10-21-2003, 06:54 PM
[url="http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=33835"]http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.p...ontent_id=33835[/url]
Tourism hubs to pop up along 800-km long `riverbed'
VRINDA GOPINATH
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 20: The mythical Saraswati is yet to be traced
but Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Jagmohan has already
announced an ambitious Rs 5-crore Saraswati Heritage Project, which
aims to develop the ``Saraswati river belt'' as a ``cultural-
tourist'' hub with 15 circles or centres.
Earlier this year, the minister had sanctioned Rs 8 crore to the
Archaeological Society of India (ASI) to search for the river, which
is believed to have run dry a million years ago. Now he seems to
have zeroed in on a 800-km belt, stretching from Adi Badri in
Haryana (the source of the river, says the ASI) to Dholavira in
Gujarat.
The 15 hubs â located in far-flung archaeological sites like Kapal
Mochan and Kaithal in Haryana to Baror and Juni Kuran in Rajasthan,
and Narayan Sarovar in Gujarat â will showcase important discoveries
made by the ASI in their Saraswati excavations over the past few
months.
``The ASI and other organisations have been excavating almost 1,500
sites along the banks of the Saraswati and have made some exciting
discoveries of mounds and artefacts,'' says Jagmohan. ``The 15 hubs
along the riverbed will be developed as a destination for both
tourism and research and will have a green belt for picnics, a
documentation centre and a museum.''
The hubs will also have pavilions exhibiting models of the Saraswati
basin in its cultural and topographical perspectives, and
dormitories for scholars and tourists, all of which will be set in
verdant gardens, with pools of water symbolising the river.
The Saraswati Heritage Project is part of Jagmohan's vision for
tourism in India. A year ago, he initiated `Regeneration India', a
Rs 300-crore project to boost ``cultural and spiritual tourism'',
which will largely tap the growing domestic market.
The focus is on ``synthesis of the spiritual and aesthetic'' for
development of mind and body, says Jagmohan, rather than focusing
on ``material possessions, rest and recreation alone''.
He has just completed the development of the Kurukshetra hub, where
the epic battle of the Mahabharata is said to have been fought.
Says the minister: ``Last year alone, domestic traffic increased by
three crore. I have multiple objectives â to bring to life
culturally significant monuments, towns and sacred spots, improve
the surrounding area and infuse keen civic sense to make it a
pleasant experience. I also want to encourage visitors to come in
contact with the profound minds which created all these wonders.''
The Saraswati river project, however, has always raised a storm
among archaeologists. It is seen as a flagrant attempt by RSS-
inspired theorists to liken the Harappan civilisation with the Vedic
era (the Saraswati has been described gloriously in the Rig Veda) as
one and the same. It, therefore, seeks to establish the
indigenousness of Hinduism vis-a-vis Islam and Christianity and
opposes the Aryan invasion theory. But Jagmohan is indifferent to
accusations of ``Sanskritisation'' and ``Hinduisation'' of culture.
He is charging ahead with his pet projects with at least 50
new ``cultural'' destinations ready to be developed, from Hardwar-
Gangotri in Uttaranchal to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, and from
Ayodhya in UP to Hampi in Karnataka.
``If St Peter's in the Vatican can attract so many million visitors,
why can't we develop our cultural centres and introduce the new
generation to the profundity of ancient India?'' he asks.
Among other things, the new sites will have parkways, sound and
light shows, shopping plazas, restrooms, trauma centres, medical
kiosks, restaurants, helipads, airports and hotels.
Tourism hubs to pop up along 800-km long `riverbed'
VRINDA GOPINATH
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 20: The mythical Saraswati is yet to be traced
but Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Jagmohan has already
announced an ambitious Rs 5-crore Saraswati Heritage Project, which
aims to develop the ``Saraswati river belt'' as a ``cultural-
tourist'' hub with 15 circles or centres.
Earlier this year, the minister had sanctioned Rs 8 crore to the
Archaeological Society of India (ASI) to search for the river, which
is believed to have run dry a million years ago. Now he seems to
have zeroed in on a 800-km belt, stretching from Adi Badri in
Haryana (the source of the river, says the ASI) to Dholavira in
Gujarat.
The 15 hubs â located in far-flung archaeological sites like Kapal
Mochan and Kaithal in Haryana to Baror and Juni Kuran in Rajasthan,
and Narayan Sarovar in Gujarat â will showcase important discoveries
made by the ASI in their Saraswati excavations over the past few
months.
``The ASI and other organisations have been excavating almost 1,500
sites along the banks of the Saraswati and have made some exciting
discoveries of mounds and artefacts,'' says Jagmohan. ``The 15 hubs
along the riverbed will be developed as a destination for both
tourism and research and will have a green belt for picnics, a
documentation centre and a museum.''
The hubs will also have pavilions exhibiting models of the Saraswati
basin in its cultural and topographical perspectives, and
dormitories for scholars and tourists, all of which will be set in
verdant gardens, with pools of water symbolising the river.
The Saraswati Heritage Project is part of Jagmohan's vision for
tourism in India. A year ago, he initiated `Regeneration India', a
Rs 300-crore project to boost ``cultural and spiritual tourism'',
which will largely tap the growing domestic market.
The focus is on ``synthesis of the spiritual and aesthetic'' for
development of mind and body, says Jagmohan, rather than focusing
on ``material possessions, rest and recreation alone''.
He has just completed the development of the Kurukshetra hub, where
the epic battle of the Mahabharata is said to have been fought.
Says the minister: ``Last year alone, domestic traffic increased by
three crore. I have multiple objectives â to bring to life
culturally significant monuments, towns and sacred spots, improve
the surrounding area and infuse keen civic sense to make it a
pleasant experience. I also want to encourage visitors to come in
contact with the profound minds which created all these wonders.''
The Saraswati river project, however, has always raised a storm
among archaeologists. It is seen as a flagrant attempt by RSS-
inspired theorists to liken the Harappan civilisation with the Vedic
era (the Saraswati has been described gloriously in the Rig Veda) as
one and the same. It, therefore, seeks to establish the
indigenousness of Hinduism vis-a-vis Islam and Christianity and
opposes the Aryan invasion theory. But Jagmohan is indifferent to
accusations of ``Sanskritisation'' and ``Hinduisation'' of culture.
He is charging ahead with his pet projects with at least 50
new ``cultural'' destinations ready to be developed, from Hardwar-
Gangotri in Uttaranchal to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, and from
Ayodhya in UP to Hampi in Karnataka.
``If St Peter's in the Vatican can attract so many million visitors,
why can't we develop our cultural centres and introduce the new
generation to the profundity of ancient India?'' he asks.
Among other things, the new sites will have parkways, sound and
light shows, shopping plazas, restrooms, trauma centres, medical
kiosks, restaurants, helipads, airports and hotels.