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Post Covid-19 pandemic; foreign tourists start visiting Varanasi
Many tourists are travelling to Varanasi from cities like Riahikesh, Bangalore and Delhi where they were staying temporarily. They now prefer shorter journey as they got stuck in many cities when the Covid-19 had broken out over 17 months ago
VARANASI With life returning to normal post-Covid-19 pandemic, foreign tourists have started arriving in Varanasi. Around 150 foreign tourists visited Varanasi in the last two months (September and October), according to a senior officer, department of tourism.
Most of the foreign tourists, who visited Varanasi during this period, were nationals of USA, England, Israel, Poland, Mozambique, Japan, Russia, France, Germany and Romania, the officer said.
“However, many of the tourists are travelling to Varanasi from cities like Riahikesh, Bangalore and Delhi where they were staying temporarily. They now prefer shorter journey as they got stuck in many cities when the Covid-19 had broken out over 17 months ago,” said the officer.
According to the tourism department, many tourists also reached Varanasi via Nepal. Most of them spent around four to seven days and went back. At present, around 30 tourists are in Varanasi and they can be seen sitting on ghats.
On Monday, some foreigners were seen at Tulsi Ghat. They were enjoying traditional ‘Naag Nathaiya Leela’ being performed in river Ganga. It is held every year few days after Deepawali. Naag Nathiaya depicts Lord Krishna’s victory over serpent Kalia. A group of local artists of Kashi performs it in the mid of river Ganga.
Regional tourism officer Keertiman Srivastava said, “Post Covid-19, around 100 tourists have visited Kashi. Gradually, the foreign tourists have started coming to Varanasi but their number is very little. I hope more tourists will visit the city in near future.”
He said that before March 2020 (when Covid-19 outbreak occurred), on an average, over 35,000 foreigners used to visit Varanasi every month during the peak season which begins in September and ends in first week of March.
