Bhubaneswar: Festivity of western Odisha's agrarian festival Nuakhai was witnessed in overseas as well with Odia diaspora celebrating the fest in Dubai, London, Japan and USA.

Global Odias for Odisha’s Development (GOOD), an expatriate group comprising of Odia professionals living across the globe, made an ambitious attempt to popularize the festival worldwide.

GOOD members living in Dubai have undertaken an unique initiative in this regard. They have approached global business leaders and senior officials based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and explained the festival and its significance to them and their communication teams.

GOOD members have managed to garner their support in popularizing the festival across the globe. Video messages of the dignitaries wishing Odia people across the globe were obtained and released.

All the messages started with the traditional greeting of ‘Nuakhai Juhar’. "We have been trying to promote and propagate Odisha’s rich cultural heritage to the global audience and this is one such initiative," said Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Senior Member of GOOD.