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Sankar Radhakrishnan

Thiruvananthapuram , Oct. 20

THE Orissa Tourism Department is in the midst of a concerted effort to position the State as the `Soul of India'.

The objective is to highlight the "living traditions" of the State, said Mr G.N. Mohanty, Director-Department of Tourism, Government of Orissa and Managing Director, Orissa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

Speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of a road-show organised by Orissa's Department of Tourism, he said the department's focus was on developing tourism products that leverage the State's cultural, religious and social heritage

Orissa, for instance, had a number of important Buddhist sites and the tourism department was in the process of developing a package for the "Buddhist tourism circuit", he said. This package would cover important Buddhist sites in Orissa, including Dhauli near Bhubaneshwar that were the site of the famous Kalinga war in 261 BC, he explained. In fact, the Government was in the process of developing a `Peace Park' in this region, he added.

The authorities expect these Buddhist tourism packages to attract pilgrims from East Asian nations such as Vietnam and Cambodia.

Similarly, Orissa's Tourism Department was also developing tourism products that would highlight the traditions and practices of the State's tribal population, especially the tribes living in the State's Koraput district, said Mr Mohanty.

The idea behind this initiative was to provide visitors with an opportunity to experience a tradition and way of life that had remained unchanged for hundreds of years, he said.

The State Government was also developing a `special tourism area' between the Chilka Lake and Puri. Land for this project had already been acquired and the Government will soon being marketing this project, said Mr Mohanty. This project was expected to attract significant participation from the private sector, he added.

Other projects on the anvil include a Rs 4-crore project to develop the Puri beach.

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