Bhubaneswar: The weekend trails in Bhubaneswar witnessed participation from 25 students of KIIT University and students from double Franco-German Master’s programme of National School of Architecture of Strasbourg(ENSAS), faculty and students from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology as well as students from the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture (KRVIA) of Mumbai.
The group is in the city as part of an exchange workshop and are researching the best practices that can bring a balance between the heritage and smart spaces of Bhubaneswar. The Smart City proposal had won awards, accolades and was appraised worldwide for its strategic thinking to deliver the Smart City plan.
Emanuelle Rombach from France was mesmerised by the cave architecture of Khandagiri Udaygiri and the temple architecture in Old Town. He remarked that “ We are in awe of the ancient style, practices and tradition of temple art in Odisha. The heritage monuments lend a beautiful identity to the city of Bhubaneswar and we are happy to know the story of the city through these guided walks ” Karen another walker from Papua New Guinea said that ” This was a Walk of Life! A walk to explore and understand the people, the community, traditions and culture of Odisha”.
The history of Bhubaneswar may be viewed in two phases: Ancient Bhubaneswar and Modern Bhubaneswar. While the ancient city has a history that goes back to more than 3000 years to the Kalinga empire, the modern city came into existence in 1948. Modern Bhubaneswar was designed and planned by German Architect Otto. H. Konigsberger in 1946 to be a well-planned city with wide roads, multiple gardens and parks to shape the city serving as the administrative seat of the state.
Post-independence, Bhubaneswar was formally inaugurated as the capital of the Indian state of Odisha on 13th April 1948. Bhubaneswar, also known as the city of temples has rich architectural treasures with series of ancient sandstone temples, heritage ponds and water tanks in a complete record of Kalinga architecture spanning over 2,000 years from the 3rd century BC to the 15th century AD. Ekamra Walks-the guided walks through its water bodies, landscapes, streets and temples helps reconnect visitors with the city’s glorious past.
