Victoria/Bhubaneswar: The Odia community of Australia is all set to
celebrate Utkal Dibasa with much zeal and fanfare at Kyneton, Victoria.
Coinciding with the festival, a three-day cultural extravaganza titled
‘Unmaad’ kicked off on Friday.
The three-day national sammilani is packed with both group and
individual cultural activities showcasing Odia art, culture and
traditions. This year, the team has invited Ollywood actor Kuna
Tripathy, famous for his work in numerous Odia movies and more
recently serial News Fuse, to perform as a special guest.
“The Odia community of Australia are very proud of themselves for
investing in building a single Odia community in a large country such
as Australia and nation samilanis are great way to keep the bond of
brotherhood stronger”, said President of Orioz Sujeet Jena.
“Numerous team building activities such as kayaking, flying fox and
other sports have been lined up to inculcate a sense of team spirit ,
trust and respect for each other. Keeping in mind the Odia obsession
with good food, a special cook has been engaged to recreate popular
Odia dishes giving everyone a taste of nostalgia”, a member of the
team said.
The Odia community of Australia will be meeting again after two years
keeping the tradition strong for the new generations to follow. Orioz
Inc, the Association of Odia people in Australia, began this tradition
of organising national gathering every second year with the aim of
fostering and strengthening the bond between Odia people who call
Australia home, temporarily or permanently.
These biennial national gatherings are called sammilanis, with a name
given to each one with the theme.
Like the previous sammilanis, members from almost all Australian
states like Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Australian
Capital Territory – Canberra, New South Wales and Queensland will be
attending the ninth edition of the event.