Joy Roy Choudhury – Kolkata
West Bengal Tourism is making an effort to promote Durga Puja, the biggest festival in this part of the country, as a major draw. “We have big plans for the ensuing Durga Puja. We are trying to make Durga Puja the most happening event and increase the footfall of tourists into the state during that time,” said Goutam Deb, tourism minister of West Bengal. Bengal’s biggest festival, Durga Puja, which will begin in the first week of October this year, is a four-day melange of fun and devotion. West Bengal Tourism will shortly unveil a number of Durga Puja packages to attract tourists from different parts of the country and abroad. It would start with the ‘Mahalaya’ package, the first day of the festival, when tourists would 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 and then visits to Belur Math and the artisans’ hub at Kumartuli, where the huge idols are created.
Other packages would include visits to major community Puja pandals of the city and some of the century-old Pujas conducted by renowned families of Kolkata, celebrating Pujas on the Ganges and a river cruise connecting Belur Math, Dakshineswar Temples. Also on offer would be a spread of Bengali dishes and desserts. “The tourism department will be working closely with different tour operators, hotel owners and transport agencies, besides several other government departments to put up a co-ordinated effort,” he pointed out.
The government is focusing on creating more innovative and diversified products that will increase the number of tourist arrivals to the state. “One of our thrust areas would be to develop the tourism infrastructure in North Bengal, one of the most visited places by Europeans. Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai region in North Bengal, are the most visited places,” he stated. Deb also mentioned that the state tourism department is in close coordination with other state government departments and agencies like forest, power and PWD are developing a mega tourism project at Gajoldoba in Jalpaiguri district of the state.