Bhubaneswar: The 126th Heritage Walk with 27 participants, mostly architecture and interior design students on Sunday visited Ekamra Van – medicinal plant garden – and briefed about the various plant species, their roles in our lives and how traditionally they have become part of our socio-cultural life.
The Ekamra Van is located on the western bank of Bindusagar lake where the walkers got an insight into the medicinal benefits of various trees and why there is an urgent need to save and protect our invaluable natural heritage.
Explaining the concept of Ekamra Van, however, City Divisional Forest Officer and curator of the beautiful garden said, “Despite all our traditional links with the medicinalplants most people fail to recognise and name the plants, but surprisingly foreign tourists are recognising many species and they are also growing the plants for their qualities in their nations.”
Italian tourists as visitors of the Ekamra Walks Old Town Circuit could identify Arjuna tree, but many locals fail to do so. Calling for a need to spread such awareness, he also lauded the heritage walk for serving the purpose to a certain extent.
The participants explored the history and cultural heritage of Ekamrakshetra through its temples and lanes. The participants enjoyed the walk as the weather was pleasant with an overcast sky, a little drizzle every now and then and the constant cool breeze.
Class-XI Humanities students of Sai International School Akanksha and Apurba participated in the walk for the first time and said, “It was an amazing and informative experience. Even though both of us live in Bhubaneswar we have never been to the Mukteswar Temple. We loved the fact that these intricate carvings on the temple walls are much more than what they appear at first sight. Their stories and meanings are fascinating.”
Rituparna, a fourth year Architecture student of Indraprastha University, New Delhi, joined the walk today as part of her research on Kalinga Temple Architecture.
