Odisha: Dhauli light and sound show to resume 9 months after FANI

Bhubaneswar: Here’s good news for tourists visiting Shanti Stupa atop Dhauli hill on outskirts of Bhubaneswar as the light and sound show lying defunct since 9 months following Cyclone FANI devastation is likely to resume soon.

Official source said that the show may restart from next week.

The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) had won the tender and assigned Tricolor India, a Delhi-based firm, for repair work of Dhauli light and sound show. The project has almost been completed. The show will resume shortly after examining the technical part of the system, informed Ajay Kumar Rout, Tourism officer, Odisha Tourism (Bhubaneswar office).

The light and sound show, which was showing epic scenes from Dhauli’s eventful past, was completely destroyed in the very cyclonic storm FANI that had ravaged coastal Odisha on May 3 last year.

In a joint collaboration of both state and central governments at investment of around Rs 6.6 crore, the show was launched at Shanti Stupa on August 15 in 2015. The initiative had fetched much appreciation from the visitors. The ticket for the show costs only Rs 25.

In the 35 minutes show presented in three languages (English, Hindi and Odia), the audience witness great story glorifying the Kalinga empire, feuds within the Mauryan empire, King Ashoka’s rise to power and his epic transformation from Chandashoka (cruel Ashoka) to Dharmashoka (Ashoka on path of religion). It also shows the gruesome Kalinga War and its morbid aftermath as well as King Ashoka’s remorse at the massive bloodbath. It ends with Ashoka renouncing violence, embracing Buddhism and propagating the religion from Kalinga to the rest of the world.