INDORE, 16 Oct: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein highlighted the state’s tourism potential during an ‘Abhinandan Arunachal’ programme organised here in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday by social organisation VIPRA Foundation.
The programme, which was organised to promote Arunachal’s tourism potential, especially spiritual tourism, was also attended by Tourism Minister Nakap Nalo, MLAs Laisam Simai and Karikho Kri, and Tourism Director Abu Tayeng.
Mein informed that “Arunachal Pradesh is home to 26 major tribes and more than 100 sub-tribes with their own distinct cultures, traditions and customs.” The state, with five climatic zones, from tropical to alpine, also
makes it one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world, he said.
“Arunachal Pradesh has a long historical linkage since the age of Mahabharata,” he said, and informed that “it was from Bhismaknagar in present Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh that ‘Rukmini Haran’ took place.
“Lord Krishna, along with Rukmini Devi, rested in a place called Malinithan, which is in present Lower Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, on their way to Tezpur, located in Assam,” he claimed.
He informed the attendees about the tallest Shiva Linga in the country, in Lower Subansiri HQ Ziro, and Parshuram Kund in Lohit district, which he said, “can be developed as the ‘Kumbh of the East’ with the support of the central government and social organisations like VIPRA Foundation.”
Mein also highlighted the Buddhist religious sites in Namsai, Mechukha, Tuting, Bomdila, and Tawang, which are also major attractions for Buddhist pilgrims.
Nalo in his address said that “Arunachal Pradesh can offer any form of tourism, from adventure to nature, religious, research, cultural, ecotourism, etc, with abundant natural beauties and hospitable people.”
He invited the people from the mainland to visit Arunachal “and explore the beauty of natural, religious and cultural diversity of the state.”
VIPRA Foundation founder Sushil Ojha advocated “cultural integrations and promotion of religious tourism,” and lauded the initiatives of the central and the Arunachal governments for the development of Parshuram Kund.
“Parshuram Kund will see significant increase of Indian tourists’ inflow from lakhs to crores in years to come, which will contribute in economic development of the state,” he said, and informed that “the people of Indore will contribute Rs 51 lakhs for the development of Parshuram Kund.”
The DCM also launched a ‘Parshuram Kund Amantran Yatra’, which will start on 8 November this year and conclude on 8 January next year at Parshuram Kund.
Earlier, Mein and his fellow dignitaries met Madhya Pradesh Tourism Minister Usha Thakur and discussed the possibility of “incorporating the tourism policy of Madhya Pradesh in Arunachal Pradesh too.”
The dignitaries also participated in a meeting with members of the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Madhya Pradesh, headed by its chairman Sumit Suri. The DCM invited them to come to Arunachal “and expand their branches in the Northeast too.”
The dignitaries also visited Asia’s largest bio-CNG plant in Indore to understand the solid waste management system of the cleanest city of India. Indore has been voted as the cleanest city of India for the last six years consecutively. (DCM’s PR Cell)
