Cuttack Baliyatra of Odisha included in Guinness World Record

Odisha’s Cuttack’s Baliyatra has created a Guinness World Record for making 22,000 paper boats in 35 minutes.
Over 2,100 students from 22 schools created this world record by making paper boats at an event held at the Barabati Stadium.
Baliyatra, literally ‘voyage to Bali’, is one of the country’s largest open-air fairs, which is organised every year to commemorate the 2,000-year-old maritime and cultural links between ancient Kalinga (today’s Odisha) and Bali and other South and Southeast Asian regions like Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
The origins of the festival, which begins on Kartik Purnima (full moon night in the month of Kartik) can be traced back more than 1,000 years.
The Bay of Bengal region had several ports, and sadhavas (traders) traditionally began their voyage across the sea on this auspicious day, when the winds were favourable for the boats, known as boita, to sail.
This festival starts from Kartik Purnima. The most popular commodities for trade between Kalinga and Southeast Asia were pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, silk, camphor, gold, and jewellery.
Baliyatra has cultural and historical importance as well as commercial importance.
This is the time when businesses flourish as the prices of products are comparatively low.
The district administrator allots over 1,500 stalls to traders through auction. The fair is expected to do business of over Rs 100 crore in nine days.