Bhubanrswar: The 25th edition of Ekamra Walks, the guided heritage walk of the city today saw inspiring elements in which entrepreneurs, artists and scholars took part and asked others to promote the heritage thing in a bigger way to make the Old Town visible globally.
As the walk was held on the eve of the World Environment Day, 2017, the walkers also got a nice briefing on the traditional plants and shrubs, which go along with our heritage and religious beliefs and on the other hand, are being protected and preserved. They got the knowledge while visiting the medicinal plant garden Ekamra Van, on the bank of Bindusagar.
Anita Sabat and Amrita Sabat, two sisters and promoters of Sabat Exports Pvt Limited were part of the heritage walk today and they came in traditionally designed dresses with Odissi and Sambalpuri motifs and after the tour said that the temples of the State Capital could be a treasure trove for designers as the traditional designs and motifs are present on their walls in plenty and the new designers could always take a lead from them.
Saying that students of institutes like National Institute of Fashion Technology and Apparel Training and Design Centre, Bhubaneswar, could be greatly influenced by the art works on stone, they described how the traditional designs on their products have become a hit in the national and international for a and getting recognized for highlighting the old art forms from the ancient monuments.
Saying that all the cities like Sydney, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore do have heritage tours (both free and paid) but do not have the old monuments like that of Bhubaneswar, the Sabat sisters called for united efforts from all agencies concerned to promote Odisha’s art and heritage elements with a untiring zeal.
Kashish Bharti, a dancer with the Art Vision institute, run by renowned Odissi and Chhow exponent Ileana Citaristi, who was part of the Ekamra Walks today along with her mother, said “the Odissi dance form has adopted its postures from the sculptures of the temples. The different poses or `mudras’ on the temple walls are really inspiring and you find them fresh still after several visits. The facts and historic tales described by the guide are interesting and we often take note of them to enrich our knowledge on Odissi.’’
Kashish is learning Odissi for last seven years at Art Vision and trying to take dancing a career in future. “I am inspired by the culture of Odisha and Odissi, but the heritage walk is equally inspiring as it is a learning point of several ancillary things,’’ she added.
Sai Shankar Sarangi, who came to the Ekamra Walks for the second time today, tried his hands over the flutes and had a jugalbandi along with the flute artist Jagat Patnaik, who is a regular flute player at Ekamra Walks.
Sai Shankar is a Ph.D. scholar at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, and has learned playing flute on his own. “First he tried the instrument after getting tips from the Internet, but after joining the Ekamra Walks he was so inspired that on his second arrival, he could play on his own and stage a jugalbandi today,’’ said Jagat.
The participants of the heritage walk today visited Mukteswar, Parsurameswar, Sampurna Jaleswar, Kotitirtheswar, Bindusagar, Ananta Vasudev, Lingaraj, Sari Temple, Mohini Temple and had an Odissi recital at Art Vision.
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