Puri: Heritage enthusiasts from across Odisha had a memorable time in the pilgrim town of Puri on the eve of Janmastami. The first episode of Puri Heritage Walks unveiled its unique initiative to familiarise heritage lovers with the essence of Jagannath cult and the rich traditions of the deities and shrines around the world-famous temple, which epitomises Odia cultural traditions and ethos.
Led by the young heritage activists of Puri, the maiden walk was participated by more than 50 walkers from Konark, Gop, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Cuttack. After initiating the event from near the Mahaveer Temple adjacent to the Southern Gate (Horse gate or Aswa Dwar), they visited Sriramdas Math or Dakshina Parswa Math and Kapal Mochan Mahadev Temple and entered the temple premises to see Adi Nrusingha, Maa Bimala and Nirmalya Khala (yard to prepare Nirmalya) shrines.
The heritage walkers then went to Ananda Bazaar and before having the Mahaprasad had an in-depth discussion on the unique aspects of the Sri Jagannath Temple and the cult and how the various other traditions like Shaivism, Shakti worshiping and Tantricism created a wonderful collage over the religious fabrics of its day-to-day traditions.
Before that “Chunara Sevak” Sarat Mohanty shared his experiences over the tying of the flags over the Neelachakra and how he experiences a bird’s eye view of the entire eastern coast from the Chilika lake to Dhauli, Nayagarh to the endless Kalinga Sagar (Bay of Bengal) and how the heavy structure atop the temple is decorated with intricate designs and carvings.
In another insightful and yet well-researched talk young Jagannath culture researcher and also traditional priest of Maa Bimala’s shrine Siddharth Acharya spoke extensively on the association of Tantricism over the Jagannath Culture and how, the traditions at the Sri Mandir represents a unique blending of the major religious traditions under Shiva, Devi (Shakti) and Tantric traditions. In the participatory discussion he also answered to the queries of other participants on the unique religious traditions of the Sri Mandir.
Before the discussion at Ananda Bazaar Jagannath Culture researcher Dayanidhi Tripathy and Debiprasanna Nanda also spoke on some of the unknown aspects of the temple traditions. Puri Heritage Walks conveners Sanjay Baral, Aurojyoti and Biswaranjan Dehury coordinated the event and the young heritage enthusiasts of Puri worked hard to see that it ended with a great perfection. Despite a Sunday and presence of thousands of devotees inside the Sri Mandir premises, they managed it efficiently.
The conveners and the participating heritage enthusiasts decided to continue the heritage walk every month on the second Sunday. The subsequent Puri Heritage Walks will be held at specific shrines or group of temples, religious structures inside the holy city and would also explore the delicacies of Puri as traditionally the historic city has got a plethora of unique dishes which are known as the traditionally authentic Odia cuisines.
