"Main apne pardada ki dharti par akar bhawuk hun (I am filled with emotion on reaching the land of my forefathers," he said at Wajidpur in Patna district from where his forefathers were taken to Mauritius as indentured labourers by the then British rulers about 150 years ago.
"I greet your land and you people," Purryag told people who had gathered to welcome him.
Accompanied by his wife Anita, Purryag is here for his first ever visit to Wajidpur. Purryag's distant nephews Mahesh and Ganesh Mahto spoke for some time with the Mauritius president.
Purryag recalled that he had visited Bihar about 25 years ago to find out the land of his forefathers, but failed during his three-day stay in Patna then.
He thanked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for tracing his ancestral village that made this visit possible. He lauded Kumar for bringing development in Bihar and changing negative perception about the state and its people.
"Now Bihar and its growth story is being talked about not only in other parts of India, but across the globe. Now we all proud of our Bihari origin," Purryag said. (More)