Bhubaneswar, Oct. 9: Though the west bank of Bindusagar lake in the Old Town area of the capital has taken the shape of a beautiful garden that includes 70 medicinal plants, the inside view, in sync with the surrounding temples and monuments, is something to explore for a perfectly planned weekend visit.

With beautiful carvings and aesthetically placed stone statues and panels, the garden projects how the traditional knowledge-based theme can be amalgamated in building a park of medicinal varieties.

“We have made three pindis (platforms) in the park depicting the names of Lord Shiva, Devi Parvati and Lord Ganesh. Though, according to the epics, all belong to one family, in Ekamra Vana, the medicinal plants are also placed in three different platforms separately.

“While the first one deals with medicinal plants for general healthcare needs and male vigour, the second one has plants related to gynaecology-related diseases and the last one for increasing mental power which ultimately leads to knowledge.

“The platforms get their inspirations from the three Gods as they, according to ancient scriptures, relate to masculine, feminine and child-like qualities,’’ says divisional forest officer (DFO) of city forest division, Jayanta Dash.

Inaugurated on January 1, 2009, the Ekamra Vana Project became a reality with funds allocated by the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation. The maintenance cost comes from the state plan. However, nearly Rs 1 crore has been pumped so far into structuring the beautiful garden.

Dash said: “Apart from the western bank development transforming into the park, the construction on the northern part is almost over and soon there will be plantation activity by the forest department. On the other hand, the southern and eastern banks are to be developed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). The development work under the civic body is under the funding of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

“These two sides to be developed by the BMC will also have landscape development so that a beautiful green corridor could be developed along the four banks of the Bindusagar lake.”

Sujata Rath, a local resident of the Old Town area, feels that the revival of the Bindusagar lake through a green corridor will provide a different ambiance for the Old Town area, especially for the tourists who come to spend some time near the bank of the historic lake, which, as per the description in the ancient scripture, came into existence when Lord Shiva created the water body with his trident. The water of the lake, as per the literature, has the holiness of all the sacred streams of the country.

“We have a nice time sitting there inside the Ekamra Vana which is also safe with the forest official and commissionerate police personnel guarding the area up to 6pm. The closing time is 7pm during summer,” Rath said.

“Besides beautifying the ambience of the lake, the project will also have a watch tower on the western bank. The tower will provide the visitors a full view not just of the lake, but all the major temples and historic structures along its periphery.

“The design and concept of the Ekamra Vana project is executed by A Heritage Laboratory, Nainital. Eminent conservationist Anupam Sah has executed the work,” said a forest department official.

“We are planning to add more medicinal plants and increase the count to 100 or more.

“But at Ekamra Vana we are creating a large collection of medicinal plants (a single plant having an entire patch) and not only just a single plant in a pot. For example we have small patches consisting tulsi and aloe vera in two different locations. Two beautiful ponds of lotus and lily are also created inside the Ekamra Vana,” said the DFO.

It is a well-known fact that chief minister Naveen Patnaik loves to spend quality time with his friends and guests inside the Ekamra Vana. Almost 50 rare plants which have found place in the book ‘The Garden of Life’ authored by Naveen, have also found their presence inside the garden. He also personally takes time to inspect the garden and suggest changes to be made.

The medicinal plants apart, the Ekamra Vana on the western bank of Bindusagar lake has nice architectural carvings, animals made of stones and their positioning on the corners and edges of the walls and the steps. While a huge turtle made of sand stone overlooks the Bindusagar lake on the side of the pedestrian’s path, beautiful water outlets with models of fish, prawn, frogs and crocodile beautify the surrounding in Ekamra Vana. The other three banks will also have similar statues of animals as it is planned to make a continuous design for the surrounding of the holy lake.

The Ekamra Vana has found a distinct place in the Heritage Walk programme being launched by the tourism and culture department.

Started on the World Tourism Day on September 27, the walk starts at Rajarani temple and ends at Ekamra Vana while touching other major monuments like Mukteswar, Parasurameswara, Swarnajaleswar, Kotitirtheswar, Ananta Basudev, Lingaraja, Papanasini, and Vaital temples.

With many protected, unprotected, known and lesser-known monuments around the Old Town area, Ekamra Vana is going to acquire a distinct place in the tourist map of Bhubaneswar. But when the western bank is ready with the first step and where the medicinal plants have already started blooming with the pre-winter flowering of this season, you can visit it to have a different feel.

A feel of the traditional knowledge-based park in sync with the ancient architectural ambience made from laterite stones.