Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 21: International art historians and conservationists from Jatin Das Centre of Arts (JDCA), teachers from IIT Bhubaneswar and domestic tourists were among the visitors at the 23rd Ekamra Walks Sunday. The event in a way vouches for the popularity among the niche segment travelers of the monuments of the state capital and their urge to explore the heritage sites of Orissa.
Fannie, an art conservationist from China, currently working with the Siddharth Das Studio in Delhi for the development of a unique museum in Bhubaneswar under JDCA, said “my experience with Ekamra Walks is marvelous and I would look for more such exposure in future.’’
Fannie was here with her two other friends Sonam Ranawat and Chiara Tomiani. They work in different capacities for the development of JDCA. While Sonam, an interior designer, will work for the internal design and display of art objects inside JDCA, Chiara, from Italy, will work as an art historian for the museum project which aims at restoring antiques for their display.
JDCA has got a huge collection of antique hand fans collected from different parts of India and they are now in Delhi and Nayapalli and the conservation and design team of Fannie, Sonam and Chiara will work on their documentation, preservation and display in the first phase of the JDCA project.
Sonam and Chiara expressed happiness at the unique heritage walk in the old city of Bhubaneswar, the temple architecture and the unique carvings on the walls of the ancient monuments.
Professor KR Srivatsan from School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar, who was part of the 23rd Ekamra Walks, said “Orissa, especially Bhubaneswar is a storehouse of ancient monuments and there is a need for its proper projection and propaganda in the West so that more and more people could come in here and explore the monuments.’’
Stating that even non-resident Oriyas fail to learn about the ancient monuments and cultural traditions of the state, Professor Srivatsan said “Association with Orissa for nearly a half of a century has made me so attracted about the heritage that if a proposal is given I can guide agencies to have online courses for foreign universities on our heritage as part of their general knowledge studies so that people from outside know more about Orissa.’’
Professor Srivatsan’s Seattle-based son was with him and enjoyed every bit of Ekamra Walks. The IIT professor is married to an Oriya from Berhampur and belonged to a Tamil family who have made Orissa their home from before the Independence.
Sunil Kumar, a history teacher from Calicut in Kerala, came with his wife and two beautiful kids to explore the monuments through Ekamra Walks. “I am surprised to see so many monuments within such a small area and the city is really worthy of being named as the Temple City,’’ he said. Kumar’s wife Reji PR, who also teaches history, was happy to see the monuments and the cultural traditions of the Old City of Bhubaneswar.
The participants of Ekamra Walks visited Mukteswar, Parsurameswar, Sampoorna Jaleswar, Kotitirtheswar, Bindusagar, Ananta Vasudev, Old Dharmasalas, Lingaraj, Chitrakarini, Sari, Mohini, Vaitaal temples. Later, they lapped up an Odissi recital at Art Vision, the dance academy established by Italy-based Odissi and Chhow exponent Ileana Citaristi.
