FIH World Cup 2023: Families of Dutch Players Visit Village in Odisha

 The family members of Netherlands hockey team players visited a village in the Puri district and spent time with villagers. They were overwhelmed with the village atmosphere and hospitality and enjoyed Odissi dances.

Eighteen members of the Netherlands hockey team spent more than three hours at the BirpurosattamPur Bahman Sahi villages of Pipili block in the Puri district

The people of Birapurushottampur village of Puri district got a chance to spend time with the family members of the Hockey team players.

Local People welcomed all the guests with traditional rituals near Jagannath Temple and offered green coconut as welcome drinks. Villagers performed Odisha dance, served offerings and cooked food for them.

The foreigners were very pleased with the hospitality of the villagers. The visitors also cooked food for Dalit people residing in the village and served them.

“I really appreciate the villagers for showing us their culture and how the people here live. it is an opportunity to see and spend time with the villagers and enjoy it" a foreign guest said.

Odishi Dancer Subhashree Barik said “I feel proud performing the Odishi dance for foreign tourists. While the people of Odisha are going abroad to perform Odishi Dance, I got an opportunity to perform the famous dance for foreign guest in my native place. I performed Odisha based on Jagannath Culture, Shiva Tandab. I am very much happy"

A non-governmental organization (NGO), Quality for Life Foundation, organized a small trip to Purusottampur for tourists. They enjoyed the Odissi recital based on Sri Jagannath culture. They also discussed the issues the villagers face in their day-to-day life.

“We are very happy to spend time with foreign guests. We welcomed all the guests as per our culture. We performed a cultural programme and served them food. It will be memorable for us" said a villager.

Basanta Barik, Odisha head, (NGO), Quality for Life Foundation said “It was very a pleasant short stay. The guests were received with warmth and were offered green coconut as a welcome drink. They enjoyed the cultural event performed by villagers. They were very pleased with the hospitality of villagers".