Luxury stay at Parasnath

Luxury stay at Parasnath- Move to woo Jain youths
SHAHNAWAZ AKHTAR

Giridih, Feb. 20: The experience of travelling to Parasnath Hills is all set to change in another two years with high-class lodging and dining facilities coming up in the area.

With an aim to attract youths to the Jain pilgrimage centre, Shri Digambar Jain Saswat Tirthraj Sammedshikhar Trust, a welfare organisation of the Jains, has embarked on a mega project to set up rest houses, hotels, cafeteria and preaching centres in Madhuban, located at the foot of the hills.

The project, Digambar Jain Saswat Vihar, will be wrapped up by 2011. In the first phase, a dharamshala called Niharika has already come up in Madhuban. The five-storeyed building with eight suites was inaugurated on February 15. There are plans to build six more wings comprising three buildings having around 200 rooms, a cafeteria, separate buildings for Jain saints along with preaching centres and special food zones for them called Aharshala.

Keeping in mind the fact there is a perennial crisis of water and power in Madhuban, a power substation and an underground water tank will also be installed.

Every year, around 50,000 Jain pilgrims visit Madhuban and Parasnath Hills. But the community feels that the participation of youth is low because of poor accommodation facilities in Madhuban.

“We hope that with options of better stay, we will be able to bring more and more youths here,” said Yogesh Jain, one of the trustees and architects of the project.

Although the budget is a whopping Rs 7 crore, the facilities will be available to the pilgrims at a very low price.

Jharkhand Tourism: Moving ahead through PPP

The Madhu Kora Government in Jharkhand has accorded top-most priority to promotion of tourism in the state. The state plans to globally promote all the facets of tourism, be it eco, spiritual or rural. The mission being to put the state firmly on the global tourism map by 2010. On an average 30-35 lakh domestic tourists visit Jharkhand every year during the peak tourist season. Of this, 25 lakh visit Deoghar, which is famous for religious tourism. Domestic tourists generally come from neighbouring West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Deoghar or Baidyanath Dham is an important pilgrim centre of the state. Scores of pilgrims visit the temple on foot travelling for around 100 km during the month of Shravan (July-August as per the English calendar) to pay their obeisance to Lord Shiva.

Speaking on the state's tourism plans and initiatives, Dipak Singh, Director-Tourism and Managing Director, Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) said, "We are looking for partners for progress. The State Government is also keen on improving tourism infrastructure in the state, it is facilitating the creation of tourist bungalows, yatri niwas, lodges, budget category hotels, wayside facilities and resorts with private participation on a PPP (Public-Private-Partnership) model."

The state government aims to set up more budget hotels in the state under the PPP model. Presently, JTDC is refurbishing its existing properties, as well as improving on the road network, electricity and air connectivity to the state capital. Few private airlines have started their operations from Ranchi, connecting the state capital with other important metros. JTDC is also contemplating to offer land at concessional rates to hospitality groups for construction of hotels and other wayside facilities.

To attract more foreign tourists into Jharkhand, the state government has also identified the famous Ranchi-Netarhat-Betla circuit for developing tourism and also an inter-religious circuit in Parasnath temple. Situated at 4431 ft above sea level, Parasnath also known as Samved Shikhar is the most sacred place of the Jains and attracts Jain tourists throughout the year. It is the highest hill in the state and is about 190 km from Ranchi, the state capital.

To promote adventure tourism in the state, the Tourism Department is also looking at developing several sites in the state as water sports destinations under the PPP-model.

Jharkhand is undoubtedly a treasure-house of herbal plants and forest resources. More than 1,500 herbal plants are found in the country and a huge chunk of them is found in the State. The state therefore sees an opportunity for eco-tourism.

On the hospitality front, the department has received encouraging feedback from domestic and international hospitality groups to set up star-category and budget hotels in the state. The state has also embarked on an aggressive marketing and promotion exercise. It is participating at major travel and tourism marts in the country and abroad. A high-level delegation from the Department of Tourism visited WTM London and now Jharkhand Tourism will be participating at the forthcoming ITB Berlin event. As part of its marketing exercise, it plans to launch a comprehensive website and tourism information centers in different parts of the country.