S.K.C.G. Autonomous College, located in Paralakhemundi in South Odisha, is one of the oldest centres of higher learning in the state, ranking just after Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and the historic Sanskrit College affiliated to Puri Sanskrit University. Set in a picturesque hilly landscape on the banks of the Mahendratanaya River, Paralakhemundi shares its border with Pathapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, giving the institution a unique cultural and linguistic blend.
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| S.K.C.G. Paralakhemundi in S.Odisha, |
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| Maharajah Sri Krishna handra Gajapathi .wikiwand.com |
The beginnings of the college can be traced to a primary school established in 1857, the very year the Great Rebellion erupted in northern India. Supported by the Court of Wards on behalf of the local ruler, the school gradually expanded—becoming a middle school in 1874 and a high school in 1884. The college was formally founded in 1896 owing to the generosity of Raja Goura Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deo, a progressive ruler committed to education. In the same year it received affiliation as a second-grade college under the University of Madras, which then governed higher education across the Madras Presidency, including this region of Odisha (then part of Ganjam district).
Its rise to a first-grade college in 1936 was largely due to the efforts of Maharaja Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deo, a statesman who later played a prominent role in the movement for a separate Odisha province. After the creation of Utkal University in 1943, SKCG became one of its first five affiliated colleges. In 1947, the college was taken over by the Government of Odisha and renamed in honour of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati. A year later it shifted to the Morrison Extension, named after Cameron Morrison, tutor to the Maharaja.
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| SKCG College in Paralakhemundi in S.Odisha . en.wikiwand.com |
