Ekamra Walks to resume from June 15 after month-long hiatus

BHUBANESWAR: The weekly Ekamra Walks will resume from June 15 after a gap of more than a month.
Officials said June 15 is also the day of the Raja Festival. "The timing remains the same. It will start at 6.30 am. The weather should be pleasant because of the pre-monsoon showers," said an officer.
The last walk at Ekamra Kshetra (Old Town) was conducted on April 27, around the time the India Meteorological Department (IMD) began issuing alerts about Cyclone Fani.
Sources said the walks were likely to be booked well as many would be curious to see what the Old Town looks like after the cyclone. Architects are expected to sign up to check out the ancient temples and monuments that remained unaffected by the cyclone. Besides, the regular international flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur are expected to help visitors from southeast Asia make a trip to the temple city.
The walks, meant to explore the heritage of the Ekamra Kshetra, is very popular among foreigners, students, scholars, architects and scientists. Till date, they have attracted over 10,000 visitors from around 30 countries. Till April 27, 123 editions of the walks had been held. It is a joint initiative of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, the state tourism department and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.
In April, teams from Barcelona and researchers from Kolkata had participated in the walks, besides research students from Mumbai's National Institute of Science Education and Research and bloggers from here. In 2018, the US ambassador to India, Kenneth I Juster, had participated in the walks and made it more popular. The diplomat was accompanied by consul general Katherine B Hadda.