Study tours are the important part of the curriculum. It has its own academic relevance that it provides real-world experiences that can help students learn in a more effective way than traditional classroom teaching. It can help students develop their social skills like communication, team work, and problem-solving.
By realizing all such factors, the Department of History and Department of Political Science have jointly organized a study tour to Jajpur. The tour covered the historically significant places such as Chattia Bata, the ‘Diamond Triangle’ of Odisha that is the Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri which is all together known as ‘Pushpagiri Vihara’ from ancient records. The tour was joined by 22 students from both the departments along with the faculty members – Miss Sunita Naik, Head of the Department, History, Mr Swayanjit Pattanaik, lect. in History, Miss Aparna Patra, Head of the Department, Political Science, Miss Nirupama swain, Lect. In Political science.
The tour started when the bus left the campus at 7AM. The first destination was the Chattia Bata where students got some spiritual and mythological insights about the place. Then the students reached at Udayagiri, historically known as ‘Madhavapura Mahavihar’ -the largest Buddhist complex in Odisha consisting of major stupas and viharas.
The next destination of our tour was Ratnagiri which is located on a hill in between the Brahmani and Birupa rivers. The ASI- Archaeological Survey of India revealed the site producing large quantities of very fine sculpture. Monastery-1 has been described as ‘the finest in terms of carved stone decoration to have survived in India’. The students witnessed that the site have largest monastery with a beautiful carved doorway, spacious open courtyard, cells and verandah facing the courtyard with a spacious shrine centred on a colossal Bhumisparsha Mudra Buddha.
Our study tour ended with the last destination that is Lalitgiri which is a complex of Buddha’s relics. Students learned about Tantric Buddhism practiced in this site. Mr Swayanjit Pattanaik, Lect in History, explained the historical significance of these sites to all the students.