The inaugural edition of this techno-management symposium was in the year 2004, when it was named Ideon. The fest had a participation of about 260 students from outside IIT Kharagpur. The participation has since grown exponentially, and it has now become Asia’s largest fest of its kind.

The year 2005 saw a massive growth in the participation of students from outside the institute, with a participation of about 1400, including people from abroad.

In 2006, Kshitij hosted about 3,000 in-house and 2,000 outstation participants, who took part in 20 events spread across various genres, vying for the chance to grab prizes worth Rs. 15 lakhs. It also witnessed guest lectures from eminent personalities like Prof. Klaus Von Klitzing(Nobel prize in Physics 1985) who was also the judge of the finals of the technical paper presentation event Eureka,^[14] R. Chidambaram (Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India), Lord Sushanto Kumar Bhattacharyya (Scientific Advisor to the Govt of South Africa and Warwick Manufacturing Group's Director) and Dr. Praveen Chaudhari(Director, Brookhaven Laboratory). The flagship events of the fest at that time were Eureka, CarXs (a competition to design the seating arrangement of SUVs) and Mission Mars (a programming contest).

Kshitij 2007^[15] was held from 1–4 February, with the Egyptian civilisation as the chosen theme, as a homage to the pathbreaking technical expertise and the rich cultural heritage of one of the world’s earliest civilisations. The 35 events with prizes worth Rs. 30 lakhs, providing a confluence of technology and business skills, were extremely well received. Prior to the fest, robotics workshops were held in cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad^[16] and Jaipur. The fest itself was a massive success, with people like Wg. Cmdr. Rakesh Sharma,^[17] ad-guru Alyque Padamsee, Nobel laureate Prof. Paul Krutzen sharing anecdotes from their life. The events Eureka, BPlan (the business plan presentation event) and Overnite (a night-long coding event) were yet again hugely successful. The fest also witnessed awe-inspiring exhibitions from across the world, some of which included a next-generation flying mechanical bird (an ‘’Ornithopter’’).

In 2008, Kshitij was attended by 3500 outstation students from all over the country. The fest consisted of engaging guest lectures by people like the co-founder of Wikipedia, Mr. Jimmy Wales, the father of Nano-Technology Mr. Eric Drexler, the world famous theoretical physicist and author of the bestseller ‘Physics of Star-Trek’, Prof. Lawrence M. Krauss. There was also a video conference by the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry for genetic information transfer from DNA to RNA, Prof. Roger D Kornberg. There were 30 technical and 15 managerial events in the fest, in addition to workshops on topics including rocketry, microfinance, cryptology, kite modeling and carbon trading. In this year, the official website www.ktj.in received about 8 million clicks, making it the largest student-run website in the world.

Kshitij 2009, held from 29 January to 1 February, saw the fest joining hands with globally reputed associations such as ACM, ASHRAE, ASME and IMechE, which certified some of the events conducted, thus extending international recognition to the outstanding entries in various categories. This edition had a participation of about 30000 and gave away prizes worth Rs. 45 lakhs.

In 2010, Kshitij, which was held from the 28th to the 31st of January, conducted over 40 events spread across nine genres, including both technical events and managerial events. These events covered diverse fields such as coding, case studies, business plan presentations, industrial design problems, aeromodelling and robotics besides other on-the-spot events. This edition had a participation of more than 40000, with prizes worth Rs. 50 lakhs being given.

Kshitij 2011 was organised from the 28th to the 31st of January. The guest lectures included illustrious personalities such as the first Indian astronaut in space, Dr. Rakesh Sharma, the Nobel laureate Sir Anthony James Legett, the famous ad-guru Mr. Prahlad Kakkar, and the Father of the Internet, Mr. Philip Emeagwali sharing anecdotes from their personal experiences.

The 2012 edition, held from the 27th to the 30th of January, saw the inaugural edition of The Verdict, the National Moot Court Competition being held. It also had more than 35 events across nine genres. In this year, the official website of Kshitij, www.ktj.in, became the largest student-run website in the world, receiving over 8 million hits in a single year.

Kshitij 2013 gave out prizes worth INR 60 lakh for more than 45 events, which were online events, submission-based events, and on-spot events. Held from the 1st to the 4th of February, it had a participation of more than 60000 from 1400 colleges. In this year, Kshitij for the first time, came under the patronage of UNESCO. It also had world-renowned organisations such as ACM, IEEE, ASME, ASHRAE and IMechE give their prestigious certifications to some of the major flagship events such as Overnite, Eureka, Student Design Exposition, Kryotech and Laws of Motion.

Kshitij 2014 offered a gamut of options for the participants, including guest lectures from distinguished personalities cutting across various fields, megashows, and a wide-ranged workshop series. Among the guest lecturers were the critically acclaimed actor, Mr. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the renowned activist Ms. Shazia Ilmi, Mr. Amitabha Ghosh, chairman, Mars Rover Mission, NASA and the Nobel Peace Prize winner Mr. Jonathan Forman. Workshops on investigative journalism, rupee depreciation, sustainable development and automotive engineering were also held. Apart from all these, social initiatives were held in association with NGOs such as Drishti, EBAI and PETA for the cause of eye donation and ethical treatment of animals.

The 12th edition of Kshitij was held from 30 January to 2 February 2015 and had incorporated the theme of “Celebrating 100 Years of Relativity”. It had hosted the 2015 ACM-ICPC India Overnite Multi-Provincial Programming Contest. It also saw a workshop on Public Policy Engineering by The Takshashila Institution, an Insight into Supercomputing by CDAC, an engaging workshop on cinematography by Ali Kazmi, and the conduction of TCS Hacka THINGS, a Hackathon for Internet of Things (IoT) Applications. Kshitij also had guest lectures from a number of leading names such as Satyajit Bhatkal, the creator of the popular show Satyamev Jayate, Piyush Mishra, a film and theatre actor, Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan (ex-chairman, ISRO), R S Gandhi, deputy governor, RBI, and Dr Juergen Knobloch, physicist at CERN. The megashows by The Viral Fever, Parkour and Slackline and Pyrobatics too were very well received.

Kshitij 2016 was held from the 21st to the 24th of January. It was in 2016 that the official mascot of Kshitij - KRUX, The Technosapien, was introduced. The guest lecture series too was especially diverse, and consisted of global achievers coming onto the stage and sharing their experiences with the students. Mr. Carlo Cottarelli, the Executive Director of the IMF, Mr. V.S Sampath, the former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Mr. Shoojit Sircar, the critically acclaimed director of films such as Piku and Vicky Donor, Mr. Dilip Chhabbria, the creator of India’s first sports car DC Avanti, Mr. Claude Nicollier, the first astronaut from Switzerland, Mr. Hatim Zaghloul, the co-founder of Wi-LAN, Mr. AS Pillai, the CEO and MD of Brahmos Aerospace, Mr. Abhas Mitra, the celebrated Indian astrophysicist and Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal, who was declared a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, were the guest lecturers for the 14th edition. The fest also hosted workshops by technical giants like Texas Instruments, Deloitte, NASSCOM, Microsoft and IBM, apart from exhibitions from countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Malaysia and Bangladesh. In addition, Kshitij conducted two social initiatives, Sankalp, an initiative held in association with UNICEF to eradicate malnutrition, and the Digital India Summit, held under the aegis of the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Many of the events in Kshitij 2016 have certifications from organisations and institutions. These are:

• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): ACM, the world’s largest and oldest scientific and educational computing society, which develops resources that advance computing as a science and profession, certifies Overnite ACM ICPC Multi Provincial Programming Contest. The society serves as a membership of computing professionals and students in many countries in all areas of industry, academia, and government.
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence. IEEE certifies the event Eureka in Kshitij.
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): ASHRAE certifies Kryotech, an event to design the complete HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system for the industry.
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): ASME, a professional body known for setting codes and standards for mechanical devices, certifies the Kshitij event ASME Student Design Competition. Through this event, ASME provides a platform for budding technocrats to touch the horizons in the field of robotic design and intelligent automation.
• Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE): The Institution of Mechanical Engineers certifies the events Laws of Motion and Nightshift. The association of IMechE with these events aims at improving the world through engineering and nurturing new talents, helping them build their careers and take on the challenges that, when solved, will make a difference to all.
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers: The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 with the purpose of establishing chemical engineers as a profession independent from chemists and mechanical engineers.

Laws of Motion: This aircraft design event certified by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers IMechE is one of the most famous events of Kshitij, which receives participation from students all over the country.

Eureka : An IEEE certified technical paper presentation event.

Overnite: The ACM ICPC multi-provincial programming contest is certified by ACM, world’s largest and most prestigious scientific and educational computing society.

ASME SDE: Student Design Exposition is an open hardware modelling competition certified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Embetronix: It is an embedded electronics circuit design competition spread over two rounds.

Nightshift: An adaptation of the popular Discovery Channel show, Junkyard Wars, this event is also certified by IMechE.

IDP: It is Kshitij’s Industrial Design Problem competition. Conducted in association with reputed industrial organizations, it gives participants a chance to give solutions to real-time problems faced by industries, in a scaled-down version.

The Verdict: The national-level Moot Court competition of Kshitij, it is conducted in association with the Indian Bar Association.

Robotix events

There is a complete genre called Robotix,^[18] which has many events based on amateur robotics. The events for Kshitij 2015 were:

Cascade: Build a manually controlled robot capable of traversing vertical rods while shooting terrorists

Skyfall: Build a robot that is capable of picking up packages on a pier and depositing it on the given ship by traversing the arena aquatically or by zipline.

Minefield: Build a semi-autonomous robot capable of detecting hidden metal mines and rescuing stranded victims using gesture recognition in a minefield.

Step Up: Build an autonomous robot that is capable of traversing a grid and arranging the blocks placed on nodes in the increasing order of height.

Aug-Hit: Build an image processing robot which can play the Break Bricks game.

Sudocode: Write a code to optimise your strategy to find and destroy enemy bunkers in a jungle. Write a code to find and attack enemy troops in the jungle.