An important historical site of Odisha, Jaugada, lies at the bank of river Rushikulya passing through the Pandia village in Ganjam district. Rock edicts of Ashoka located close to Purushottampur are one of the two Kalinga edicts found in the State.

The name of this place has been derived from two words, Jau, meaning lac and Gada, meaning fort. Jaugada, thus means a lac fort. It is believed that Jaugada was constructed by Duryodhana, the eldest of 100 Kaurava brothers to kill cousin Pandava brothers.

According to archaeologists, it was earlier known as Jagata and, with passing of time, the name became Jaugada.

Inscriptions, however, trace Jaugada to the Mauryan period, especially during the reign of Ashoka. After the tragic Kalinga war, Ashoka took to Buddhism and preached the teachings of Buddha across Kalinga through inscriptions.

The rock edicts found in Jaugada are a series of 14 edicts. On the vertical faces of three different granite rock tablets, these inscriptions are engraved in Prakrit language in Brahmi script.

Jaugada was a fort in around 3rd Century BC to 7th Century BC. Since the place was already a flourishing town of ancient Odisha, as suggest the archaeologists, Ashoka decided to inscribe the edicts here, far from Dhauli where the bloody Kalinga war was fought.

Various materials like plain pottery, painted pottery, knobbed vessels, iron implements and beads of shell, bone, agate etc were excavated here symbolizing the life and culture of the Rushikulya valley civilization.

Silver coins of the pre-Mauryan perios have also been discovered from the bank of Rushikulya, giving indication of existence of human civilisation.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has now built a roof on the edicts, which have been treated chemically, and declared Jaugada inscriptions as a protected monument.

The place is part of Malati hill range. This historical place is about 35 km north-west of Brahmapur and 160 km south-west of Bhubaneswar.