Shyamhari Chakra
NEW DELHI: In a bid to involve the global Odia community in development of their homeland of Odisha, Global Odia Mahotsav kicks off on virtual mode on Saturday.
The two-day event, the first of its kind, is being hosted by the well-known Odisha Society of Americas (OSA) in association with 32 similar societies from various countries.
“This would be the mahakumbha of Odia diaspora and a proud moment for Odisha. This would be the first of its kind global event connecting Odias together from more than 30 different countries. Let’s make this grand event build up a global platform for the development of Odisha”, stated OSA president Kuku Das, the brain behind the unique global gathering.
The two-day festival will be inaugurated on Saturday at 6.30 pm in presence of Gajapati Maharaja of Puri Shri Dibya Singha Deb, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Kenya’s Member of Parliament Swarup R Mishra and senior bureaucrats Arabinda Padhee and Vishal K Dev apart from Kuku Das among others.
A number of seminars have been scheduled to be hosted during the event that include Role of Media – Media as a catalyst to connect Global Odia Diaspora with Odisha, Ensuring Quality Higher Education for Future Generation, Odisha Development, Health & Wellness, Women’s Empowerment, Youth Connection and Odia Sahitya.
The cultural component of the festival comprises Swadista Odia Byanjana (Odia cuisine show), Sura Sangeeta (music event), Odia Speech by Kids on “Mo Swapna ra Odisha” (Odisha of my dream) and Kabita Patha (poetry recitation session).
An important initiative of the event has been titled as Global Gapa Sapa that aims at developing the much necessary networking among the Odias and Odia Associations.
The Odia societies of the countries being represented in the global summit include Canada, Russia, Australia, UK, UAE, Japan, Bahrain, The Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Myanmar, Tanzania, Qatar, Nepal, Nigeria, Finland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany and South Africa.
Details of the festival are available on www.globalodiamahotsav2020.com, the hosts informed.
