Take a walk down heritage lane - Govt initiative to create awareness about rich history next Sunday

Anand Kishore, the secretary of art, culture and youth affairs, addresses the media in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Jan. 17: Gear up for a trip down heritage lane.

Next Sunday (January 25), the art, culture and youth affairs department will organise a 6.5-km Heritage Walk in Patna. Assisting it in the initiative would be the Bihar Heritage Development Society.

The Heritage Walk would start at 8am from Golghar and end at Martyrs' Memorial, also known as Shaheed Smarak, at the entrance of Legislative Assembly building.

Anand Kishore, secretary, art, culture and youth affairs, said today: "The Heritage Walk is an initiative to create awareness among the people about the rich heritage of Patna. We are planning to organise similar heritage walks in different parts of the state."

The walk would cover Gandhi Shivir at AN Sinha Institute, Patna Museum, Patna Women's College, the high court, Raj Bhavan and the Old Secretariat building on its way from Golghar to Shaheed Smarak. Kishore expects 500-1,000 people to participate in the walk that could take around two-and-a-half hours because of announcements on the way.

Bijoy Kumar Chaudhary, executive director, Bihar Heritage Development Society, said historians would brief the participants on the architecture and history of the monuments along the route.

People interested to register for the Heritage Walk can register at the Bihar Heritage Development Society office on Vidyapati Marg near Patna Museum or call at 0612-2200250, 0612-2234524.

Bihar Heritage Development Society would provide 300 participants complementary T-shirts (with an imprint of the Patli tree which is also seen on the Bihar tourism's logo) and caps on January 25.

"A medical team, along with an ambulance, would follow the participants. A mini-bus and two sports utility vehicles would also be provided for senior citizens and differently abled persons keen to participate in the walk," said Kishore.

To promote the Heritage Walk, the department plans to take steps, including creating a Facebook page, in the next couple of days.

Kishore said constitution of heritage committees at the site- and block-level was being contemplated. In another announcement, he said the department has made a proposal to develop a site museum in Telhara , around 33km south of the ancient Nalanda University, for around Rs 5 crore.