Photographers, guides of Sun Temple see a ray of hope

By Zafar Abbas Bhubaneswar, Jan 18 : With a long black strap around his neck, fingers carefully on the camera shutter, eyes glued to the lens, 35-year-old Prakash Pandey takes a few steps backward.
He aims at the tour group from Chennai sitting on the stairs of the Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha. He adjusts his lens after making some to and fro motions before a ‘click’ is heard. The group slowly fades away and Prakash heads to search another tourist group in the famous 13th-century Sun Temple.
Prakash was working as a supervisor in a company until the pandemic changed it all as he was asked to look for other options.
“I was not a traditional photographer. I stepped into the role when I was asked either to leave or move to a different state on a very little salary package. I decided to quit my job and adjusted to the new role of a photographer to make ends meet,” Prakash said.
Prakash is part of nearly 300 photographers and tour guides who operate in the Sun Temple and earn their livelihood with the tourists’ footfall.
“Though it is better than before, we are yet to see the glorious temple regain its foreign tourists. We have to completely rely on local tourists from the other states,” Prakash added.