OdishaLIVE Bureau
Four Odissi dancers from UK and Brazil formed part of the contingent which attended the 57th Ekamra Walks. Katie Ryan, Kali Chandrasegaram and Sanjeevani Dutta, all desciples of Guru Shankar Behera of Mumbai participated; Beatriz Ocougne from Brazil, a dance guru herself in Brazil took active interest in understanding the temple art, architecture and the sculptures.
Sanjeevani led the UK team of dancers who are in the city to attend Mukteswar Dance Festival which is quite popular among the Odissi dancers from India and world. The Mukteswar Temple is known for its unique arch and also intricate carvings.
Sanjeevani was overwhelmed at seeing young boys and girls taking active interest in learning about heritage and culture. “It is across the entire South East Asia, where locals are not much interested to know things about their rich heritage and culture. I am happy that local civic and development authorities and Odisha Tourism are continuing the nice effort week after week and this would definitely help our next generation to take notice and have more knowledge on heritage of the Temple City.”
Beatriz is on her fifth visit to Bhubaneswar. “I am now into teaching my pupils both on dancing and therapy and the love for Odissi. Learning new things in the dance form brings me here almost every year and I enjoy my stay. Ekamra Walks is a beautiful initiative in which not only people from outside, but locals are taking proud to participate. This is a great achievement for the city,’’ she said.
There was a special dance session for the walkers at Art Vision, the dance academy by celebrated Odissi dancer Ileana Citaristi. While the Pallavi recital by her young students was on rhythm and music, the Abhinaya by another disciple was also nicely presented. Apart from the general walkers the Odissi dancers from UK and Brazil also appreciated the Odissi recital by the young students of MS. Ileana.
Fourteen students of a city-based skills academy participated at the heritage walk. The skill academy, which trains girls in different fields of employment generation, is the single institute in the State Capital that regularly sends its students for the maximum number of participation at Ekamra Walks (Old Town).
The heritage walkers started the walk at Mukteswar and saw Parasurameswar, Kotitirtheswar, Ananta Vasudev, Lingaraj, Chitrakarini, Sari and Mohini temples and monuments like Bindusagar and the old dharamsala. While on their way the visitors also saw the religious rituals by people and the priests on the bank of Bindusagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
