The 24th Ekamra Walks in the capital city on Sunday witnessed a unique blend of visitors from across the country and from various disciplines, but mostly families were leading there with their kids to learn the steps as history is just a stone’s throw away in the Old Town area.
Among the visitors, there were students, physicists, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, housewives, writers, consultants, dancers and retired bankers; and all were passionately following the guide and asking questions on their doubts.
Aryaman Pradhan, a student of Class-VIII at the Sai International School came with his family. He found the sculptures on the walls of the temples interesting and the entire family enjoyed their outing.
Sagarika Mohanty, a resident of Old Bhubaneswar, came with her daughter Tamanna, who studies in Class-VI at the KIIT International School. “We are staying across the road near the Mukteswar Temple, but today’s experience is something very different than others we had in the past,’’ said the mother.
Adyasha Sar, a mother, a housewife and an avid photographer, also joined the Ekamra Walks with her son Ashim, who studies in Class-IV at the St Joseph Convent and Higher Secondary School, Sambalpur.
“My father’s place is in Bhubaneswar, and he is a retired banker. As my hubby is an executive with Hindalco, we normally stay in Sambalpur. After hearing about the Ekamra Walks, I thought we mother and son must visit the sites and came with my father,” said Adyasha, who is seriously pursuing photography for last couple of years.
Madhumita Tripathy, a Mumbai-based content development expert, was also happy to be part of the unique event on heritage. “We need to make the Ekamra Walks reach out to more and more people so that it would go a long way. In fact, for me, it is the best heritage tour I have ever made in India” was her observation.
The Ekamra Walks team visited the Mukteswar, Parsurameswar, Sampurna Jaleswar, Kotitirtheswar, Ananta Vasudev, Brahma, lingaraj, Chitrakarini, Sari, Mohini and Vaitaal temples. They also watched the traditional temple reconstruction techniques at the Sari Temple and witnessed Odishi dance at the Art Vision, a dance school established by eminent Odishi and Chhow Guru Ileana Citaristi.
At the end, the team went to the Ekamra Van, the medicinal plant garden on the banks of the Bindusagar with more than 200 varieties of plants.