This institute has been facilitating Odia Language & Literature teaching since its inception in 1868. In the beginning Sanskrit Pundits were engaged for this purpose. In the history of higher Odia Studies 1920,1946 & 1964 are three memorable years. In 1920 Post Graduate Department of Odia opened in Calcutta University with the financial assistance of the then Maharaja of Subarnapur State and the faculty members were Sri Bijoy Chandra Mazumdar, Pandeet Nilakantha Das ,Pandeet Binayak Mishra. In 1944 Ravenshaw facilitated Under graduate teaching (As Hons subject) and in 1946 Post graduate teaching under the stewardship of  Prof.Artaballava Mohanty, an eminent Sanskrit and Odia scholar, and thus a new era in Odia studies began in Odia speaking tract. And finally in 1964 Sanskrit & Odia Department got separated. Department of Odia Language and Literature came into existence. Needless to say, the galaxy scholars who have headed the Department are, no doubt, are of international repute. Few amongst them are Prof.Karunakar Kar (Linguist), Prof.Kunja Bihari Dash (Folklorist), Prof.Kunja Bihari Triapathy (Linguist), Prof.Golak Bihari Dhal (Linguist) and Prof.Janaki Ballava Mohanty (Bharadwaja).