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| Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and MEA Sushma Swaraj |
BHUBANESWAR: Minister of External Affairs Sushma
Swaraj on Friday here praised Bhubaneswar for its unique distinction of having
rich history, culture and tradition and providing platform to business houses
to do business here.
Quoting the World Bank report, Swaraj said Bhubaneswar
is the best place to do business in India. The capital city of Odisha, she
continued, one of the modern India’s first planned cities, home to a large
number of ancient temples which stand testimony to millennia old uninterrupted
flow of its culture.
Swaraj also praised the city for having number of educational
institutes and called it temples of higher learning.
The Union Minister while inaugurating an
international conference on maritime trade suggested delegates to visit the Sun
Temple of Konark to know about the rich maritime history of Odisha. “Please
visit Sun Temple, where you can see a boat containing giraffe, which shows
linkages with Africa,” said Swaraj.
She told about the rich heritage of Odisha by giving
example of Boitha Bandana Utsav, worshipping of the ships. “It is a practice
that has been there since Kalinga days. The ships used to embark on long
voyages to Sri Lanka, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Malaya, Vietnam and also to
China,” she added.
Swaraj said the festival of Baliyatra on Karthik
Purnima in November is a continuation of this tradition. With commendable
efforts of the State Government here, this has emerged as a major connect with
our ancient maritime legacy, he added.
