Berhampur: The walls of the lobby of revenue divisional commissioner (south) office here have come alive with paintings depicting the culture, festivals, temples, tribal murals and many others of 10 southern districts of the state.
"We are having a very rich cultural heritage in the 10 districts, including Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Koraput, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Boudh, Nuapada, Malkangiri and Rayagada. My only intention is to promote it through wall paintings, so that the officers and the general public, who come to my office, can have a glimpse of it. They can spot the famous places of their respective districts and can look into the heritage sites and culture of other districts in these wall paintings," said revenue divisional commissioner, Berhampur, T. Ao.
The aim of this concept is to promote the art and culture of these districts and simultaneously make the surroundings more beautiful, he said.
The collectors of these 10 southern districts have deputed two artists each from one district to the office to get the job done. The wall decoration has started since last month. The artists of six districts, including Ganjam, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Boudh, have completed their wall paintings. The artists of Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Koraput and Nuapada are yet to finish their job.
"But, we are expecting that the wall decoration of all the 10 districts would be finished shortly," said the commissioner's secretary Sujata Sahu.
Wall paintings of Ganjam depicted silk weaving, Budhi Thakurani and Thakurani yatra, Gopalpur light house, Nirmaljhar and others.
Tribal arts dominated paintings of Nabarangpur and Rayagada. Paintings of Gajapati district are adorned with the first Prime Minister of Odisha Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, the royal palace building, tribal couple and tribal art, Gandahati waterfall and the Padmasambhava Mahavihara monastery located at Chandragiri.
"This is a very good initiation," said Aamir Viman Prasad Singh, the artist from Boudh, who along with his assistant Sunil Kumar Behera has painted the famous Chari Sambhu Temple at Jahnapanka, pancha badya, Chadheya dance, Chandua, Lord Buddha, Hanuman temple, Puruna Katak Bhairavi temple, farming, paddy field and others.