Odia families gathered at twilight around a long table with brass plates and lamps

A Nonprofit for Odia Culture

Shree Chakradhara Mallik Foundation

Where our heritage gathers, generation after generation.

A community foundation dedicated to celebrating, preserving and sharing Odia culture with families across the global diaspora — through gatherings, cultural programs and the recipes that hold our story together.

Join our 2026 Pitha Competition About the Foundation

"To carry the soul of Odisha — its food, its language, its rituals, its stories — into the homes and hearts of every Odia family living far from home."

— Our Mission

Three Pillars

How we keep the culture alive

Heritage

Honouring the rituals, festivals, language and recipes that travelled with our families when they crossed oceans.

Community

Bringing Odia families across North America together for gatherings that feel as warm as home.

The Next Generation

Passing the language of love — through food, dance, stories — to children growing up far from Odisha's red soil.

Current Initiative

What we're building right now

Our flagship gathering for 2026 — a celebration of the recipes that built every Odia kitchen.

Now Live · Registering

Pitha Competition 2026

Celebrating the Sweet Soul of Odisha

Three categories — Traditional, Fusion and Youth — open to Odia families across North America. Bring your grandmother's recipe, your fusion experiment, or the next generation's first attempt to one shared table at the OSA Convention 2026 in Minneapolis.

When July 2026

Where Minneapolis, MN

Our Story

Founded on a simple belief.

That when an Odia family makes pitha together in a kitchen six thousand miles from Puri — Odisha is still alive.

The Shree Chakradhara Mallik Foundation was started by an Odia family in Avon, Connecticut who wanted their children to know the warmth of a community gathering, the taste of arisha pitha, the sound of Odia spoken at the dinner table.

What began as one small gathering has become a foundation devoted to keeping Odia culture vibrant — one recipe, one festival, one community at a time.

Read our story

Be part of what comes next

Whether you want to compete, sponsor, volunteer or just stay in touch — we'd love to welcome you.

Get involved See our initiatives