Dear friends,

It is with pleasure that I welcome all of you at the Raj Bhavan to celebrate the foundation days of Rajasthan and Odisha.

March 30 marks the formation of the modern state of Rajasthan. In 1949, the states of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer, joined with the United State of Rajasthan, and the region came to be known as Greater Rajasthan.

The new state of Rajasthan was formed after the princely states signed the Instrument of Accession. Since then, 30th March has been celebrated as Rajasthan Day.

In the same way that every state in India has its own unique features, there are many noteworthy facts about Rajasthan. For instance, the royal cities in Rajasthan are colour coordinated.

Jaipur is pink, Udaipur is white, Jodhpur is blue, Jaisalmer is gold, and Jhalawar is purple.

Rajasthan also has the oldest mountain range in the Indian Subcontinent, called the Aravali Mountain Range.

Kalibangan, one of the cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, is found in Rajasthan.

The state is also famous for its forts and palaces, such as Lake Palace in Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh Fort, Mehrangarh Fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace, and Hawa Mahal.

Recently, the Rajasthan government designated Ramgarh Crater at Baran district as India's first geo-heritage site.

Coming to Odisha, the State celebrates its 88th Foundation Day, which is also known as Utkal Divas.

Odisha was part of Bihar before it became the first state to be formed on linguistic basis. Earlier, present-day Odisha was the major portion of the ancient region of Kalinga. The British took over the administrative powers and divided it into small units in 1803. After three decades of revolution under prominent leaders, the state was separated from Bihar and became a separate province on 1st April 1936.

The state of Odisha is diverse in many ways, whether it is flora and fauna, or the culture and temples. It is aptly known as the temple state of India. There are over 600 temples with magnificent architecture from medieval times. One of the Char Dham pilgrims is also located in the State. Nandan Kanan zoological park in Odisha is the second largest largest zoo in the country. These are just a few features of the remarkable state of Odisha.

As we celebrate these two important days, I applaud the ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ initiative of Government of India. The scheme was launched to celebrate the cultural vibrancy of India, with a primary objective to strengthen cultural relations, and encourage mutual connection between people residing in different parts of the country.

‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ is not merely a lofty ideal or a slogan, but rather a necessity for the survival and success of a diverse nation like ours. This requires constant efforts from all stakeholders to promote unity in diversity.

With programmes like today, we are making our own contributions towards national integration.

 Thank you.

 Jai Hind.