The Heritage signage guidelines will further boost the overall beauty and attractiveness of heritage zones of Bhubaneswar, known for its fascinating cultural heritage, amazing temples and monuments by bringing a uniformity in signage design and installation.
The signage based on the new guidelines will immensely help visitors, national and international tourists in finding and knowing about various monuments and archaeological sites in the capital city leading to generating awareness among people towards cultural heritage.
At present, different types of signages have been installed in Ekamra Kshetra by various agencies leading to visual clutter and absence of proper interpretation signage creates confusion among visitors. Therefore, in 2016, the BDA had identified the need to develop guidelines for unified signage designs for special heritage zones as specified in CDP – 2030.BDA Vice-Chairman Prem Chandra Chaudhary said, “As the Old Town or Ekamra Kshetra of Bhubaneswar is one of the most prominent abodes of Lord Shiva, the heritage signage guideline will bring in a perfect sync with the past and the present as this area is the essence of the State capital."
Similar guidelines would also be prepared for other special heritage zones identified under CDP 2030 which will bring uniformity in information dissemination and to improve the overall visitor experience, he added. He further informed that the BDA is also aiming to notify the street design guidelines at the earliest under ODA Rules 2020.
The signage guidelines will be applicable to the proposed Heritage District in Bhubaneswar Development Plan Authority as per its Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP)-2030, which includes ‘Ekamra Kshetra Heritage Zone (Old Bhubaneswar), Aitihashik Kshetra Heritage Zone (Sishupalgarh) and Sanskritik Kshetra Heritage Zone (Dhauli). The colour, font, line spacing, paragraph style, arrows and icons, material and scale of all signs should be historically sensitive to monument/building anddistinctiveness of old town area. These signage guidelines will be adopted as part of BDA (Planning and Building standard) Regulations.
As per the new guidelines, following six types of signages will be put up at heritage sites such as, directional, interpretative, orientation, facility signage, business and building signage.
As per provision of Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2018, name of a business establishment in the area would be written in Odia language and if required, it can be written in English as a supporting text.
