GUWAHATI: An essay writing event was organised by the Government of Assam to mark the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan. The state of Assam has earned a place in the Guinness World Records for the largest number of handwritten notes submitted for a common purpose. The authorities with the Guinness World Records handed over the certificate to the chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
To mark the 400th birth anniversary of the great Ahom general Lachit Borphukan, the government of Assam organised a year-long celebration which was a culmination of a large number of diverse events organised both in Assam and in New Delhi. As a part of this event, essays about the leader were also invited. The organisers received a total of 42,94,350 handwritten essays from different parts of the world.
Officials with the Guinness World Records mentioned that they verified the documents submitted by people. A portal as well as a mobile application was created to help people send in their entries in both text and image formats. According to the authorities, more than 57 lakh entries came in from different parties, but the Guinness World Records officials only accepted the images of the handwritten essays for the purpose of this record. They were also verified against any blank entities, random texts and out-of-context materials.
Notably, the state government was not looking at creating a record when they called in the entries. The chief minister mentioned it to be an initiative of the Assamese public towards the preservation and celebration of the rich heritage. The idea of setting of the record came later when the government started working towards the creation of a new world record. The state is planning to organise the largest Bihu dance event with the performance of more than 10000 dancers on the occasion of Bohag Bihu in the month of April.
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