Bhubaneswar: More than 200 families of Odia diaspora residing across Saudi Arabia celebrated Utkala Diwas in Dammam on Saturday.
The Utkal Diwas celebration organised by the Odisha Association of Saudi Arabia, Kalingan – KSA started with the Odisha state song ‘Bande Utkala Janani’. It was followed by Mangalacharana performed by Anjana Tripathy and various cultural programs.
The event featured Odisha’s dance, music, handicrafts, fashion and food. Children, men and women participated in various Odia and Sambalpuri songs. Flutist Jyotirmoy Dash enthralled the audience with his performance while children spoke on “Aame Odiaa, Aama Bhasa Odia” in a debate competition.
Ranjan Rath, Santosh Das, Shaikh Sarafat, Jyotirmoy Dash, Basanta Sahu, Sisis Augustin, Suryakanta Das, Imtiaz Ali, Anil Kanati, Preetam Mohanty, Padarabinda Mohanty and Digambar Mahakhud coordinated the programmes.
The organisers said their objective is to spread the Odia culture on this foreign land and hoped that their effort would contribute to enhanced interest in Odisha and development of the state.
