The Kalinga War was arguably the most important battle to be fought in ancient India. As the rock edict of Emperor Asoka states, "In the great battle of Kalinga, 150,000 people were thence taken captive, and 100,000 were killed. After the taking of Kalinga, Devanampriya, the Beloved of the Gods, began to follow Dharma, to love Dharma, to give instructions in Dharma. For the Beloved of the Gods considers the greatest of victories to be the victory of Dharma".

The Kalinga Conference consists of :

• Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (BHUBANESWAR)
• Utkal University (BHUBANESWAR)
• Guru Ghasidas University (BILASPUR)
• Berhampur University (BRAHMAPUR)
• Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (RAIPUR)
• Ravi Shankar University (RAIPUR)
• Sambalpur University (SAMBALPUR)

Located in the East Zone, the conference includes 7 universities spread over Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. The cities of Bhubaneswar, Bilaspur, Brahmapur, Raipur and Sambalpur are directly involved in the competition, with Angul, Balugaon, Basna, Bhawanipatna, Phulbani and Sarangarh as neutral sites.

In the Kalinga Conference, an astro-turf field is located at Rourkela. Doordarshan studios are located at Bhubaneswar.

Watch out for intra-state rivals Utkal University vs. Sambalpur University, and inter-state rivals Sambalpur University vs. Ravi Shankar University. Utkal University has the potential to achieve National Rankings.

The average distance travelled by the teams in this conference will be 179 km. In the distance grid below, * indicates that the match will be played at a neutral site, and ~ indicates that the value is an approximate distance calculated from the state map.