Eight heritage walks, cycle tours soon in Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar:  With an aim to create more awareness among citizens and visitors about key historic sites in Bhubaneswar, the civic body has planned to organise eight thematic walks and cycle tours under the banner of ‘Ekamra Walks’.

An official said the ongoing three heritage walks has received huge success and overwhelming response.

The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for selection of an agency to conceptualize and implement the upcomimg heritage walks.

The urban body intends to implement eight theme-based heritage walks, along with different heritage circuits and nature trails elucidating the city’s rich architectural treasures, its culture, traditions, rituals, customs and natural resources.

Two of the heritage walks and tours will cover the Old Town area – Ekamra Kshetra, the Lingaraj Heritage Circuit and Rajarani Heritage Circuit. The third walk will cover the Jain Heritage Circuit near Udayagiri-Khandagiri and the fourth the Buddhist Heritage Circuit near Dhauli Peace Pagoda. Two more walks and tours will focus on the natural heritage of Bhubaneswar and will include separate curated walks and tours through the Chandaka and Botanical garden along with Museum Walk at Kalabhoomi – Odisha Craft Museum and one more walk/tour which is yet to be decided.

The two proposed cycle tours will include Buddhist Circuit near Dhauligiri and another connecting Raja Rani temple, 64 Yogini Temple and Sishupalgarh remnants.

The main aim of the heritage walks and tours is to create awareness among citizens and visitors about key historic sites and the centuries-old rich culture and traditions of Bhubaneswar; provide a creatively-curated thematic platform for the citizens and visitors to have a joyful experience while knowing about both tangible and intangible rich culture and heritage; help citizen and tourists to relate to the historic parts of the city in a more personal and intimate manner.

Engaging and educating local residents and visitors about the importance of rich natural resources, flora and fauna existing within the city is also part of the plan.

Another key component of the project will be implementation of heritage resource programme which envisages creating a pool of Heritage Resource Persons (HRP), who posses requisite skills to conduct similar type of walks on their own.