Asika or Aska (ଆସିକା)/(ଆସ୍କା) is a town and a Notified Area Council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Fondly known as the Sugar city of Odisha. Asika is a major commercial and transportation hub of Ganjam .There are 2 National Highway's are pass across the town(157 & 59). It's famous for Maa Khambeswari Temple and Maa Khambeswari's Baishakhi Yatra which is celebrated every year.
Geography
Asika is located at . It has an average elevation of 30 metres (98 feet). It is situated at a distance of 40 km from Brahmapur on South, 35 km from Bhanjanagar on the North at the confluence of Rivers Rushikulya and Badanadi (Bara River).
Asika Sugar Factory
Asika Sugar Factory is the first sugar factory in Asia, established in 1824. The plant is located in Asika town. Asika Cooperative Sugar Industries is a large scale industry employing more than 35000 families.
It is one of the oldest in India, built by Minchin Saheb in British time. Along with the factory at Nellikuppam near Cuddalore, it was managed by Parry and Co. Due to this factory Asika Town is known as Sugar City.
The jaggery mill was started in 1848 as Asika Sugar Works and Distillery Ltd. by Parry and Co. Madras. It met with huge losses for lack of supervision and other transport bottlenecks. Thereafter, Fredrick Josheph Vivian Minchin, the Book Keeper of Biny & Co. purchased the factory and with the new Sugar Technology obtained from Germany designed and rebuilt the factory in 1856.
Demographics
As of the 2011 Census of India, Asika had a population of 21,428 (fourth largest city in terms of population Ganjam dist after Brahmapur, Chatrapur and Bhanjanagar). Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Asika has an average literacy rate of 85.76%, higher than the national average of 72.87%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
History
Temples
Satyanarayan Temple, Binayak Bazar, Aska
Maa Fulakasuni (Odia sahi) Rameshwar Temple, KS Patna Maa Khambeswari Goddess Jagannath Temple (Sunambo Sahi) Panchamuki Hanuman Mandir Jaganatha Temple (Nuagam) Kali Mandir (Nuagam) Bhagabat Mandir (Nuagam) Radha Krushna Mandir (Nuagam) Ram Mandir (Nuagam) Pudageswar Subarneswar Nilakantheswar Satyanarayan Karanjei Goddess Balunkeswar Tirupati Balaji Ram Mandir Hanuman Mandir Maa Kali Maa Kalimukhi Narshinha Maa Thakurani near Gondopuli Jaganath temple main road Kalasanadh Pur Hunuman temple main road Kalasanadh Pur Radha Krishna Temple (Banibihar, Aska) Sai Mandira Maa Kankana Devi temple, (Bhetanai) Ellama Potturaj (Damodarpalli) Maa Rajjamma Kanekamma (Dhobapalli) Hanuman Temple (Kotibadi) Gopinath Temple (Raipalli) Radhakrishna Mandir (Chadhiapalli)
Climate and regional setting
Maximum summer temperature is 34 °C; minimum winter temperature is 23 °C. The mean daily temperature varies from 33 °C to 38 °C. May is the hottest month; December is the coldest. The average annual rainfall is 1250 mm and the region receives monsoon and torrential rainfall from July to October.
Education
Schools
Harihar High School
A.S.I High School Nuagam
Kendriya Vidyalaya
Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir
NAC High School
Mac Mickle Sanskrit Vidyalaya
Hari Har High School
Harihar Nagar UP School
Bediri Sahi UP School
Govt Tech High School
Govt Girls High School
Aryan Public School
DePaul School
Mom School of Excellency
SriAurobindo Integral Education Center, R.Damodar Palli
Technical High School
Utkal Public School, Kishore Chandra Palli
Ramakrushna adarsha vidya mandir, Gayatri nagar, aska
College
Aska Science College
Niranjan Women's College
Mac Mickle Sanskrit College
Saraswati Vidya (junior) Mandir College
Banks
• State Bank of India
Asika Coperative Bank
SBI Agriculture Development Bank
Andhra Bank
Axis Bank
ICICI Bank
Bank of India
Utkal Grameen Bank
Union Bank of India
Indian Overseas Bank
Karur Vysya Bank
Punjab National Bank
HDFC Bank
Corporation Bank of India
SBI Sme Branch
Transport
Road
Asika is connected with National Highway 59 (India) (Khariar – Brahmapur) and National Highway 157 (India) (Purunakatak – Asika) which connect Asika to other cities and towns of Odisha.It is the. Middle of Ganjam District. So, major state highways are passing across this town.