Non-resident Oriya

Non-resident Oriya are people of Oriya ancestry residing outside Odisha.

Types

NROs can be mainly of two types:

NROs in India: Oriya People (ancestrally or originally) settled in different parts of India outside Odisha
NROs abroad: Oriya People (ancestrally or originally) settled in different parts of the world.

NROs in India

Oriyas in different Indian states outside Odisha

Migration from Odisha has a long history. The Oriya merchants had trade links with other parts of the country during the ancient and Middle Ages.In modern times, the Oriyas started migrating to different parts of the country mainly for two reasons: education and jobs. There are various social and cultural organizations in various parts of the country which include Oriya Cultural Association^[1]^[2] which is a group of Oriyas in Delhi(Based in Haryana),The Oriya Association Of Delhi(Which owns the Jagannath Temple) and Oriya Mahasangram.^[3] There is an Oriya association at Varanasi,Uttar Pradesh named as Varanaseya Utkal Samajhaving long history of more than six decades of existence which is instrumental in bringing together the Oriya people and culture within and beyond the Oriya community living around the holy city of Varanasi.^[4] The NRO community has even honored Jyoti Kullu former captain of National Hockey Team(women's) in 2007 on her achievement of the Arjuna Award.^[5] The Delhi Oriya Lawyer Association awarded the Trophy.She was honored in a brief function held at the resident of Mr.Jual Oram M.P. and National Vice President of BJP at Delhi. Oram and his wife Jhingia Oram, garlanded Jyoti and congratulated her for her success in the field of sports.^[6] Indian diaspora

Web Presence

Orissa News Updates There are a lot of websites all over operated by group of Oriya people such as http://odiapua.org/ (Odia Pua is the first Oriya newspaper which is printed and published from New Delhi) , Odisha.in and Orissadairy.com.They give all news and happenings of NROs all over the country.^[7] Oriya Songs and Music

Oriyas abroad

Oriya Diaspora

The Oriya diaspora constitute a significant number with distributions in several countries around the world. They are significant in number in countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, England, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Java, Sumatra and Bali. Presently Oriyas are found in almost all countries of the globe. They maintain close contact among themselves, with the kith and kin around the world albeit relatives back home in Odisha. Being a coastal region [Odisha], maritime trade played an important role in the development of Oriya civilization, where cultural, commercial and political contacts with Southeast Asia, particularly southern Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia were especially extensive.^[8] Currently most Oriya people around state of Negeri Sembilan and Johor (Malaysia)

Oriya Culture in the United States

The Oriya immigrants in the United States have remained attached to their invaluable culture, which finds expression in the traditional festivals and ceremonies. They perform the festivals such as Rath Yatra, Holi, Diwali and New Year in which large number of Oriyas participate. The traditional dance and theater forms of Odisha like Odissi dance and Chhau dance, traditional dramas, stage shows of the story of Ramayana and Mahabharata etc. are also performed in the diaspora. Today specialized dance troupes are invited from Odisha to perform in several special occasions. While watching these performances, the Oriyas, feel a sense of nostalgia of being a member of the great civilization. Among the well-known performers who have visited the United States are Bagmi Das, Natasha Rao, Sidhartha Mohaptra, Satish Mishra, Mrunali Das, Rajashri Mishra, Prerana Pradhan, Shashwati Das, Suman Ojha etc.^[9]

Other International Organizations

There are various Oriya organizations in the Canada, United Kingdom, United States and other countries such as: The Orissa Society of Canada, Odisha Society of UK and The Orissa Society Of the Americas.^[10]^[11]

The Indo American Friendship Foundation also supports OSA and its chapters.^[12]^[13] The Odisha Society of the Americas organized their 40th Annual Convention on 3 & 4 July 2009 at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial & Marriott Hotel, Trenton, New Jersey.^[14] Other organizations safeguarding Oriya culture abroad include Shri Jagannath Temple Trust, Canada.^[15]^[16]

Beside these country level organizations, there has been attempts to unite all the NROs residing abroad to connect via various online communities. Pravasi Odia.^[17] is one of such online community with an objective to reconnect NROs from all over the world.