Cuttack: The historic Bali Jatra, the biggest annual open-air trade fair of Asia, kicked off in Cuttack city amid traditional fanfare with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurating it in the evening. It will continue till November 22.
The chief minister, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, cut the ribbons to declare the trade fair open in the upper and lower Bali Jatra grounds on the banks of river Mahanadi.
Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahatab, Jagatsinghpur MP Bibhuprasad Tarai, Cuttack mayor Subas Singh, Barbati Cuttack MLA Sophia Firdosh, Choudwar Cuttack MLA Sauvik Biswal and Cuttack Sadar MLA Prakash Sethi were also present at the inauguration.
Following the inauguration, the chief ministers along with his Cabinet colleagues went around the trade fair which will continue for 8 days. This year, more than 2,500 stalls, big and small, have been opened in 32 acre area of the Bai Jatra grounds. Of those, ORMS has set up maximum 500 stalls, giving priority to women entrepreneurs to showcase their pottery, handloom products besides different varieties of local cakes.
For the first time, ambassadors, high commissioners and diplomats from 15 ASEAN, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and pacific countries will attend the event.
According to sources, the foreign diplomats will be taken on a boat ride to the fair grounds. The journey in four traditionally decorated boats named after Cuttack’s major rivers – Mahanadi, Kathajodi, Birupa, and Debi – will begin from Silvercity Boat Club, where Sadhabas will perform a special “aarti” on the Mahanadi riverbank, recreating Kalinga’s ancient maritime history of voyages to Southeast Asia.