London: The fourth Annual Nuakhai Bhetghat event in the United Kingdom was celebrated with great enthusiasm on the 20th October 201 at the West Lodge Primary School in Pinner, London, organised by Juhar Parivar UK. Nearly 150 people, wearing beautiful Sambalpuri attires, mostly families from Odisha attended from all over the UK. The venue was specially themed around Western Odisha culture.
The event began with Samlei Puja and prayers were offered to Maa Samlei for everyone’s wellbeing. It was followed by a sumptuous lunch provided by Potli, the famous Indian restaurant in London owned by Uttam Tripathy from Sambalpur, offering a spread of mouth-watering Odia delicacies like mansa kasa, rohi macha, khajuri khata, badi chura etc. It also included “Ambila” – a popular dish from Western Odisha, painstakingly prepared by the Odia ladies themselves.
The cultural programme started with Samlei bhajan followed by a short presentation on how the funds that were raised for charity during last year’s event were utilised for renovation work at the Modipara Primary School in Sambapur through Odisha Govt’s “Mo School” initiative. Veteran Odia Mr. Madhu Kundu and Mr Soumendra Mohapatra, Secretary at the High Commission of India in London were the esteemed guests for the event.
There were several fantastic Sambalpuri folk dance performances and songs by children and members of the community. Mr. Krupasindhu Panda, recited few poems from the books he has authored called as “Amar Srimat Bhagbat” and “Maa”. The highlight at this year’s celebrations was a funny dance on the old sambalpuri folk song “Mor liti ude furu furu” performed by Debashish Mishra and his family.
The cultural event was followed by a DJ night, which made the audience dance on the tunes of popular Sambalpuri numbers. It was a full blast that continued till almost 9 PM and dinner was also served before the audience left the venue.
Again, this year, a substantial amount of money was raised for charity through raffle which will be used for a good social cause in Odisha. Buoyed by the success & response, the group has vowed to make this a bigger event in the years to come.
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