The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.122

v2.c17.s1.122

**Its population and appearance.** For administrative purposes the area is divided into seven wards, called sāis,² each under the control of a police post. The fixed population of the town is, for the area occupied (1,871 acres) very small, numbering only 22,695 persons, mostly Hindus, and the greater part of the ground, as shown on the map (plate L), is covered by trees and gardens. On occasions of the principal festivals, the influx of pilgrims, however, in immense, and varies in number from sixty to a hundred thousand heads. The uninhabited portions then teem with a dense multitude, and very little space is left unoccupied. It is not remarkable that, under such circumstances, in ordinary times the town should appear poor and straggling. The houses are mostly thatched, or tiled, and even the principal thoroughfare, the Barādaṇḍ, which cuts the town longitudinally into two halves, has no private masonry building of any pretension to show. Nor has it any trade or manufacture to a large extent. A single market of a very moderate size (Ānanda Bāzār) at the western end of the main street suffices to supply the requirements of the people. Altogether the place has very little of the appearance of a thriving town. The huts, however, are generally neat, clean and tidy, and appear to be very well taken are care of.