Report by Punyabrata Das, Moscow: The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly , Odisha , Sri Pradip Kumar Amat visited Moscow on the 21st of september 2012. During his brief visit , AROS had the opportunity to meet Sri Amat and also organized a sight seeing tour for the honorable speaker. 

During a lunch hosted by Dr Hena Mohan and a dinner hosted by AROS , under the Odia Samaj head Sri Santosh Mishra and attended by Sri Prasanta Tripathy, Sri Tanay Behera, Sri Binoy Mishra, Sri Piyush Panda, Sri Sunil Goyal , Sri Sandeepan Kar, Sri Suresh Dash and Dr Punyabrata Das , a few issues were discussed to put forward with the Odisha government for a better bilateral relationship between Odisha and Russia.

  It maybe noted that Moscow itself has more than a hundred young artists  learning Odissi , and by every year the number is only increasing. Moscow and other regions in Russia consistently organize Odissi dance, concerts and performances throughout the year. With such interest towards Odisha and it's cultural heritage , the already existing relationship between the two countries can be further strengthened through cultural exchange programs and particularly giving importance to Odissi which has become a world brand in performing arts .

During discussions with Sri Amat , who had been on a Commonwealth conference tour to Sri Lanka before coming to Russia, had expressed his concern over a very valuable cultural heritage that Odisha possesses at this time , but has yet failed to showcase and bring much value to the state .  The object of concern is a tooth of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, which now is one of the major world religions.  During his official visit to Sri Lanka , Sri Amat had visited a Shrine of manganimous proportions at Kandy , which apparently is a dedicated temple which stores and protects  the tooth of Gautama Buddha. And the tooth is only revealed on very speacial occassions.  

But according to Sri Amat , a similar tooth is in the possession of  Odisha , and there has only been talks to keep the tooth in a museum for display .  Would not such a highly valuabe possession , if rightly displayed and showcased bring much more respect to Odisha ? Would not this enhance the cultural heritage of Odisha and bring much more prosperity to the state through spiritual tourism?  These are the questions that arose during the discussions, and it is highly hoped that the Government would take appropriate steps in this direction ,  to boost the image of Odisha , into a powerful and prosperous state.

 The Land of Shri Jagganatha will always remain the same , and a shrine to Gautama Buddha will only glorify the state into shining magnanimity . A unique state that is a powerhouse of spirituality and cultural glory.