Odisha goes on digital overdrive to promote Nabakalebara

After putting up a dedicated web portal for the Nabakalebara festival, the state IT dept has thought of going for a splash on the Google home page through a special 'Google Doodle' for the event

The Odisha government has gone on an overdrive on the digital media to showcase its grand festive carnival 'Nabakalebara'. Massive promotion of the grand fest, projected to draw a turnout of nearly 10 million people, would supplement the already elaborate arrangements made by the government for the event.

After putting up a dedicated web portal for the Nabakalebara festival, the state IT department has thought of going for a splash on the Google home page through a special 'Google Doodle' for the event. 'Google Doodle' is a temporary alteration in logo on the Google homepage to celebrate festivals, holidays and achievements of eminent people. The state IT secretary P K Jena has written to Google India managing director (MD) Rajan Anandan, pressing for a 'Google Doodle' tailored for the event on July 18, the day of Rath Yatra (annual car festival in Puri). Nabakalebara means replacement of idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan with a new set of idols.

"It has been decided by the state government that in order to popularise the event, including the Annual Cart Festival (Rath Yatra) at Puri, there must be a Google-Doodle on the July 18 2015 with the help of Google India. The doodle either can be designed by your in-house team or by the team that is handling the digital campaign for the state government", the IT secretary stated in the letter to Anandan. Jena has also sought an appointment with Anandan on June 1 or 2 to discuss on the support Google India can offer for making the 'Nabakalebara' event a grand success. State minister for IT, Pranab Prakash Das is likely to accompany Jena for the planned meeting with Google India's MD.

To facilitate pilgrims and tourists in identifying their hotels, temporary shelters, parking places, hospitals and police stations, updated Google Maps can be used, so that people can download them on their mobile apps, Jena suggested.

"This international event of Lord Jagannath can be a good occasion for Google India for its promotion in association with the Odisha government", he said. The state government has already launched a massive digital campaign to make the event a global one and reach out to the pilgrims.

A state of the art website at cost of Rs 29 lakh with mobile apps and social media campaign (on facebook, twitter and Google+) have already been launched in the state. Jena has recently asked all revenue divisional commissioners, district collectors and superintendents of police to display the Nabakalebara banner on official websites of districts and portals of subordinate offices.

Arvind Padhee, state tourism and culture secretary has recently appealed to celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Kapil Sharma and spiritual guru Ravishankar to spread the message of Nabakalebara.

"Grandest of all festivals of Lord Jagannath at Puri is coming up this July", Padhee twitted recently.