Students participate in an awareness rally on World Heritage Day in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, April 18: With assets of centuries-old heritage monuments in the city, Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) finally seems to be ready to attract tourists from all over the country with a new plan. The department of tourism has announced a special package called the Heritage Walk that lets visitors explore the age old monuments and their sculptural beauty.

Though the tourism department is yet to launch the final plan, the officials announced the package on the occasion of World Heritage Day, which was observed on Monday. Heritage Walk would be a trail through the corridors of the history that lies in the ancient temples of the city and will allow visitors to absorb the essence of the temple city, said Ashok Tripathy, secretary, tourism and culture.

“To preserve the rich monumental heritage of Bhubaneswar, which is nothing less than an open air museum, Orissa tourism is gearing up to conduct this participatory awareness drive,” he said.

“The last Sunday of every month has been chosen to hold the walk at 8am. Four routes have been identified by the department for these walk The distance to be covered in each walk varies from 2km to 2.5km. These routes cover eight to 23 temples,” he added.

The walk is being planned to begin at Rajarani temple and would include a visit to Mukteswar, Parasuameswara, Swarnajaleswar, Kotitheswar Ananta Basudev, Lingaraja temple, Papanasini temple, Ekamra Van and Vaital temple.

However, due to reasons of traffic congestion, discussions are on about other routes to visit the stupendous monuments, informed officials.

“We are also looking at two different trails that would include a distinct set of well-known temples and lesser known monuments,” said M.R. Patnaik, general manager, OTDC.

“The project is to be ready by May end and we have hired quality guides with a rich knowledge of the local history to help participants get an idea behind the creation of each temple. Apart from screening a short documentary about the temples before the walk begins, the participants will be given notes and handouts that would be something of a collector’s piece,” said Patnaik. To be availed to tourists at economy prices, the Heritage Walk is an inspiration from a trail conducted in Ahmedabad since 1997, said Tripathy.

“I had been there and it was amazing to see the co-ordination between their tourism department and municipality to conduct the walk.They have been successful in promoting their heritage and we hope we would be,” he said.

Many residents have kept their fingers crossed for the success of the event so that the heritage of the city gets endorsement of tourists and local visitors.