Sisupalgarh, an ancient fortified city site near Bhubaneswar, is located in:

Sisupalgarh is an ancient fortified city site on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha.

About Sisupalgarh:

It was excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1948 under B. B. Lal, and later by other teams, including an Indian-American team in the early 2000s.

It is one of the best-preserved early historic fortified cities in India.

It dates from about the 3rd century BCE (some estimates are earlier) to about the 4th century CE.

Its main features:

• It is nearly square in plan, about 1.2 km on each side.
• It was surrounded by massive mud ramparts (walls) and a moat.
• It had eight gateways, two on each side, with elaborate entrances made of laterite stone.
• A group of tall stone pillars (sometimes called "the sixteen pillars") stands in the centre, which may have been part of a public building.
• It had a planned layout, with streets in a grid pattern.
• The population of the city may have been about 20,000 to 25,000.

Its identity:

• Scholars have suggested that it may have been the ancient city of Kalinganagari, an important capital of Kalinga.
• Some scholars link it with the Mauryan provincial centre of the region.

Other archaeological sites near Bhubaneswar:

• Dhauli: Ashokan rock edicts and the Shanti Stupa (Peace Pagoda).
• Udayagiri and Khandagiri: Jain rock-cut caves.
• Bhubaneswar is called the "Temple City of India".

About Kalinga:

• It was the region of present-day Odisha and parts of northern Andhra Pradesh.
• It was conquered by Ashoka in the Kalinga war (about 261 BCE).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Andhra Pradesh has early historic sites such as Dharanikota.
• ✗West Bengal has Chandraketugarh.
• ✗Chhattisgarh has Sirpur and Malhar.