After Fani rampage, Konark light & sound show a big draw

BHUBANESWAR: Big and small trees uprooted in the devastating cyclone Fani are still lying unattended while a few vendors selling handicraft items and souvenir managed to open their shops in and around one of the major tourist attractions of Odisha - the Sun Temple at Konark.
A few street lights are yet to be repaired after wind speed reaching up to 200 kmph battered the beach town. Quite a good number of tourists were still loitering around the ticket counter and entrance gate on Friday. They were waiting for the ticket counter to open for the light and sound show, which resumed on May 31 at the world heritage site.
"We were mesmerised to see the Sun Temple and the exquisite stone work on its walls. Then we decided to stay back to watch the light and sound show instead of returning to Bhubaneswar as it resumed despite the colossal loss caused by cyclone Fani," said Soumyadipta Roy, a tourist from West Bengal.
Before Fani, two shows were being conducted and now only one show is being held with over 100 visitors.
The five poles from where the lights and lasers rays fall on the temple walls were moved in the strong wind. Some cables were disconnected and signal antennae was also damaged. "The cables were brought from Delhi to resume the show on May 31 and the response is good despite many adverse situations," said Saroj Pradhan, tourism officer, Puri.
He said the flow of tourists to Puri is still low after the cyclone but the numbers is increasing as situation is getting normal. There was a message that several hotels are yet to reopen after the cyclone for which tourist flow has not picked up.
But with the Rath Yatra approaching the flow of tourists is going to rise, Pradhan added.