Cuttack: It is impossible to chronicle the history of Odisha without the mention of Cuttack’s Barabati Fort, the chief speaker, Kharavel Mahanti, said at the 7th annual day of Cuttack Heritage Walks, on Sunday.
Mahanti also spoke about the status, location and historical perspective of the historic fort under the Afghan, Mughal, Marathas and the British. He also narrated how the greatest edifice of the Kalingan strength and power gradually and systematically withered and met with decline and loss.
Chief Guest and history enthusiast J P Jagdev and Guest of Honour Professor Sanjay Achrya highlighted how Cuttack has always played a pivotal role in glorifying the position and importance of Odisha both at national and international arena.
Eminent poet and retired bureaucrat Pradeep Kumar Biswal chaired the special session which saw participants and members of the heritage group, drawn from various walks of life, discussing heritage, culture and traditions of the Silver City. They also expressed their concern over better, timely and sustainable upkeep of the heritage sites and the city’s traditions.
On this occasion, several traditional artisans of the city – Biswanath Dey (silver filigree of Cuttack), Ashok Behera (horn work), Purna Chandra Singh (Jari work on the tableau of Goddess Durga) and Urvashi (clay dolls) – were also felicitated for keeping the age-old practices alive.
The CHW also felicitated Sanjay Baral, Ashoka Nayak, Dr. Kumar Aurojyoti, Debi Prasanna Nanda, Suresh Prasad Mishra, Malay Pati, Srikant Singh, Trilochan Swain, Pankaj Sahoo, Bachan Maharana, Biswanath Dey, Ashok Behera, Purnachandra (Japani) Singh and Biswaranjan Dehury as Heritage Warriors.
Asit Mohanty, Kishore Bit, Jivananda Mishra, Om Prakash Mohanty, Prof. Chinmay Jena, Hitesh Seth, Raja Parija, Bibhuti Bhusan Barik, Manoj Mohapatra, Jitendriya Singh, Kabita Pattnaik, Arunita Padhi, Kumar Prasanjeet Sahoo, Aditya Prasad Ghosh, Akash Pattnaik, Amar Prasad Patra, Byapti Patnaik, Gobinda Chand (Utkala Sahitya Samaj), Harekrishna Rout and Amiya Ranjan Mohapatra were felicitated as Heritage Lovers.
The 7th annual day was held at the Conference Hall of Odisha Cricket Association under the leadership of Dipak Samantarai, convener of CHW. Dr Hemanta Kumar Parida, Bisweswar Das, Ajay Mishra, Biswaranjan Mohanty, Biswajit Sahoo, Dipa Samantrai also narrated their experiences and views.
Hitesh Seth, a senior member of CHW, proposed the vote of thanks.
