West Bengal Tourism Department is making an all out effort to promote the ensuing Durga Pujas, the biggest festival in this part of the country a major draw.
“We are trying to make Durga Puja the most happening event and increase the footfall of tourists,” said an official of the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC), the state government undertaking under the Department.
Bengal’s biggest festival, Durga Puja, which will begin in mid-October this year, is a four-day melange of fun and devotion bringing everything else in the entire state to a standstill. West Bengal Tourism has already unveiled a number of Durga Puja packages to attract tourists.
It would start with the ‘Mahalaya’ package, the first day of the festival, when tourists will be taken to witness ‘Tarpan’, the ritual of paying tributes to the fore-fathers at Babughat on Hooghly river, a cruise on the river Hooghly past Dakshineswar Temple, visit to Belur Math and the artisans’ hub at Kumartuli, where the huge idols are created.
Some of the other ‘Durga Puja packages’ unveiled for the tourists include visits to major community Puja pandals of the city and those of century-old pujas conducted by renowned families of the city, celebrating Pujas on the Ganges and a river cruise connecting Belur Math, Dakshineswar Temples. Also on offer would be a huge spread of mouth-watering Bengali dishes and deserts. The Tourism Department is working closely with different tour operators, hotel owners and transport agencies, besides several other Government departments to put up a coordinated effort.