| Rourkela | |
| State - District(s) | Orissa - Sundargarh |
| Coordinates | |
| Area - Elevation | 200 km² - 219 m |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Population (2001) - Density | 4,84,292 - 2,500/km² |
| Codes - Postal - Telephone - Vehicle | - 769xxx - +91 (0)661 - OR-14 |
Rourkela pronunciation is a small industrial city in the state of Orissa, India. One of the largest steel plants of the Steel Authority of India Limited is situated here. It is surrounded by a range of hills and encircled by rivers. It is situated in an area with the richest deposit of mineral wealth in Orissa.
Rourkela has one of the National Institutes of Technology.
Rourkela also acts as a hub for tourism to Orissa. The steel city is divided mainly into two sections: Old Rourkela (sections of the city near the railway station that were settled prior to RSP coming up) and the much larger Steel township. The Steel township till 1999, was divided into 17 Sectors. Sector 6 was the largest of them. The Ispat Stadium is located in Sector-6. Rourkela has two recreation parks: Indira Gandhi Park in front of the Gayatri Mandir hillock, and a smaller Jubilee Park abutting Sector-8.
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The name "Rourkela" means "home" in the local language "Sabri" spoken by the "Raulia" tribe living there.
The city houses the Hanuman Vatika, which is a major attraction for the locals and visitors to the town. A 75 feet (23 m) tall full-fledged Hanuman statue welcomes the visitors to the steel city. Sri Laxmana Swami was the architect behind the statue. The Hanuman Vatika Trust Board has made a temple complex on 13 acres (53,000 m²) of land. The Bata Mangala Mandira, Binayaka Mandira and Manas Parayana Sharala have been established to the entrance of the Hanuman Vatika. The Koili Baikuntha, the kitchen, the Kalyan Mandap and the Bhajan Mandap lie close to the Jagannath temple.
Vedavyas, a place of natural beauty also considered a 'Tirtha', is situated 9 km away on the confluence of the rivers Shankha, Koel and Saraswati. There is also a Vedic Ashram and a Gurukula system school here. It is at this site that the epic Mahabharata was purported to have been put down on paper by Maharishi Vyas.
Mandira Dam is situated about 25 km from the city.The reservoir is almost as old as the Steel Plant in Rourkela. It was built to support the irrigation requirements of about 50 surrounding villages. But as of today, it is the source of water to nearly 250 villages around Rourkela. There is so much water that it is said that at the lowest level, if the dam were breached, the water would drown almost 100 villages[citation needed].
The 244 m High Khandajhar is 114 km from Rourkela via Bonaigarh.
Darjeeng is a picnic spot on the river Brahmani. Nearby is Deodarh, a gorge on the river. It is 51 km from Rourkela on National Highway No. 23. About 180 km from Rourkela, Junagarh has a fort of historical and archaeological importance with ancient caves. Another haunt of the tourists is the Mirig Khog Waterfall, a picnic spot, 111 km from Rourkela.
Some of the famous schools in Rourkela are:
