The Utkal Divas was celebrated on Thursday virtually by the Kalinga Sanskritika Sansada (KSS), Guwahati and Lord Jagannath Temple Trust, Guwahati in which Odias from various places in the country and outside joined. The speakers recalled the sacrifice made by the great heroes of Odisha for formation of a separate province of Odisha. Cultural programmes started with recitation of the Odisha State song Bande Utkal Janani and Assam State song O Mur Apunar Desh, followed by folk and classical dance performance of eminent artists of international repute from Odisha and Assam. The KSS members expressed concern over delay in construction of Lord Jagannath Temple at Guwahati, Odisha Bhawan at Guwahati, direct flight between Guwahati and Bhubaneswar etc. They requested the Chief Minister of Odisha to take such initiatives for sustaining the cultural bond between Odisha and Assam.
S Barik from Ireland delivered the inauguration address. Among others Manoranjan Dash, PK Patri, B Moharana, B C Nayak, Upendra Mahapatra, DP Mohapatra, Rajat Pati, Bhakti Bhumij, Nirakar Pradhan, HP Mohanty, Harihar Das, Anshuman Mohanty, PS Biswal, Dilip Satpathy, Subhra Nanda, CS Behera, Mihir Das, Sambit Gantayat and Prasant Sutar spoke.