Now, a heritage walk in Dhenkanal Town

Dhenkanal, June 28: The historic city of Dhenkanal has now its own heritage walk and it has completed its third edition on June 25. The Dhenkanal Heritage Walks (DHW) as it is called, has become a much-awaited event for the heritage enthusiasts as it has so far covered the Dhenkanal Palace, presiding deity of the town Siddha Balaram Temple and Dhenkanal Jail.


According to the Founding Member of the walk, Biswaranjan Dehury, the walk has become a regular feature and it is organised every third Sunday of a month. With its rise in polularity, senior members of Cuttack Heritage Walks (CHW) have also joined and enjoyed their time and learnt a lot about Dhenkanal’s lesser-known heritage treasures.


It all started on April 17 from the royal palace and the descendant Amarjyoti Singh Deo welcomed the walkers to the palace and spoke about its construction, architectural style, magazine, Durbar Hall, Meeting Place and other important places.

The second event took place on May 21 from the Siddha Balaram Temple. The walkers on that day saw the ``Chandan Vesa’’ of the deity and came to know about the temple rituals and traditions. Well-known history researcher Dr Bhabani Shankar Mishra joined and narrated the temple’s tale to the walkers.

The third walk on June 25 happened at Dhenkanal Jail, which is a heritage structure as it was built in 1916. Jail Superintendent Prasanna Kumar Sahu welcomed the walkers and explained to them the story and important narratives associated with the place. He also took them to the hanging place, crafts centre, dairy and other important places.


Dehury is hopeful that this new initiative will go a long way just like the heritage walks in Temple City Bhubaneswar, Millennium City Cuttack and enlighten the people of Dhenkanal and especially the young mass and students on the valuable heritage structures and their stories so that they would be feeling more proud.

``There is also plan to include the delicacies of Dhenkanal to include in the DHW in future so that people will come to know about the culinary skills of natives of the hilly town,’’ added convener Suresh Prasad Mishra.