Odia community in Australia to reconnect with their roots

March 29, 2018 Society

Bhubaneswar: The Odia community of Victoria will be hosting the 9th National Sammilani to be held from March 30 to April 1 at Kyneton, Victoria.

The three days of the gathering will be packed with both group and individual cultural activities showcasing Odia art, culture and traditions.

This year, the team has invited Kuna Tripathy, famous for his work in numerous Odia movies and being an anchor in television episode News Fuse, to perform as a special guest.

There will also be numerous team building activities such as kayaking, flying fox and other sports inculcating 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.

The Odia community of Australia will be meeting again after 2 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. The name of the 9th Sammilani to be held this year in Kyneton, Victoria is Unmaad.

Like the previous Sammilanis, members from almost all Australian states-Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory – Canberra, New South Wales and Queensland-to be attending the event. The community also will be celebrating Utkaldivas. The regional Victorian town of Kyneton, an hour from Melbourne is going to turn to an Odia town for three days.

Sujeet Jena, President of Orioz said that the Odia community of Australia is very proud of themselves for investing in building a single Odia community in a large country such as Australia and the biennial national Sammilani is a great way to strengthen this brotherhood.