Prayag Samal is a 17-year-old who is a science student from Vigyan International Degree College in Koraput. He is passionate about biodiversity research, in fact, he has spoken about it at the state and district-level seminars as well. He is also passionate about travel, photography and Koraput. As a result, you can be sure to never find Prayag at home during the weekends. He gets to display his love towards all his passions through his Facebook page, Koraput Explorer, which has more than 11,000 likes. He launched an Instagram page last month, whose Insta stories are a testament to his love for photography and Koraput. He also uses these social media pages to showcase the beauty of Koraput, which many even in Odisha, remain unaware of. "People often think Koraput is only about jungles and Maoists, but this is not true," says the young traveller, who has been asked, 'So, what's there in Koraput to do?' several times. The highest peak of Odisha, Deomali; the famous Rani Duduma waterfalls; all these and many more scenic beauties of Koraput are waiting to be explored, he tells us.
Coming to the Facebook page Koraput Explorer, one can find beautiful pictures of the place, which makes you feel like packing your bags and paying a visit right away. There are even memes, videos and tidbits of information about this magical land that Prayag is so in love with. "People don't know about the place so, through my posts, I want to make them aware," says the youngster who owns a Sony Alpha A58 and aspires to be a photographer for the National Geographic someday. But for now, he is busy managing this Facebook page along with another page, Beauty of Odisha. He finds time to travel and post things on weekends and takes full advantage of these days.
While the Instagram page is up and running, expect Samal to post more videos and blogs. Till then, the content which is already up on the pages is enough to entice one and all.
For more on the page, click on facebook.com/koraputExplorer/