Puri: The second edition of Puri Heritage Walks (PHW) on Sunday explored the sculptural importance of ancient shrines like Yajnya Nrusingha and Siddha Mahavir temples along with Indradyumna Sarovar in the pilgrim town. More than 30 heritage enthusiasts visited these temples and knew about their legends and stories associated with it.
The participants assembled at Sri Gundicha Temple in the morning and after bowing before Mundia Maraa Patita Pavana and Mundia Maraa Mahavir (present near the walls of Sri Gundicha Temple), they proceeded to Yajnya Nrusingha Temple. After the darshan of the deities, heritage expert Sidharth Acharya narrated about the importance of Nrusingha Upasana in Jagannath culture and historical as well as architectural aspects of Yajnya Nrusingha temple. He also spoke about the heritage and legends associated with the Indradyumna Sarovar, Neelakantheswar Temple, Gopinath Temple and Siddha Mahavir Temple.
Heritage expert Ashoka Nayak spoke about the importance of Pancha Tirtha in Puri and the role of Indradyumna Sarovar in it. Then, the group visited Indradyumna Sarovar, Neelakantheswar Temple and Gopinath Temple. There they were briefed about the iconography and after that proceeded towards Siddha Mahavir Temple. At Siddha Mahavir Temple, the group had a darshan of Sri Siddha Mahavir and saw various ancient sculptures present therein.
Later, they visited heritage expert Dr. Krushna Chandra Mishra’s residence which was nearby and assembled at the Mrutyunjay Temple present inside the premises to listen to his talk on Indian heritage and sculptures of Sri Jagannath Temple. Mishra was also felicitated by heritage expert and advisor of PHW Debi Prasanna Nanda, conveners Sanjay Kumar Baral, Biswaranjan Dehury and Dr Kumar Aurojyoti.
The participants included heritage enthusiasts from Puri, Konark, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack amongst whom were Chunara servitor Dr. Sarat Kumar Mohanty and cuisine author Ritu Pattanaik. The walk concluded with prasad sevan on the Siddha Mahavir temple premise.