CUTTACK: After a gap of two years, the historic Baliyatra kicked off in all its old glory as state minister Pradip Kumar Amat inaugurated the nine-day fair here on Tuesday. Baliyatra this year is celebrated in a grand manner offering a plethora of cultural activities with addition of several new events. Like previous years, the fair recorded a huge participation by traders, corporate houses and government agencies from the state and outside.
Around 2,000 stalls have been set up, of which as many as 420 stalls belong to the national level Pallishree Mela showcasing products ranging from handlooms, handicrafts to rural homemade spices and household articles from different districts of Odisha and 14 other states such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karanataka, Manipur and Maharashtra.
The ORMAS has also come up with a national-level food festival wherein 20 stalls have been set up in the premises of the Pallishree Mela, offering popular dishes from Odisha as well as other states. “We have also planned to set up four demonstration stalls in association with OLM and Mission Shakti to showcase the method and process of making terracotta products, ‘kantha’ stitched products, handlooms, ‘dokra’ and others made by women self-help group members,” said joint CEO of ORMAS, Cuttack Bipin Rout.
More than 200 corporate stalls, 325 government stalls and around 600 food stalls have been put up at this year’s Baliyatra. Apart from trade and food, joy rides and swings installed at the Baliyatra ground were a major draw on the inaugural day. Over 50,000 people thronged the fair ground on the opening day.
Apart from creation of a green zone comprising of 12 acre of land where around 200 trees have been beautified, several new events like laser light show and sand art by Sudarsan Pattanaik are part of the fair.