In the last 12 days following the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Temple, Ayodhya has welcomed over 2.4 million visitors, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Initially, the consecration day alone drew an estimated 500,000 visitors, marking a significant boost to spiritual tourism.
“Our pilgrimage sites, our temples, the places of our faith, are not just places to visit; they are the infinite landmarks of our civilization for thousands of years. These are witness to Bharat’s resilience in facing every crisis. We have seen civilizations that were once very prosperous, now reduced to ruins,” he added.
“When pilgrims and devotees come, even the poorest of the poor earn. Everyone’s income increases whether they are rickshaw pullers, taxi drivers, hoteliers, or street vendors. That is why we have given a lot of emphasis on tourism in this year’s Budget,” said Modi.
“Central government is about to initiate new schemes for the development of places of historical relevance”, he informed.
Also noting the growing enthusiasm for tourism and pilgrimages in the country, the Prime Minister informed about the record influx of devotees in Varanasi after the completion of the Kashi Corridor. “In the past year, 8.50 crore people have visited Kashi, more than 5 crore visited Mahakal Lok in Ujjain, and more than 19 lakh devotees visited Kedardham”, he informed, reiterating that a similar sight will unfold here after the completion of Maa Kamkhya Divya Lok Pariyojana.
Following this, a similar rush after the completion of the Maa Kamakhya Divya Lok is expected in Assam, he said.
Besides branding and marketing on a global scale, a framework for rating the iconic tourist centres based on the quality of facilities will be established. The Finance Minister also highlighted how local entrepreneurship can get a boost with the possible surge in spiritual tourism. She also acknowledged that the plans to expand the existing airports and develop new ones will continue expeditiously.
In a significant move to enhance the visitor experience at pilgrimage sites, the Prime Minister recently marked a milestone by laying the foundation stone for various projects, among them the Maa Kamakhya Divya Pariyojana (Maa Kamakhya Access Corridor). This initiative, sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North Eastern Region (PM-DevINE) scheme.With this, Assam will become the gateway to tourism in the North East with an increase in the footfall of devotees for Maa Kamakhya’s darshan, the Prime Minister said as he lauded the efforts of the state government.
Explaining the vision and scope of the project, Modi outlined how its completion would not only enhance accessibility and convenience for devotees but also stimulate an increase in visitor numbers. Speaking at the ceremony inaugurating connectivity and infrastructure projects worth INR 11,000 crores in Guwahati, Assam, he underscored how these developments would bolster the state’s connectivity with the North Eastern states and neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, while also generating employment opportunities in the tourism sector.
Pointing out the record number of tourist footfall in the North East in the last 10 years, the Prime Minister said that even though the beauty of the region existed before this, the number of tourists remained extremely low, mentioning poor air, rail and road connectivity in the region.
this year, the government has also increased the region’s development expenditure by 4 times this year. Drawing comparisons to before and after 2014, the Prime Minister stated that the length of railway tracks laid was increased by more than 1900 kilometers, the Railway budget was boosted by almost 400 percent and 6,000 kilometers of new national highways were constructed in the last 10 years compared to 10,000 kilometers till 2014. Referring to the projects inaugurated in Guwahati, the Prime Minister said that it will strengthen connectivity to Itanagar.
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A UN conference voted September 17 to list prehistoric ruins near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, a decision likely to anger Israel, which controls the territory and does not recognize a Palestinian state.
Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on earth, and is in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is administered by the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The listing refers to the Tel es-Sultan archaeological site nearby, which contains prehistoric ruins dating back to the ninth millenium B.C. and is outside the ancient city itself.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the UN World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the auspices of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.
UN cultural agency UNESCO announced Tuesday it was removing the fire-damaged tombs of royal leaders in Uganda from its endangered heritage list, voicing satisfaction with restoration efforts. Ahead of the decision, UNESCO had said removing the tombs from the endangered list would be a powerful symbol given that 50 percent of sites considered in danger are in Africa.
Israel quit UNESCO in 2019, accusing it of being biased against it and of diminishing its connection to the Holy Land. Israel also objected to UNESCO’s acceptance of Palestine as a member state in 2011. But Israel remains a party to the World Heritage Convention, and it sent a delegation to the meeting in Riyadh. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. Israel views the West Bank as the biblical and cultural heartland of the Jewish people.
There have been no serious or substantive peace negotiations in over a decade, and Israel is currently led by the most nationalist and religious government in its history, making any move toward Palestinian statehood nearly unimaginable.
The modern city of Jericho is a major draw for tourism to the Palestinian territories, both because of its historical sites and proximity to the Dead Sea. In 2021, the Palestinian Authority unveiled major renovations to one of the largest mosaics in the Middle East, in a Jericho palace dating back to the 8th century.
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