Bhubaneswar: Tourists with special interests in art and architecture, top UN official, dancers, researchers and students of architecture from city-based KIIT University and College of Engineering and Technology (CET) thronged the 118th Ekamra Walks (Old Town Circuit) and enjoyed their early morning time with the jugalbandi of classical music at the starting point near Mukteswar Temple and Odissi dance recital at Art Vision, an Odissi dance academy.
The Museum Walk at Kalabhoomi also had a nice gathering with over 30 visitors as they explored different forms of Odishan art and craft in this new facility near Gandamunda along the Pokhariput-Khandagiri Road. Students from CET and KIIT University joined the Museum Walk in large numbers.
Chief of Field Office from Unicef Odisha Monika Nielsen joined the walk with husband Robert Roclawski. Monika, who joined the office recently and came to Old Town area for the first time, termed her experience as “educating and engaging with lots of information on the historical, archaeological and cultural aspects of the Old Bhubaneswar”.
She also added, “I liked the way the Old City has kept its age-old traditions and the manner in which they still manage to hold on to their own identities in modern times.” Native of the great historical city of Olsztyn in the Warmia-Masuria province of northern Poland, the Unicef official admitted that she will explore more parts of Odisha and try to learn about its culture in detail.
Shraddha Borawake, native of Pune, who shuttles between US and India, joined the walk as a photography, art, heritage and culture enthusiast. In fact, with husband Ben from New York and friend Nandan in tow, she also joined the Jain Heritage Walk yesterday at Khandagiri-Udayagiri caves and today took time out to explore the Old Town area.
Praising the initiative of Ekamra Walks she said, “Odisha has the potential to attract visitors from around the globe and concrete efforts should be in place to tap the tourists’ interests.”
Yamini Makesheswar and Ritika Acharya, both Odissi dancers and doing research on the classical dance form also joined the walk. Yamini displayed the `”Chauka” posture of Odissi during the visit of 7th Century Parasurameswar Temple as similar posture is engraved on the walls of the temple. The posture, showing the latent energy of the dancer in a square pattern is followed by another popular posture “Tribhangi” in which the body forms a triangle shape in Odissi.
The visitors saw and listened to the stories of Mukteswar, Parasurameswar, Swarnajaleswar, Kotitirtheswar, Bindusagar, Doodhwala Dharamsala, Gourishankar, Lingaraj, Sari Deula, Mohini, medicinal plant garden Ekamra Van and saw a beautiful recital of Odissi dance at Art Vision.