Celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) on Sunday organised a Special Heritage Walk in Old Town of the city.
There were 75 participants from different walks of life. It started from the 10th-Century monument of Mukteswar Temple, which is unique for its intricate carvings and beautiful arch. Starting at 7.05 am, the walkers explored the 7th-Century Parasurameswar, Bindusagar lake, Ananta Vasudev, old Dharamsala, Gourishankar and Lingaraj temple. The guide explained the walkers regarding the nearby Chitrakarini and Sari Deula from near the Curzon Mandap near the Northern gate of the 11th Century grand monument, which is the epicenter of the Ekamra Kshetra.The youngest participant Aaniya Rajhans (7) from KIIT International School also enjoyed her time exploring the heritage of the State Capital, whose ancient name was Ekamra Kshetra and it is a prominent place for worship of Lord Shiva as most of the presiding deities in temples across the region is Lord Shiva and Parvati.
Expressing her happiness over the heritage walk, Aaniya said that she would love to come to visit the places often. Conservation architect Apoorva Pillay from Hyderabad, said the heritage walk was quite an enlightening experience. It was focused on the historical evolution and architectural elements of Mukteshwar, Parsurameswara, Ananta Basudev and Lingaraja temples. The entire walk from the first temple to the last one involved a series of interesting anecdotes and events related to the Hindu and Buddhist history, he said. "What I found the most fascinating was the Buddhist influence on Kalinga architecture depicted in the form of sculptures and the elaborate and one of its kind arch (torana) at Mukteshwar temple entrance," he told.
Bijay Das, a retired banker, writer and well-known theatre and `Jatra’ personality of Odisha, who is credited with many bestselling screenplays of `Jatra’ world (Jollywood), said, "The Special Heritage Walk unveiled many untold stories on our glorious monuments to the walkers.