Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Capturing the spirit of Rath Yatra around the world- an ETV Oriya initiative

Personal Source, July 22, 2009

For the 4th. consecutive year 'ETV Oriya' is going to present the innovative audio-visual capsule, titled “DARIAAPARI JAGANNATH” (the yatra of Lord Jagannath across the globe), on 22nd July 2009 at 11.05pm. It will be re-telecast at 9.00am on 23rd., Thursday. Main objective of this programme is to track the spirit of Jagannath Rath Yatra world wide, and present the same before the global audience in a comprehensive format, Mr. Nilambar Rath, the news head of ETV Oriya has said.

As a part of this effort, ETV has tried to gather adequate footage, exclusively for the channel, from various overseas locations including New York, New Jersey, Nashville, Atlantic city and Tokya etc.

Focus of the programme is on the Oriya communities living in different parts of the world and organizing Rath Yatra year after year. In many places Oriya societies have built up independent Jagannath temples and following all the rituals of the Lord in the pattern of Puri. Similarly, at some other places, they have installed the deities in existing Hindu temples and Jagannath has become prime attraction for hundreds of Indian and non-Indians. Especially, Rath Yatra has become a grand socio-cultural and spiritual occasion for Indian communities as well as for the local residents. 'Dariaapari Jagannath', a unique concept in Oriya language television, portrays the above ambience and demonstrates the enthusiasm of people across nations.

Like the last year, ETV has also made all arrangements to place those stories in the website of the Network. It can be viewed at oriya.etv.co.in within a week from the date of its telecast. The web publication will not only attract a good number of overseas visitors but also can cater to the people in India (even in Orissa), those who want to go through the content at their convenience. More importantly, anybody can view these audio-visual files through Internet anytime and refer to friends and relatives in India and abroad, said Mr. Rath.

The global Oriyas have created a new face for themselves and Lord Jagannath, who is synonymous to Oriya identity, has become a part of their 'parichay' (identity). Not only that, the Lord has also become a deep driving force for the folks wherever they are in the globe. Thus Rath Yatra has become a grand socio-cultural platform for millions of Oriyas living overseas. ETV, through its various efforts, has been trying to focus on the best part of the same.

It is really a tough task to organize relevant and adequate footage and reactions of Oriya people from various countries as far as content and technicalities are concerned. But, ETV Oriya News team has been doing it sincerely and successfully over the past four years. According to Mr. Nilambar, this spectacular programme is the outcome of the creativity and dedication of his reporting and production teams and the huge strength and right attitude of his network. It has also been made possible because of the sincere efforts and great interest of the Oriya people, especially the organisers, across the nations, confirms Mr. Rath.

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