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Introduction: Jagmohan plans to jazz up temple town with airstrip, swanky walkway
If Union tourism minister Jagmohan has his way, and if other ministries (civil aviation in particular) cooperate, Ayodhya will be transformed from a temple town to one of India's leading tourist attractions. Over the next six months, it is to be developed as "a wonder of resurgent India".
On the cards are an airport (with a helicopter and 50seater aircraft service from Lucknow), a new railway station, five-star hotels, a museum, a cultural centre and much more. Rs 6 crore has been already pledged for the initial facelift.
The Saryu riverfront is slated to be imaginatively developed as one of the world's best walkways. Between this seven-km walkway and the road, there will be shops, kiosks and a Yatri Niwas. The existing structures, most being ugly and rickety, will be pulled down.
An old palace of the local raja is to be converted into a heritage hotel, possibly by the Taj or the Oberoi group. An attractive light-and-sound show on the Ramayana on the Saryu riverfront is also being planned.
What about the Ram mandir? "My plans for Ayodhya are independent of the temple. It is part of my holistic approach to developing tourism in centres of ancient cultural heritage. You cannot offer a place as an attractive tourist destination without reasonably good infrastructure," he says.
Ayodhya has always been an important pilgrimage centre, but how has it suddenly begun to figure on India's tourist footprint? "People are interested in Ram, the Ramayana and the Mahabharat.
They would like to discover the
mystique of Ram and his Ayodhya," says Jagmohan. And it's not as
if he is promoting pilgrimage centres of only one religion, he tells
you. "I've allocated funds for the Dargah in Ajmer, the tomb of Nizamuddin
Auliya and even for the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Nobody talks
of that. I have great plans for Ayodhya, and why not?" says Jagmohan.
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