Beauty of Odisha temple architecture leaves Aussies, Scottish author spellbound

Bhubaneswar: Skirting around the premises of temples in Odisha capital, well-known Scottish author and travel editor Aline Dobbie along with her veterinary surgeon hubby Graham Dobbie, remembered her childhood days of 1962, when she visited Sun Temple Konark with her father.

Aline said she still remembers with fondness her association with this land as she was born in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. “My father served as Colonel in Jat Regiment of Indian Army. I have visited Odisha and especially the sea-side religious place and the beach of Puri was so beautiful,’’ she said.

Besides, six students from Deakin University and the University of Melbourne, who are here for an internship at a city-based university, joined the walk at Mukteswar Temple as part of heritage walk organized by Detour Odisha every weekend.

Ben Harper, part of the team from Australia, said, “The walk is so unique. We learnt a lot about these beautiful temples, their architecture and traditions related to them.’’

Claire, another student while visiting the Ekamra Van, the medicinal plants garden, said, “The unique concept of having beneficial plants for men, women and children with a heritage backdrop is in fact, a nice idea and I hope more and more people visit it.’’

Students from leading city-based professional education institutes also joined the walk today morning. Many are regular at the Old Town Heritage Circuit and also join the other walk at Udayagiri-Khandagiri Hills, called Monks, Caves and Kings.

Riddhiman Dutta, a student expressed her amusement for Odissi dance and the monuments here. She said, “We loved Odissi dance and the sculptures on temple depicting these dancers.”

Two friends and retired government employees from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala also joined the Ekamra Walks. G Rajagopal and Gopinathan H, are on a mission to cover the entire distance from Thiruvananthapuram to Rishikesh in 22 days.