Gopalpur Gopalpur-on-Sea | |
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Town | |
      Wind surfing, Gopalpur aerial view, Sea waves at Gopalpur, Gopalpur light house, Gopalpur sea beach andGopalpur port | |
  Gopalpur  Gopalpur | |
| Coordinates:19°16′N84°55′E / 19.27°N 84.92°E /19.27; 84.92 | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  Odisha |
| District | Ganjam |
| Government | |
| • Type | Notified Area Council |
| • Body | Gopalpur N.A.C. |
| Elevation | 1 m (3.3 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 7,221[1] |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Odia |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 761002 |
| Telephone code | 0680 |
| Vehicle registration |
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| Sex ratio | 1000♂/♀ |
| Website | odisha |
Gopalpur orGopalpur-on-Sea is a coastal town and aNotified Area Council inGanjam district inOdisha,India. Gopalpur is around 15 km fromBerhampur. Located on the southern part of the state, it was an ancientseaside resort on the shores of theBay of Bengal, now more associated with itsport.
As of the 2001 Indiacensus,[2] Gopalpur had a population of 6663. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Gopalpur has an average literacy rate of 59%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 59%, and female literacy is 42%. In Gopalpur, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
| Hinduism | 90.04% | |||
| Islam | 2.45% | |||
| Christianity | 7.33% | |||
| Sikh | 0.00% | |||
| Buddhist | 0.04% | |||
| Jain | 0.01% | |||
| Not Stated | 0.12% | |||
| Other | 0.01% | |||
Gopalpur has an ancient sea port which was operational during the heyday of maritimeKalinga region. It was used to enterSoutheast Asia by travellers who embarked on their voyage.[4]
Under the ownership of the Soraine family the village grew in wealth, from an obscure little fishing village, Gopalpur became a prominent trading port. The family built the port, the lighthouse and the Albert Hotel and established both a local fishing industry and a trade route with Burma.
Gopalpur on sea, was once a Dutch establishment. Back in those days, S.K. Dey owned almost half of Gopalpur.
They also established the bylaw allowing any villagers who could build a house, with a perimeter and light a fire in the fireplace overnight, could then keep the land and house (on the backwaters) as their own.
During the British rule family squabbles and disputes resulted in much being transferred to British missionaries. The Albert Hotel now locked in ownership battles and lying derelict is the last remnant of those squabbles.
During the days ofBritish East India Company TheEast India Company built largewarehouses andgodowns because the trade withBurma had picked up and it had become a trading point for rice fromRangoon.
Victor Soraine returned to India from England and built BetVic house where he retired, surrounded by memories of childhood and his family legacy. His final wish was granted when he was buried in Christian cemetery just a few years ago.
Gopalpur has reverted to being a quiet, relaxed place but with one major difference — it is one of India's most sought after beaches, with a distinct charm of its own.
Once a house to a Europeans and Anglo Indians now only a few of the families live here.
Barely 16 km away fromBrahmapur (it is also at times considered as a part of Brahmapur), the commercial hub of southernOdisha and close to the border ofAndhra Pradesh, is the tiny town of Gopalpur on theBay of Bengal. This languorous beach with coconut groves, casuarinas and gentle sand dunes is deserted for miles.
Renovated in the 1970s at the initiative of theOdisha government, the jetties were supposed to revive the trading activities of Gopalpur port. The old jetty in Gopalpur is tourist attraction point, which was a major point for trade and commerce in medieval times. The sailors of those time started their journey from this jetty toIndonesia and Rangoon across the Indian Sea. Once the renovation of new jetty completed it will become an important port of southOdisha.[5] It's a wonderful drive-in for the people and from the beach, a vast expanse of deep blue sea and the horizon can be seen. Another thrilling sight is the long stretch of cashew nut trees. Cashew nuts are processed here and exported. A major landmark of Gopalpur is its lighthouse. The view from the top is splendid and one can see at a glance the entire town of Gopalpur. Gopalour is also famous for its 'beach festival' organized annually. A nearby beach is Dhabaleshwar, which also houses a temple of the same name. People here can speak Odia and English.
Gopalpur Beach Festival: The first Gopalpur beach festival was held in 1996 by Gopalpur Club in association with Ganjam District Hotel Association to promote tourism and culture. The concept ofGopalpur Beach Festival was conceived by members of Gopalpur Club along with the members of Ganjam District Hotel Association.[6]
Gopalpur is located at19°16′N84°55′E / 19.27°N 84.92°E /19.27; 84.92 on the coast of Bay of Bengal, around 160 km south ofParadip and 260 km north ofVisakhapatnam. It is a natural, deep sea port on the east coast ofIndia.[7] Gopalpur lies on a 4 km stretch of barren coast line, with no mangrove or tropical forests. The coast line falls in the rain-shadow of the region.[8] The climate in the region is tropical wet and dry. Temperatures range from 32 degrees in summer to 17 degrees in winter. The region receives rainfall in both advance and retreat of theSouthwest monsoon. Gopalpur has witnessed notable and strong tropical storms in history, including theSuper cyclone of 1999 andCyclone Phailin of 2013, the latter hitting the town directly.
| Climate data for Gopalpur (1991–2020, extremes 1901–2020) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.3 (93.7) | 36.7 (98.1) | 40.0 (104.0) | 39.1 (102.4) | 43.3 (109.9) | 44.0 (111.2) | 39.4 (102.9) | 37.7 (99.9) | 37.1 (98.8) | 37.0 (98.6) | 36.1 (97.0) | 33.2 (91.8) | 44.0 (111.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.8 (82.0) | 29.9 (85.8) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.8 (89.2) | 33.0 (91.4) | 32.5 (90.5) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.8 (89.2) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.1 (89.8) | 30.5 (86.9) | 28.5 (83.3) | 31.1 (88.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16.9 (62.4) | 19.8 (67.6) | 23.3 (73.9) | 25.3 (77.5) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.1 (80.8) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 24.0 (75.2) | 20.4 (68.7) | 17.0 (62.6) | 23.3 (73.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.0 (50.0) | 11.7 (53.1) | 15.4 (59.7) | 16.5 (61.7) | 19.3 (66.7) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.6 (69.1) | 18.6 (65.5) | 20.6 (69.1) | 16.7 (62.1) | 9.6 (49.3) | 10.0 (50.0) | 9.6 (49.3) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 11.1 (0.44) | 10.6 (0.42) | 12.5 (0.49) | 28.3 (1.11) | 69.8 (2.75) | 127.3 (5.01) | 202.4 (7.97) | 200.0 (7.87) | 206.1 (8.11) | 200.7 (7.90) | 66.1 (2.60) | 11.3 (0.44) | 1,146.2 (45.13) |
| Average rainy days | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 7.2 | 9.5 | 10.4 | 8.6 | 7.1 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 54.0 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 17:30IST) | 72 | 75 | 81 | 84 | 84 | 83 | 85 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 70 | 67 | 78 |
| Source:India Meteorological Department[9][10][11] | |||||||||||||
CurrentMLA from Gopalpur (SC) Assembly Constituency is Pradeep Panigrahi ofBJD, who won the seat in State elections of 2014 and continuing since 2009. Previous MLAs from this seat was Trinatha Behera who won this seat in 2004 asINC candidate, Rama Chandra Sethy who won here in 2000 as BJD candidate and asJD candidate in 1995 and 1990, and Ghanashyam Behera who won this seat as INC candidate in 1985 and 1977 and as INC(I) candidate in 1980.[12]Gopalpur is part ofBerhampur (Lok Sabha constituency).[13]
Gopalpur-on-sea travel guide from WikivoyageAuthority control databases: National |
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