Cuttack, Oct 28: Cuttack has been the heart of Odisha for ages. The oldest city of Kalinga Utkal, Cuttack, has preserved and enriched the history, heritage, social harmony, customs, behavior and cultural heritage of Odisha.
Since the dawn of human civilization on the banks of the Mahanadi, our Cuttack city has been a vibrant city. Let us remember the identity of modern Cuttack, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Ravenshaw Collegiate School and Ravenshaw Girls School, our two red colour buildings, Ravenshaw College and the Orissa High Court, Engineering School, Naraj Old Barrage, Jobra Barrage ,Barabati Stadium. Apart from this, Dussehra, Bali Yatra, Dahibara and our “bhaichara” (brotherhood). The list, in fact, is endless.
Another unique institution of Cuttack is a century old institution "Kalinga Gymnasium" or "Kalinga Bayamshala" which is located near Shaheed Bhawan in Cuttack Chaudhuri Bazaar area. In its 77th edition, Cuttack Heritage Walks visited this centenary institution.
This institution has made significant contribution towards building of a healthy and disease-free society by staying healthy. The arts of wrestling, wrestling, healthy lifestyle are taught here free of cost. From which era has this art of life been around? This art was there during the Mahabharata period in the ancient era, it was there during the reign of “Rajarajuda” and it is there even today. Even in our ancient temples, the art of wrestling has been engraved by our sculptors.
Looking back, it is known that the foundation of this institution was laid in the year 1920 by the late Padma Charan Ray in the Kazi Bazaar and in 1928 in Nimchouri area of Cuttack. Later, impressed by his wrestling and physical arts skills, the then British government provided about one acre of land in the year 1943 to build Kalinga Gymnasium or Kalinga Gymnasium in the Chaudhuri Bazaar area of Cuttack.
Later, Odia public figures like Harekrushna Mahatab, Nabakrushna Chaudhuri etc. took steps towards the development of this institution. Harekrushna Mahatab formed a committee for the good management of this institution and, as the first president of the institution, entrusted all the responsibility of good management to Padma Charan Ray as the secretary of the institution.
After the demise of Padma Charan Ray in 1961, the responsibility of this institution was entrusted to Fakir Charan Mohanty as the Secretary and Fakir Akshay Panda as the managing head. During the tenure of Fakir Charan Mohanty and Akshay Panda, this institution gained a lot of fame at the national level and many developmental works were carried out for its development. The contribution of Kalinga Gymnasium in creating many wrestlers, weightlifters and body builders added to the glory of the city of glorious Cuttack is significant.
Dr Dipak Samantarai, Founder -Convenor of Cuttack Heritage Walks facilitated the walk and senior members of the organization Jayant Singh, Biswaranjan Dehuri, Kishore Bit, Hitesh Seth, Jitendra Singh, Aditya Prasad Ghosh, Lalit Mohan Panda and Amar Prasad Patra coordinated the same.
