‘Odisha Walks’, a guided heritage tour begins in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: To help people and youngsters understand the rich cultural history of the state, ‘Odisha Walks’, a guided heritage walking tour to various heritage sites has been started in Bhubaneswar.

The ‘Odisha Walks’ will be organised from Friday to Sunday every week from 6:30 am to 8:30 am. An itinerary of five guided tours has been included covering all the major monuments and places. The initiative was launched on Saturday from Parsurameswar temple.

Inaugurating the walk, OTDC Chairperson, Dr. Lenin Mohanty said that these guided tours curated along the identified heritage circuits of Bhubaneswar will help reveal the city’s rich architectural treasures, its culture, traditions, rituals, and customs.

An initiative of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) in association with Sarna Educational and Cultural Services, the tour will cover all the important heritage sites in Bhubaneswar and other cities.

Over 50 enthusiasts from different parts of the city joined the maiden heritage walk in which they were presented with interesting facets of the rich cultural heritage depicted on the walls of the monuments.

Overwhelmed with the response on the first day, Jitu Mishra of Sarna Educational and Cultural Services said, “Odisha Walks is not about visiting the monuments and knowing about its architecture. Rather, we are emphasizing the stories related to the monument and the carvings on it. Each carving has a story and we want to engage people through those stories. We are trying to build an ecosystem.”

This won’t be confined to Bhubaneswar only, we would also include Puri, Cuttack, Berhampur, and Baripada among other cities, he informed.

Director Tourism & MD OTDC Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav said this initiative will educate and make the local populace aware and inform about the state’s rich cultural legacy.

In the first phase, 5 itineraries spanning across a duration of 2 hours have been curated under various themes within Bhubaneswar.

Odisha Walk 1: Romance Etched in Stones

Sites: Parsurameswar Temple, Mukteswar Temple, Kedar Gouri Temple, Suka Sari Temple, Vaital Deula, and Ekamra Van

Odisha Walk 2: Architectural Splendors of Ekamra

Sites: Vaital Temple, Chitrakarini Temple, Lingaraj Temple, Ananta Vasudev Temple, Bindusagar, Uttareswar Temple, and Ekamra Van

Odisha Walk 3: The Global Bhubaneswar in Early Centuries – Khandagiri & Udaygiri Caves

Sites: Hatigumpha, Patalpuri Gumpha, Mancapuri Gumpha, Ganesh Gumpha, Rani Gumpha

Odisha Walk 4: Dhauli – On the Path of Compassion

Sites: Modern Buddhist Pillar, Ashokan Rock Edict, Rock-cut Elephant, Peace Pagoda

Odisha Walk 5: Tosali to Ekamra – The Cosmopolitan Bhubaneswar

Sites: Bhaskareswar Temple, Brahmeswar Temple

A nominal registration charge of Rs 50 has been kept for participation in the above heritage walks. The tickets for the tour can be booked on the website www.bookodisha.com or Book Odisha Mobile App.

OTDC intends to add more such guided walking tours across different heritage destinations of the state, which will be curated and organised in a phased manner.