Bhubaneswar: Blogger, doctor and bureaucrat Dr. Karan Choudhary today joined the Ekamra Walks Old Town Circuit with his friend Dr. Gopal Dhaka and liked the Old Town heritage walk very much. But, he still could not believe his eyes as the city with so many monuments, old, unique and beautiful with the Kalingan architecture and style are yet to come under “Heritage City’’ tag.
“I have seen many cities with lesser monumental wealth and variety, but though enriched with the bounty, Bhubaneswar is yet to get the tag. All stakeholders must work in a coordinated manner to achieve this as the city has got a huge potential to attract visitors from around the globe,’’ he added.
Posted in New Delhi, Karan was told about the Ekamra Walks by his friend Dr. Dipankar Satapathy, who is currently working with SUM Hospital. “My other friends were also telling me on various occasions about the walk, which has become famous in the City of Temples. I really had a nice time enjoying the walk and learning many things on Kalingan architecture and the unique temple building style, but I think more should be done to promote the city as it has a great potential to become a mega tourism circuit,’’ he added.
Dr. Karan, who writes his own blogs and also contributes through two major blogs on travel and going places, says he would definitely write his interesting experience in Bhubaneswar and would tell other friends to come here and follow the Ekamra Walks tour in future.
Aparna Menon, a post-graduate student from AIIMS Bhubaneswar, who was part of the walk, said “today was my second trip to Old Town and I had enjoyed a lot. I would definitely request my other friends in AIIMS to explore Ekamra Walks and also join the other two walks at Kala Bhoomi and Udayagiri and Khandagiri.’’
Aparna, from God’s Own Country Kerala, said, the city has got a huge potential for tourism and she was happy to learn that there would be more walks in more circuits to engage visitors as per their choices and preferences in future.
Dr. PVL Srinivas, Associate Professor in Department of Drama in Utkal University of Culture, who is a regular at all the three heritage walks across the city, said “more and more educational institutions like schools and colleges should be roped in through teen or youth engagement programmes so that more participation would happen during the heritage walks. Colleges namely dealing with Arts, Architecture, History and Conservation would benefit immensely from the heritage tours with the guided experiences. This would also give a feel of heritage city among the younger generation and many of them can work for heritage conservation in future,’’ he explained.
Swati Dutta, from Kolkata and a post-graduate student of Visual Art from Utkal University of Culture, who was part of today’s Ekamra Old Town Circuit Walks, said “the heritage experience would give a student of art and architecture a wonderful experience. I was also delighted to explore the medicinal plant garden on the Western bank of Bindusagar and was happy to know that it has more than 200 varieties of useful plants.’’
Divya, an IT professional from Infosys, who is originally from Karnataka, said “this is my first experience in this city and I hope in future the city would a sought after destination among tourists with better air connectivity.’’
Sourav, Brand Manager of Vodafone and a man from Kolkata, who has been staying in the city for last three years, said, “I will definitely tell my other friends and kin to explore Old Bhubaneswar, I am also planning to join Museum Walks next week.’’
MUSEUM WALK
Forty walkers joined the Museum Walk today in the afternoon as the visitors from various age groups came to Kala Bhoomi and explored the art and craft treasure of Odisha. They had a glimpse through terracotta, wood, stone, metal, art and craft, tribal art, pre weaving technique and saree galleries.
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