Bhubaneswar: For them, it was an experience of lifetime. Earlier they had glancing through the pages of history of ancient Kalingan kingdom. Today the group of students from Prime Minister Modi’s constituency were face to face with treasures of times gone by.
The 16th Edition of Ekamra heritage Walks, the heritage walk for the Temple City on Sunday, provided a godsend opportunity for a group of 18 students of Post-Graduate Department of History of Art under the Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to figure out the glorious past of Bhubaneswar.
The students are on a study tour to the state to assess the unique temple architecture and the building style of the Kalingan craftsmanship which was behind the creation of more than 360 monuments only in the State Capital, which was once referred as the Ekamra Kshetra.
Professor Pradosh Kumar Mishra, who teaches art history at BHU and one of the accompanying faculty members with the students, said “Odisha has a treasure of unique art history and heritage and it has a terrible influence of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It has also many bright examples of colonial architecture. However, our students will be primarily have a study over the art scenario, so that this trip will broaden their vision towards the pan-Indian art forms and the various local influences over that rich Indian art tradition.’’
Sneha, a student member of the team said ``the experience of this art tour to Odisha will be an enriching experience as the land is known for its art traditions and the love of the people to sustain those thoughts for generations after generations.’’
Anshika, another student said ``being an ancient city and now after becoming the No. 1 in the Smart City Proposal Bhubaneswar has to devise a Smart plan to promote, protect and brand its heritage sites at the world arena.’’
Rashmi Kala Agarwal, another professor accompanying the students of BHU said ``the tradition of the continuity of the ageless art and ancient craft must be well documented and preserved so that in future days we would still be able to see them alive and attracting visitors.’’
Today nearly 60 visitors were part of the Ekamra Walks and they walks along Mukteswar, Parasurameswar, Sampurna Jaleswar, Kotitirtheawar, Ananta Vasudev, Bindusagar, ancient Dharmasala, Lingaraj, Chitrakarini, Sari Temple, Parikraka along the Holy Lake Bindusagar, Mohini temple, Vaitaal Temple, Ekamra Herbal Garden and at last, went to Art Vision to experience Odissi performed by the students Ileana Sitaristi, an Italy-born exponent on Odissi and Chhow.
Change in Timing from next week
The authorities managing Ekamra Walks, i.e. Odisha Tourism, BDA, BMC and the tour operator De Tour have decided to start the heritage walk at 6 am in the morning instead of 7 am in the wake of the rising day-time temperature.
Tourism Director Nitin Bhanudas Jawle also requested the tour operator to make aware the general public and those, who are interested to walk, so that they would arrive early and there would be no ill-effects of sun light.