It’s good news for tourists that the light and sound show stopped at the Shanti Stupa atop the Dhauli Hill in Bhubaneswar for about 10 months following the Cyclone Fani devastation is likely to resume from next week, official source said.
The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) had won the tender and assigned the Tricolor India, a Delhi-based firm, for repair work of the light and sound show. The project has almost been completed. The show would restart shortly after examining the technical part of the system, Odisha Tourism (Bhubaneswar) Officer Ajay Kumar Rout has informed.
The show displays epic scenes from Dhauli’s eventful past. In a collaboration of the State and Central Governments at an investment of Rs 6.6 crore, the show was launched at the Shanti Stupa (Peace Pagoda) on August 15 in 2015. A ticket for the show costs only Rs 25.
In a 35-minute show presented in three languages, English, Hindi and Odia, the audience witnesses a great story glorifying the Kalinga empire, feuds within the Mauryan empire, King Ashoka’s rise to power and his epic transformation from Chandashoka (cruel Ashoka) to Dharmashoka (Ashoka on path of religion). It also shows the gruesome Kalinga War and its morbid aftermath as well as King Ashoka’s remorse at the massive bloodbath. It ends with Ashoka renouncing violence, embracing Buddhism and propagating the religion from Kalinga to the rest of the world.