Bhawanipatna is a city and district headquarter of the Kalahandi district in the Indian state of Odisha. Bhawanipatna is a city of numerous temples dedicated to different deities of Hindu pantheon. It is named after the presiding deity, Bhawani-Shankar. Bhawanipatna municipality is the administrative head of the city, which is divided into twenty wards with different sub-areas called para (pronounced "padaa"). Originally, these paras were inhabited by people of different communities, but over the last few decades, these Paras have become homogeneous. Bhawanipatna has more than forty-two paras. It is one of the biggest urban areas of Western Odisha. City area of Bhawanipatna includes nearby sub-urban areas like Parmanandapur, Station area, Kesinga road, Bandhapala, Kasakendu, Medinipur, Duarsuni, Raisingpur, Bhangabari and Atangaguda.