Jaugada, Ganjam district, Odisha

Jaugada is situated at a distance of 10 km from Purushotampur, Ganjam district of Odisha. he place is of great historical importance as one of the famous rock edicts of Ashok is located here.

Jaugada or Jatudurga (Lac fort) as it was known in classical times, is said to be associated with Mahabharata episode. Tradition ascribes that the fort of Jaugada was built by Duryodhana of Mahabharata fame. Its name jau or Lac is from a tradition that it was made of Lac and was therefore impregnable as no enemy could scale the walls as they were smooth and slippery.

Jaugada stands as the symbol of all the historical heritage connected with the Rushikulya Valley civilization. From the bank of this river, silver coins of the pre-Mauryan age have been discovered. The Ashokan inscription at Jaugada is incised on a rock face some 30 feet long and 15 feet high elevated about 12 feet on a mass of granitic gneiss. The fort of Jaugada was rectangular in shape, the opposite sides being 858 yards by 814 yards respectively.

The earthen bank at places is 18 feet high and 148 1/2 feet across at the base and has two entrances on each side. The fort was surrounded by a wide and deep moat which was not continuous slips being left for ingress and egress. The walls and towers were made of the earth whose remnants still exist in high shapeless mounds.

Jaugada is a part of the Malati hill range. The inscription of this place is one of the two Kalinga edicts which are supplements to the series of fourteen rock edicts of Ashoka, the other being at Dhauli near Bhubaneswar in Puri district. These two Kalinga edicts laid down the principles on which the newly conquered province of Kalinga was to be governed.

Long neglect and exposure the saline breeze and age have caused much damage to this precious monument, large strips have fallen off revealing blank places since Minchin, a British merchant, who first brought the inscription to the notice of the Europeans in 1858. To prevent it from the further damage the Archeological Survey of India has treated the rock surface chemically and has declared it as a protected monument.