IIT Bhubaneswar celebrated the first cultural day of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB)’ programme launched by the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi for promotion of diverse cultural exchange and awareness on November 15, 2017. The events on the first day celebrated the cultural diversity of the paired states: Rajasthan, Assam and West Bengal.

Director Prof. R. V. Raja Kumar, Director inaugurated Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat celebrations of the Institute by lighting the traditional lamp along with Prof. V. R. Pedireddi, Dean Student Affairs and the Nodal Officer for EBSB, Dr. Rajesh R. Dash and Dr. Seema Bahinipati, Coordinators of EBSB, and the faculty members of the EBSB committee, at the community centre of IIT Bhubaneswar at Argul, Jatni.

In his speech Director appreciated this initiative taken by Govt. of India under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modiji is to spread the message of unity between the people of different cultures and bring them together. He reiterate that IIT being a premier institute of the country having students, faculty and staffs from diverse culture and region will be leading to uphold the objective of Ek Bharat and Sreshtha Bharat by cultural exchange between people in a spirited manner.  He shared his pleasant personal experience of cultural exchange during his stay in IIT Kharagpur.

A cultural programme was organized with the participation of students, faculty and staff members of IIT Bhubaneswar and their family, from various cultures and regions to make the cause vibrant. The events showcased the cultural diversity of the states of Rajasthan, Assam and West Bengal, through light songs accompanied by orchestra, instrumental music, folk dances, traditional fancy dress, photography and documentary screening amongst other activities. The musical performances by students were not restricted to participants from the paired states and this added more colour to the evening. In addition, there were impressive performances by the family members of faculty and staff. The programme ended with learning of few popular words from the paired states by the audience.

The complete videograph coverage of the cultural programme of EBSB was made by Cinewave society and photograph by Clix Society society of IIT Bhubaneswar.