The three days International Conference titled “India & the Indian
Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade & Civilisational Linkages”, was
inaugurated by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs along with
Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, the
chief patron of the conference and Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural
Gas on 20th March 2015 at Bhubaneshwar.
On the occasion an exhibition 'Indian Ocean - The Seafaring Legacy' was
also organized that touched upon all the points of civilization linkages and
marks the celebration of 1000 years of coronation of Rajendra Chola I. The
exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Ashok Chandra Panda, Hon’ble Minister,
Tourism and Culture, Government of Odisha and Sri Arindam Mukherjee, Secretary,
ISCS.
Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs and Chief Minister of
Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik jointly released the commemorative stamp on ‘Indian
Ocean and Rajendra Chola I’ during the inauguration function on 20th March 2015
at Bhubaneshwar. The stamp is priced at Rs. 5 and depicts the ocean and a
statue of the king who was extremely powerful and reigned most of South East
Asia in the early 11th century. The stamp also commemorates the 1000th
anniversary of the coronation of ancient Tamil King Rajendra Chola I.
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions,
covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded
by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on
the south by the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, by Antarctica).
Although generally assumed to be named for India, early European writers
referred to the "East Indian" Ocean, the East Indies being the name
given by European travelers collectively to India, South East Asia and the
Indonesian archipelago.
Rajendra Chola I (Rajendra Chola the Great) was the son of Rajaraja Chola
I and considered one of the greatest rulers and military leaders of the Indian
Tamil Chola Empire. He succeeded his father in 1014 CE as the Chola emperor.
During his reign, he extended the influences of the already vast Chola Empire
up to the banks of the river Ganges in north India and across the ocean.
Rajendra’s territories extended, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka,
Maldives, and he successfully invaded the territories of Srivijaya in Malaysia,
Southern Thailand and Indonesia in South East Asia with his fleet of ships.
Inscriptions and historical sources assert that the Medieval Chola king
Rajendra Chola I sent a naval expedition to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula and
Indonesia in 1025 in order to subdue Srivijaya
