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Cruise along ghats to attract tourists to holy city
IN A bid to provide the foreign tourists a glimpse of the rich cultural tradition of Varanasi, the State Government is planning a cruise along its world-famous ghats considered the ?gateways to heaven?.Varanasi, popularly known as Kashi, is one of the oldest cities of the world and attracts the largest number of tourists after Agra, the city of Taj. ?Our effort is to attract the maximum number of tourists to the ancient city through the cruise service,? UP Tourism Minister Kokab Hamid said in an interview.
IN A bid to provide the foreign tourists a glimpse of the rich cultural tradition of Varanasi, the State Government is planning a cruise along its world-famous ghats considered the “gateways to heaven”.
Varanasi, popularly known as Kashi, is one of the oldest cities of the world and attracts the largest number of tourists after Agra, the city of Taj.
“Our effort is to attract the maximum number of tourists to the ancient city through the cruise service,” UP Tourism Minister Kokab Hamid said in an interview.
“We are considering to launch the cruise service between Assighat and Rajghat, comprising more than 80 ghats, covering over six km on the bank of the Ganga,” he said, adding that the modalities of the service would be finalised soon.
The proposal is aimed at providing foreign tourists, as also domestic devotees alike, a first hand account of traditional life-style, religious fervour and culture of the city.
“We would like this to be presented to the tourists on cruise,” Hamid said, adding that the visitors would also be apprised of history and religious significance of the various ghats along the Ganga.
Situated on the banks of Varuna and Assi (Varanasi), there are more than 80 ghats on the Ganga, including Assi, Tulsi, Ahilyabai, Harishchandra, Panchganga, Dashaswamedh, Manikarnika and Rajghat.
The cruise will also showcase the famous ‘galis’, ‘mohallas’ and ‘madmast culture’ of the ancient city with travellers savouring the mouth-watering traditional delicacies like ‘kachori’, ‘launglata’, ‘kheer mohan’, ‘kheer kadam’, ‘rasmalai’ and different varieties of ‘barfi’.
The cultural heritage of the city represented by different gharanas, including Ustad Bismillah Khan (shehnai), Birju Maharaj (kathak), Kishan and Godai Maharaj (Tabla), Rajan and Sajan brothers (classical singing) will also be displayed on the cruise.
While Assi Ghat is known as Assi and it is the last of the ghats of the city situated on the arch-shaped south-north flowing Ganga, a unique feature as geographically all rivers in India flow from north to south.
Tulsighat, is named after Tulsidas, who is supposed to have authored the Ramcharit Manas at this ghat in the 16th century.
Next to this ghat is Ahilyabai Ghat, named after the famous 19th century ruler of Holkar dynasty in Central India. She reconstructed the famous Vishwanath Temple, demolished by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Adjacent to it is the famous Harishchandra Crematorium, named after King Harishchandra, who according to Hindu mythology served as a “dom” (a person who assists in cremation).
The history of ghats were also related to noted film personalities like Satyajit Ray and Raj Kapoor shooting their films ‘Aparajito’ and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’, respectively, at various ghats.
