For people not familiar with Bhopal’s rich history and heritage, it has been a surprise lately when they see photographs of the city’s monuments and unique structures on Twitter.
Every Sunday, the photos are taken, uploaded and shared by heritage enthusiasts of the city under the unique initiative of #Bhopalwalk, which is the brainchild of Bhopal-based heritage enthusiast Anil Gulati.
Gulati says the aim is to inform people about the city’s rich heritage.
On every Saturday evening, we live tweet from a monument or place of architectural importance. Some people come and join us on the #Bhopalwalk on the ground while others support us online by sharing more information about the place,” says Gulati, who uses the handle @Anil5 to tweet.
#BhopalWalk recently covered the rock art of Jhiri.
“Dr Narayan Vyas, a senior archaeologist, guided #Bhopalwalk to rock arts at Jhiri near Kolar, just outside Bhopal.
It is so close and we have rock paintings from historical medieval period a treasure and with guidance of Dr Vyas, it was great experience,” he adds.
Sahishnu Mukherjee, a heritage enthusiast, has been part of the #Bhopalwalk from the beginning.
“There are many monuments in Bhopal, but unfortunately, these are outside the city and there isn’t much awareness about them,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}“There are many monuments in Bhopal, but unfortunately, these are outside the city and there isn’t much awareness about them,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}Mukherjee says outside the country, Bhopal is unfortunately known for the gas tragedy that occurred in 1984.
He is actively tweeting photographs of Bhopal apart from sharing information about the city’s rich history.
On every Saturday evening, the Twitter users are reminded about #Bhopalwalk, and on Sunday from 11am-1pm, the heritage enthusiasts live tweet from a monument.Little-known faces, information and history about places are also tweeted by a number of people.
For example, Incongrous who tweets from the handle @TangDilTwister recently posted pictures of Gauhar Mahal, the palace of erstwhile rulers of Bhopal state while Shefali Chaturvedi (@shefaligemini) shared a picture of Tajul Masajid and Pankaj Shukla tweeted caricatures made on the lifestyle of Bhopal.