90 IIT Bhubaneswar students join 90th Ekamra Walks

Bhubaneswar: The 90^th Ekamra Walks Old Town Circuit on Sunday had 90 students from IIT Bhubaneswar.

They joined the heritage tour Ekamra Kashtra and explored the monuments, which remain as the symbols of Kalingan architecture, temple building tradition and dedicated craftsmanship.

Harshita Goud, a native of Hyderabad and a student of Civil Engineering from IIT Bhubaneswar termed her day’s experience as extraordinary and a learning occasion.

“Nowadays we are listening to so many stories of building, bridge, residential complexes and mega structures collapsing due to lack of proper quality check or use of faulty techniques, but these structures from 7^th Century or even earlier proved their perfect execution and strength proving that our ancestors had really mastered the engineering behind building temples and this had also influenced places beyond the Bay of Bengal or the Indian Ocean,’’ she added.

Ashish Dev, a student of Civil Engineering from IIT Bhubaneswar, originally a resident of Delhi, said, “I will give these beautiful structures 10 out of 10 marks for their beauty, stability and engineering marvel and if properly documented, these can be collectively covered under World Heritage Site monuments.”

Shiva Prasad, another student was of the opinion that as the first interaction with such monuments, these are really with of high inspirational value for the present day structural engineers.

Rithika Gujrathi, a Civil Engineering student said all temples of Ekamra Kshetra have the qualities to attract tourists from different corners of the globe.

Metallurgical engineering student Vinay Ahir termed the Ekamra Walks Old Town circuit as a nice, interesting and enriching experience for every student.

Assistant Professors Yogesh Bhumkar and P Balakrishnan from Mechanical and Electrical engineering respectively termed the Ekamra Walks as an event for not only sightseeing but learning the art and architecture of our past.

Yesterday, another group from IIT Bhubaneswar visited the Monks, Caves and Kings heritage walk at Khandagiri and Udayagiri and many more students would likely to join in future.

MUSEUM WALK

After the successful Ekamra Walks in the Old Town area, 29 visitors visited the Crafts Museum at Kala Bhoomi near Pokhariput for the Museum Walk.

The museum with its rich collection of terracotta, stone, wood, metal, craft, tribal art, pre-weaving technique and saree galleries have become an instant hit among the tourists, who want to explore the crafts of Odisha, which has excelled in `Kala’ or art. The other name of Odisha is thus aptly coined as Utkala.

Anittama Das, a visitor at Kala Bhoomi’s Museum Walk said, “The diversity of the crafts at the Crafts Museum is immense and it’s a very attractive and engaging destination for visitors.”