 In 2016 Utkal University adopted its theme song from "tunga sikhar chula"(1st 3 stanzas) poem of Godabarish Mishra one of its founder member.After the separation of Odisha from Bihar and the creation of the new province of Odisha in April 1936, there was a strong desire among the leaders of the province for the establishment of a separate university in Odisha.Until 1936 all the colleges were under the jurisdiction of either Patna University or Andhra University.