‘Cuttack in Cuttack’ to celebrate city’s ‘bhaichaara’

CUTTACK: Cuttack is known as the ‘city of brotherhood’ or ‘bhaichaara’ as people of all religions and communities have been living here in harmony for centuries.In a bid to celebrate the city’s unique characteristic, a special pavilion called ‘Cuttack in Cuttack’ has been set up at Baliyatra fair this year. The pavilion, decorated with lights and replicas of historical and religious monuments of the city, spread over 10 acre, was inaugurated by Chief Justice of Orissa High Court S Muralidhar on Wednesday.

The pavilion’s gate - 60 feet wide and 33 feet high - built with bamboo, wood, fiber, thermocol and decorated with plastic plants has been constructed by eminent artisan Gajendra Prasad Sahu. The pavilion has replicas of Dhabaleswar temple, a baptist church, gurudwara and qadam-e-rasool, each 16 feet wide and 18 feet high to showcase the religious harmony that exists in the city.“It took 12 artisans, 25 helpers and eight carpenters 20 days to construct the replicas of Orissa High Court gate and four other monuments belonging to different communities,” said Sahu.

The district administration has also erected welcome gates replicating Barabati Fort, front view of Cuttack Chandi Temple and Cuttack railway station to greet visitors to the pavilion which has been decorated with 100 trees. A 30 feet high sand art replicating a huge ‘boita’ (boat) and decorated with 25,500 lamps has also been made inside the ‘Cuttack in Cuttack’ pavilion by eminent sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik. The sand art, which aims to enter the Limca Book of Records, was inaugurated by DGP Sunil Kumar Bansal on the day.