The Gajapati district administration celebrated the Utkal Divas with much fervour on Saturday.
Gajapati district Collector Sudhanshu Mohan Samal and political leaders paid garlanded statue of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati at Basanta Bihar here. They memorised Gajapati’s contribution in making Odisha a separate State on linguistic basis.
A rally involving students moved from the Saraswati Sishu Mandir School to the entire town.. A dance programme was performed by local youths as a mark of tribute to Gajapat.
Sub Collector Anam Charan Patra, ADM Dhrubaraj Pandey, retired administrator Purna Chandra Mohapatra, District Farmer Forum president Surjya Narayan Patnaik were present.
Besides, people from different walks of life paid tributes to legendaries like Utkala Gourav Madhusudan Das, Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das, Maharaja Ramachandra Bhanjadeo, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Raja Baikunthanath Dey, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Gangadhar Meher and Gourishankar Ray. The town wore a glittering look with regional fervour.