As was to be expected, students wrote history by creating more than 23,000 paper boats as part of a campaign to promote and guarantee a national reputation for the ancient Bali Yatra event in Cuttack. The unusual celebration has now been listed in the Guinness World Records.
Approximately 2100 kids broke the Guinness Book of World Records by creating over 23,000 paper boats in under 35 minutes. Today, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) received the Guinness Book of World Records title for most simultaneous origami sculpture foldings.
“The record to beat was 1304 and what was achieved here was 2121. A lot of effort has gone into the attempt and it was really nice to be part of it. So many students and days of practice made the event more special. There were a lot of guidelines and the minimum number was 15 minutes and three sculptures each. It was not a time-based record but it was for the number of people making the origami sculptures and around 23,000 boats were made,” said Rishi, an official adjudicator for the Guinness Book of World Records.
Bhawani Shankar Chayani, the Cuttack Collector, remarked, “Today, 2121 kids were able to construct more over 23,000 boats. On the eve of Bali Yatra, the record was set today.
Mayor of Cuttack Subhas Singh stated, “For the past two months, we have worked hard to make the Bali Yatra a huge success. Over 23,000 boats were produced by the approximately 2121 students who participated. I extend my congratulations to the participants, including the students.
According to Singh, the CMC had set a goal of producing 10,000 boats, but the students were able to produce 23,000. Singh continued, “The record will help us move toward gaining national festival tag for Bali Yatra.
“There are other celebrations in the nation, and we have attempted to project that the administration can organise major events,” CMC Commissioner Nikhil Pawan Kalyan remarked.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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