Utkal University in Bhubaneswar is the oldest university in Orissa and the seventeenth oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating University that has produced some of the best brains in Orissa. There are at present twenty-six Post-Graduate Departments located in the University Campus for studies and research in various disciplines of Science, Humanities, Business Administration, Social Science, Law and Commerce. The total number of students in the PG Departments of the campus at Vani Vihar is nearly 3,000. This is, in fact, the largest affiliating University in the country with 267 affiliated general colleges, 15 Law colleges, 6 Medical & Pharmacy colleges.
The Utkal University of Culture, the first of its type in India, was, established with the objective of promoting education, research and training in various spheres of culture such as language, literature, religions, visual arts, performing arts, sculpture, architecture, folklore, tribal studies etc. through development and extension works for the advancement of knowledge and for the betterment of the society.
The university also explores documents, preserves and propagates the rich cultural heritage through such devices as establishing libraries, archives, galleries, workshop, initiating programmes of publication etc. Besides, comprehensive surveys on matters related to culture are also conducted by the university.