post news network, Bhubaneswar, April 16: It is a part of the Urban Haat Project sanctioned by the ministry of textiles, Government of India, in March, 1999. The objective behind setting up this ‘haat’, much in line with the famous Delhi Haat, was, as per the official website (www.ekamrahaat.in/Aboutus.aspx), “to provide direct marketing infrastructure to rural as well as urban artisan/weavers and to promote handloom & handicraft products.
Established in 2002 and maintained by the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), the haat has around 58 stalls of which 10 are food stalls. It also has an open air amphitheatre “with seating capacity of 450”, a small pond and lawns that attracts lots of visitors.
Over the years the haat has become a popular hangout zone for the youths, who love to spend their evenings here. Both boys and girls, after their college, come to this place to spend quality time that includes gorging on the delicious dishes available in the haat complex. During the lunch hours busy executives from around the place also visit the haat for food. The haat stays open on all weekdays between 10 am and 10 pm.
Young couples as also the housewives and tourists, both domestic and foreign visit the haat that has given everybody a scope to sample handicraft and handloom products outside the tourist triangle of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark that alone used to act as a gateway to the craft and textiles of the state. This urban haat apart from showcasing the art and craft of the state gives one the opportunity to sample products of other states of the country.
Mohammad Hushan, who owns a stall here, has been regularly opening his shop for some months now to sell Kashmiri products and he is doing “brisk business”. “Though we do good business in the haat, but November to February is the best period for business. Mostly college students and foreign tourists visit the haat; they like handicrafts and handloom products. All sorts of products such as antique jewellery, carpets, decoration items, suits, shawl, etc. are sold here; antique jewelleries made from precious and semi precious stones, necklaces from Tibet, Ladakh and Kashmir however, are more in demand among the youngsters,” he said.
Sheikh Mushtaq, who used to run a handloom shop in the hotel Kalinga Ashok near Kalpana during the 80’s said, “I frequently visit Orissa and often set up a shop in the Ekamra Haat, but earlier I used to run a handloom shop in the Kalinga Ashok, where the inflow of foreign tourists was huge. But now I find the number of foreign tourists has decreased in the state.”
Speaking about the haat, Mushtaq added “The management here is good, but I think something more needs to be done to attract visitors. There should be ticket system, which would ensure better maintenance of the haat and will also raise the curiosity-level among the people around. The maintenance and cleanliness need more attention and the toilets need to be cleaned regularly. In comparison to Delhi haat lots of things need to be done to make Ekamra Haat reach that level.”
The green lawns in the haat area are no doubt an added advantage and so is the food available here. “This is one of the best hangout zones in the city, as apart from shopping one can enjoy a peaceful time amid nature here. There is a calmness around that attracts visitors; the food available in different stalls is very delicious too”, said Meena Singh, a student, who frequents the place after college.
Sunil Tripathy, a software engineer said, “I mostly visit Ekamra Haat for food, as the food here is delicious and reasonably priced. The taste of the food available here is so satisfying that people like me even visit the place during lunch hours. People who work in different offices can be found relishing food items ranging from Dahi Pakhala to Chinese delicacies. I often visit this place with my office staff to have lunch.”
However, there is a flip side of the hangout zone part of the story. Some of the stall owners do not take kindly to the fact that young couples stay here till late in the evening, which they feel drives the conservative elderly buyers away. Nepen Choudhury who has been running a shop here for the last three years selling handloom products from Rajasthan said, “Though everything is good about the haat, but during the evening hours young couples from colleges visit the area and remain till late night, which does not quite look good. Because of this persons from the conservative families, mostly avoid visiting the place during the evening, which affects our business.”