CUTTACK: The Silvery Touch of Cuttack, authored by retired IAS officer Raja Parija, was released here recently. The book was unveiled under the aegis of Cuttack Heritage Walks Group and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)’s Cuttack Chapter.
Speaking on the occasion, Parija said his work is the first-of-its-kind publication which has documented Cuttack Dussehra in great detail, from rites and rituals to the making and decking up of the clay idols and the unique Chandi Medha (silver backdrop). He claimed that Durga Puja in Cuttack is much older than that in Kolkata.
Parija has published multiple other coffee table books – Silver Splendour of Millennium City, Netaji Was Born Here, Cuttack-The City of Museums, Divine Fabric, Royal Heritage of Odisha, Textile Tales from Tribal Odisha, LightHouses of Odisha-Beacons of Tourism, Earthen Affairs and Buddhist Legacy of Odisha.
Among others INTACH (Odisha) convenor Biswajit Mohanty, founder of Cuttack Heritage Walks Group Deepak Samantaray and Prof Chinmay Jena were present.