Government firm in its commitment to preserve the city’s art, heritage and culture: Tourism Minister
Government firm in its commitment to preserve the city’s art, heritage and culture: Tourism Minister
The government plans to organise beach festivals during the Tamil New Year in April to showcase the beauty of the seaside as well as to highlight the message of conservation, Tourism Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said on Friday.
Inaugurating the eighth edition of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival (March 4-27), Mr. Lakshminarayanan said the celebration would also be an occasion for visitors to experience first-hand the half a dozen beaches that have undergone extensive restoration.
“Tourists associate the city with only the Promenade… we would like to popularise some of our other equally scenic seaside stretches that have been rejuvenated,” Mr. Lakshminarayanan said. “The idea is to stage cultural events in each of these beaches, one after the other, to coincide with the Tamil New Year celebrations”.
In fact, apart from the Pondy Marina, which is quickly becoming an alternative hangout for tourists, there are a string of other beaches that can attract visitors. In fact, one of them, the Eden Beach in Chinna Veerampattinam near Puducherry has even received the prized ‘Blue Flag’ certification from the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education (FEE) — a status accorded to beaches that are environment-friendly, clean and equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists.
The government remains firm in its commitment to preserve the city’s art, heritage and culture, the Minister said. The Tourism Department was engaged in consultation with experts on going about developing and promoting these unique characteristics of Puducherry that differentiate it from other cities, he said.
The government would also encourage film-making with Puducherry as locale so that its attraction as a tourist destination would reach wider audiences, Mr. Lakshminarayanan said.
In fact, one of the highlights of the PHF is the screening of a new Marathi film “Pondicherry” that has been shot on a smartphone.
Sachin Kundalkar, the writer-director of the film, has agreed to visit the city shortly for a free-entry public screening of the film with sub titles, Mr. Lakshminarayanan said.
Satish Nallam, president, Alliance Francaise in Pondicherry (AFP) and Sunaina Mandeen from PondyCAN and festival coordinator, spoke.
The PHF theme is “celebrating the natural, cultural and built heritage of the bio-region” and will feature guided heritage walks, biodiversity workshops, spotlight sessions on Creole cuisine and indigenous food systems and handicrafts.
A host of agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Tourism Department, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Alliance Française Pondicherry (AFP), French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), People for Pondicherry’s Heritage (PPH), Pondicherry Citizen’s Action Network (PondyCAN) and Alliance for Good Governance (AGG), are supporting the event.
“Melange des Melodies”, a semi classical concert by Carnatic musician Shobha Ramesh followed the inaugural ceremony.