Ratha Park in Puri by 2015
A Bhubaneswar based entertainment company has proposed the Odisha state government to set up a unique ‘Ratha Park’ where tourists can get a feel of the Jagannath temple rituals and the ambience of the Rath Yatra (Car Festival) in 2D, 3D and 4D formats, all year through.
The park to be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 45 crore will have three theatres to screen films on Jagannath cult and a museum displaying artworks, handicrafts and sculptures. An amphitheatre will be developed for light and sound show and live performances of Gotipua, Odissi and other folk forms, whose origins can be traced to the temple.
Sources said the Ratha dome will have three chariots and observation galleries will be created along with escalators for movement of tourists around them. Besides, 3D and 4D theatres will lend a feel and physical movement, while 4D will create an immersive ambience, tickling their senses with aroma, lighting, wind, water drops and leg ticklers. The viewers will become a part of the hustle bustle of Rath Yatra.
The park will also have business centres and food courts.
According to Dalma Comforts and Entertainment Company Pvt Ltd which has proposed the park, though the nine-day festival and the rituals preceding and succeeding it attracts about five million people from across India and abroad, it is only those who visit Puri experience the thrill and excitement. The rest cannot visualise the grandeur, religious ambience and environment.
The proposed Ratha Park will enable people to experience the festival and its rituals since it will be open to tourists and public throughout the year. It will not only open up the understanding of the 12th century shrine and the festival, it will be a great platform to popularise Jagannath culture, Director of the company Debashis Patnaik, in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.
“Experts and manufacturers from Singapore, South Korea and Japan have been approached for technical support. We are also negotiating with an international chain of amusement parks for partnership or logistic support,” Patnaik said.
The park may be inaugurated during the Nabakalebara of Lord Jagannath, to be held in 2015.
