Australian students join 30th Monks, Caves and Kings walk

Bhubaneswar: The 30th edition of Monks, Caves and Kings at the twin hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri on Saturday had students from Victoria University and Deakin University from Australia, among others.

The six students from Australia, currently doing their internship at city-based Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM) in Public Health and Nutrition, came with Professor Michael Mathai. The students will stay at CUTM till July 13.

Joshua Noonan from Victoria University (VU) termed the heritage walk as an interesting and interactive platform to know the history of ancient Odisha.

James Grills, also from VU said, “The contributions of Emperor Kharavela, the powerful ruler of Kalinga was nicely narrated by the guide and the stonework in the caves of both the hills are wonderfully done and some are even seen in intact form even after such a long time.”

Pratibha Singh from Deakin University termed the heritage walk as an educative venture to brief the visitors on the pre-historic caves and the contributions of the Royals for their patronage for Jain religious belief.

Seema Misra, artist-cum-writer from Bangaluru while walking through the entire heritage trail drew sketches of the caves and other elements as she uses her own drawings for her blog Lonely Canopy.

Originally from the city, she is now staying in the IT capital of India as she is working with Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a Technical Writer.

“I love to write, draw, paint and watch world cinema or travels across it. I am planning to have a self-illustrated travelogue of my cosy and enchanting sojourns across the country,” Seema added.

Sridevi Changli, a heritage conservation expert from Bangaluru, who was part of the troupe today, said, “The Capital City of Bhubaneswar has a wonderful mix of heritage relating to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Its unique temple architecture and also report of cave art and cave paintings in Chandaka and Udayagiri and Khandagiri has made it an interesting heritage site of international importance.”

Monks, Caves and Kings is part of the Ekamra Walks, the only guided heritage walk series of the city, which has emerged as another important circuit on Saturday morning. Currently, the Old Town Circuit on Sunday morning and the recently included Museum Walk on Sunday afternoon at Crafts Museum, Gandamunda (Kala Bhoomi) are the other two engagements for the heritage and crafts lovers in the city.