By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: A virtual guided tour of the heritage sites of Bhubaneswar and Gwalior marked the celebration of the World Tourism Day on Sunday at the SOA Deemed to be University here. Dr. Chandra Sekhar Barua, Chairman, MBA-Tourism at the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Gwalior guided the participants through the glorious heritage of Gwalior after briefly presenting the history of Madhya Pradesh. He also showed a documentary on popular tourist places of the historic city including Gwalior Fort, a part of which was being maintained by the ASI and the other by the state archaeological department.The event was conducted through a webinar with Prof. Sitikantha Mishra, Advisor-cum-Dean, School of Hotel Management, SOA’s faculty of hospitality and tourism management, informing that the tour in virtual mode had been arranged as the traditional heritage walk could not be held this year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The virtual tour took the participants through a palace within the fort which represented Hindu architecture with Prof. Barua narrating stories associated with the fort. The exterior of the palaces were covered with coloured tile made of semi-precious stone powder. There was a ‘Saas and Bahu Temple’ and rock cut caves representing Jain Tirthankar. The other palaces included Mansingh Palace, Jai Vilas Palace reflecting Italian architecture with 400 rooms. One of the major attraction was the silver toy train besides ‘Teli ka Mandir’ at Gwalior Fort, ‘Data Bandi Chood Gurudwara’, Gujari Mahal Museum, Siddhachal Jain Caves, Chhatri of Bhim Singh Rana, Ladhedi Gate, Hathiyapur, Sun Temple, Tomb of Mohammad Ghaus, an important mausoleum, Tansen’s Tomb, Gwalior Zoo, Bateshwar Morena, Jiwaji Chowk, Maharaj Bada, ‘Mitawali Morena’ and ‘Padavali Morena’. It was a mesmerizing presentation.
Another eminent resource person, Tapan Kumar Mishra who conducted the tour of Bhubaneswar, described the temples of the city were of ‘rekha’ architectural style distinguished by its square plan topped with a curvilinear tower. He started with Laxmaneswar, Bharateswar and Shatrughaneswar temples built in the 6th century by the Sailodbhava dynasty. The sculptures of the Sharughanewar temple reflected the dynamism and energy of the designs of the post-Gupta period. He said the Parsurameswar temple was the first shrine to have an additional structure called ‘Jagamohana’ while the earlier temples only had the ‘vimana’.
Mishra said the Mukteswar temple, also known as the ‘Gem of Odisha architecture’, was enclosed within an octagonal compound wall with elaborate carvings on it. The temple has a porch, called ‘Torana’ which acted as the gateway to the compound.
The webinar was inaugurated by Prof. Sachidananda Joshi, Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts, New Delhi, who highlighted the importance of ‘paryatan’ or tourism which was a tradition in Indian culture. Indians were the torch bearers of tourism in the medieval period, he said.Prof. Joshi said it was wrongly said that Vasco da Gama had discovered the sea route to India, but when the famous Indian archaeologist Dr. Wakankar visited the London Museum he stumbled upon a diary where Vasco da Gama himself had written that he was guided by a sailor from south India named Chandan.
The objective of the webinar was to create a demand in the country’s tourism and hospitality sector by instilling confidence and promoting India as a safe tourism destination. The virtual tour could favourably compare with the physical experience of a heritage walk. Prof. Milind, Principal, College of Management and Technology, Durgapur and School of Tourism and Hotel Management, Kolkata moderated the session.
In the run up to the event, SHM conducted various student driven activities from September 24 to 26 which included online photography competition on the theme ‘Forms in Nature’, poster making competition on the theme ‘Different Cultures of India’, dance and singing competition with a regional theme, essay writing competition on the topic – ‘Tourism and Rural Development in India—Post-Covid Scenario’ and online quiz competition on hospitality and tourism. Students of SOA’s constituent institutes and other colleges participated with great enthusiasm to win some exciting prizes for their creativity and original ideas.The event was coordinated by Prof. Ansuman Samal and Prof. Sasmita Mohanty. Prof. Smita Sucharita Mahapatra presented the report on various students driven activities in a virtual mode, named the winners and proposed the vote of thanks.
