Ekamra Anubhav 2.0: A Shift in the Framework of Heritage Engagement
- Soumyaranjan Sahoo
- 24 hours ago
- 5 min read
You may have come across our recent announcement introducing Ekamra Anubhav 2.0. The response to that post has already brought up a few immediate questions—why “2.0”, whether there was an earlier version, and what exactly has changed.
The announcement itself was simple. Heritage walks, over the past few years, have become an important way for people to reconnect with historic places, and their growing presence across cities reflects a welcome shift in public engagement with culture. At the same time, no two people experience a heritage site in the same way. What we notice, how we interpret a space, and what stays with us afterwards often depend on our own interests and experiences.
It is from this observation that Ekamra Anubhav 2.0, an initiative by ParibhaAsha HeritEdge Lab in collaboration with Quantum Impact Foundation and Quantum Leap Studio, has emerged—centred around the idea of listening to heritage through personal encounters.
Here, we attempt to explain where this initiative comes from, and why it takes the form that it does.
Ekamra Anubhav (2022): Context and Approach
The first edition of Ekamra Anubhav was conceptualised and conducted in 2022 in Bhubaneswar, within the historic landscape of Ekamra Kshetra. Ekamra Kshetra is not merely a cluster of temples but a complex sacred geography shaped over centuries through the interaction of religious practice, architectural development, and local cultural memory. It has been referenced in textual traditions and continues to function as an active ritual space rather than a static archaeological site. While there exists a substantial body of scholarly work on Kalinga temple architecture, including structural typologies, stylistic evolution, and chronological classification, there remains a relative gap in the systematic presentation of mythological and narrative traditions associated with the site in formats accessible to a wider public audience.
Ekamra Anubhav (2022) was designed to respond to this gap. The initiative focused on documenting and presenting mythological narratives connected to temples, deities, and sacred locations within Ekamra Kshetra. These narratives, often transmitted through oral traditions and community practices, play a significant role in shaping how local populations understand and engage with the space. The project aimed to organise these dispersed narratives into a coherent structure while maintaining conceptual clarity between mythology as a cultural narrative and historically verifiable evidence. In doing so, the initiative positioned mythology not as an alternative to history, but as a parallel layer of meaning that contributes to the cultural significance of the site.
Expanding the Framework of Heritage Engagement
Following Ekamra Anubhav (2022), continued work in heritage documentation and public engagement brought us into interaction with a diverse set of practitioners, including artists, writers, architects, students, and local residents. Across these interactions, a recurring pattern became visible. Individuals approached heritage sites through different lenses shaped by their disciplinary training, personal interests, and lived experiences. An architect might focus on construction logic and spatial proportion, while a photographer might be more attentive to light, framing, and visual composition. A performer might interpret sculptural forms in terms of movement and rhythm, and a local resident might connect through routine practices and long-term familiarity with the site. These varied perspectives suggested that heritage sites function not only as repositories of historical information but also as spaces of ongoing interpretation, where each encounter adds a layer to how the site is understood in the present.
This led to a shift in how we began to conceptualise heritage engagement. Instead of viewing it solely as a process of delivering curated knowledge, it became necessary to consider it also as a process of facilitating observation, interpretation, and exchange. The question was not whether one approach should replace the other, but how both could coexist within a broader framework that accommodates structured knowledge as well as experiential insight.
Why “2.0”: A Shift in Direction
The designation “2.0” in Ekamra Anubhav 2.0 is intended to signal a shift in direction rather than a simple continuation of the earlier model. If the first edition was primarily concerned with documenting and presenting narratives, the current iteration seeks to explore how heritage is experienced and interpreted in the present. The emphasis moves from content delivery to participant engagement, from structured narration to facilitated conversation. This does not imply a rejection of the earlier approach. The foundational work of documentation and contextualisation remains essential, as interpretation without context risks becoming ungrounded. However, once this foundation is established, there is scope to expand the format to include participant-led perspectives and shared reflection.
Ekamra Anubhav 2.0, therefore, attempts to create a space where multiple interpretations can be articulated and examined collectively. It recognises that personal experience and scholarly knowledge operate in different domains, and that maintaining clarity between the two is necessary for responsible heritage engagement. The aim is to enable dialogue without compromising on factual accuracy, thereby allowing different modes of understanding to coexist within a structured and ethical framework.
Designing the Experience: A Different Kind of Engagement
The format of Ekamra Anubhav 2.0 intentionally departs from the conventional “walk-and-explain” structure.
Participants will move through Ekamra Kshetra in small groups, engaging with a series of historically and architecturally significant locations. At each site, the goal is not to deliver exhaustive narration, but to introduce context and frame observation.
Prioritising Participation
At its core, Ekamra Anubhav 2.0 recognises that:
observation is a form of learning
interpretation is a form of engagement
dialogue is a form of knowledge exchange
By structuring the experience around these principles, the initiative aims to create a space where multiple perspectives can coexist without collapsing into relativism and without compromising factual integrity.
This is particularly relevant in a context where heritage discourse is often pulled between two extremes—over-romanticisation on one end, and overly technical abstraction on the other. A balanced framework requires both clarity and openness.
Opening the Experience: Registration and Access
Ekamra Anubhav 2.0 is designed as a small-group, limited-participation experience in order to maintain depth of engagement and ensure that the format remains effective.
Registrations for the upcoming edition are now open.
Participants can register through the official event page:
Given the nature of the format, seats are intentionally limited. Further details regarding the structure, materials, and on-ground flow will be shared with registered participants prior to the event.
Towards a More Layered Understanding of Heritage
Ekamra Anubhav 2.0 does not position itself as a definitive model. It is an experiment—one that emerges from specific observations about how heritage is currently engaged with, and where there might be scope for expansion.
It does not attempt to replace existing formats, but to complement them by foregrounding a dimension that often remains secondary. The transition from Ekamra Anubhav to Ekamra Anubhav 2.0 is therefore not defined by scale, but by intent.
It reflects a movement: from asking what a place represents, to also asking how it is experienced. And in that shift lies the possibility of a more layered, more attentive, and more responsible engagement with heritage.
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