Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur is the largest earthen dam in the world. It is built across the Mahanadi River about 15 km from Sambalpur in Odisha. The dam is established in 1957 and holds behind it 55 kms long lake which is named as Hirakud Reservoir of Odisha. The man made dam is 16 mile long has Hirakud project included as one of the major multipurpose river valley project undertaken after India's independence. The reservoir is formed as the biggest artificial lake in Asia with holding 743 sq km. There are two observation towers on each side named as Gandhi Minar and Nehru Minar included as places to visit in Hirakud Dam.
Other tourist attractions of Hirakud Dam are Cattle Island, Debrigarh Wildlife Park, Vimaleswar temple, Ushakothi wildlife sanctuary, Hatibari etc. Best time to visit Hirakud dam is October to March.
Sambalpur is the nearest railhead, Bhubaneswar is the nearest airport and number of private and govt busses are running towards the dam every day.