Light and sound show begins at Odisha’s famous Sun Temple in Konark

Bhubaneswar: To attract more tourists to the historic Sun Temple at Konark, a Unesco world heritage site, the Odisha government today launched the light and sound show at the site.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the much-awaited 40-minute show and it will be presented in Odia, Hindi and English languages to inform the tourists about the rich history of the Black Pagoda.

The amusement programme can be watched by as many as 250 persons at one time.

The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which executed the Konark project with help of the state government, incurred an investment of Rs 5.5 crore.

The audience will be provided with wireless headphones, the first of its kind facility in the country.

While Bollywood actor Kabir Bedi’s voice was recorded to narrate the historical and religious significance of the 13th century monument in English, actor Shekhar Suman and Ollywood veteran Bijay Mohanty lent their voices for the Hindi and Odia versions respectively.

The Konark temple is a gigantic chariot with elaborately carved stone wheels, pillars and walls. Every day, over 4,000 tourists visit the Sun Temple.

Worth mentioning, the state’s first light and sound show at Dhauli, had started in August 2015.

The light and sound show will be on daily between 7 pm and 8 pm barring Mondays and ticket price is Rs 30 per person, official sources said.

Notably, the ticket price and the seating capacity are likely to be increased later.

State Tourism and Culture minister Ashok Kumar Panda and local MLA Surendra Sethy were present on the occasion.