some rich farmers and they have tractors and all the other farming equipments.

Two old women 

Being a typical village children were playing outside their homes under the sun and this is one of the rare scenes in the towns. Not only children I found people from different age groups were enjoying their friendship.

Beside farmers there are  few BHULIA families who are using their traditional technologies for making hand woven world famous Sambalpuri sarees. Apart from that few families belongs from KEUNTA who usually goes for fishing in the river and few DUMBAL families earns their money working as daily laborers. 

Met Mr. Panchanana Meher and his wife. This gentleman is of 75 years old. They were the last sufferers of early marriage system.The beautiful couple narrated about their village. According to Mrs. Meher she never gone out of Marjakud except Boudh for few times. The village needs a doctor to look after the villagers. There are some infrastructures to be developed Mrs. Meher added.

While returning to Boudh after gathering information about the village we found some group of people playing cards under a tree.I joined them for a small game and couldn't win it. Ha ha ha...

  I really enjoyed the village. The people are very hospitable,well behaved and helpful. 

The experience,fun and environment of a village can't be found in a city.

Let me know if you have any experience in a village......

                                                                                               Shibashish Mahapatra

                                                                                                    shibashishmahapatra.100@gmail.com