Susmita Sahoo stands in front of one of her paintings at the exhibition in Bhubaneswar. 

Susmita’s first solo exhibition, Puri: Era and Aura, is currently under way at the Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi. A fine arts graduate from BK College of Arts and Crafts, she has been working as an art teacher at a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kharagpur. She often visits Puri during her visits to her hometown Bhubaneswar. In this exhibition, she has depicted in watercolour her memories of life in Puri and the unique traditions of the age-old city. 

She has captured the night scene of the famous Dolamandap Sahi, the bylane in front of the Jagannath temple, in one painting while in another, she depicts the city during a shower. She has also profiled ascetics, devotees, conch sellers and visitors to Puri and captured the temple, Narendra tank and Emar mutt.

“I was in Puri to attend a watercolour camp on the pre-Nabakalebar events. During the camp, it struck me that Puri has always been close to my heart, and hence, there is no better subject to host a solo exhibition,” said Susmita. 
The week-long exhibition concludes on January 2.

Text by Namita Panda 
Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee