Agra, March 01: The 10-day Taj Mahotsav failed to live up to expectations, with local culture and heritage not given the pride of place, those from Agra’s tourism sector say. The authorities think differently.
The annual event, started in 1993, was held at Shilpgram, a complex 500 metres from the Taj Mahal, India’s biggest tourist draw. It ended on Sunday with a show by Bollywood singer K.K.
Representatives of Agra’s tourist industry and heritage experts blamed poor promotional efforts and shoddy planning.
“The only draw were the shows by Sunidhi Chauhan, Richa Sharma and Shubha Mudgal. Local culture and artistes generally got a raw deal,” complained Sudhir Gupta, who viewed the festival with his family.
Limited audiences
According to him, the audience in the afternoons was confined to friends and family members of the artistes.
“The original objective of the festival was to showcase the best of local culture to tourists, particularly foreigners. But the festival was more of a ‘deshi mela-tamasha’ [village funfair].”
Omendra Srivastav, a professional, was equally frustrated. He was furious that the organisers allowed parking contractors to charge Rs50 (Dh4) from each motorist. Equally, a ride on a swing and a bottle of water cost Rs30 each.
Some stall owners accused the organisers of exploiting them.
“We were put up at the far end of the ground. No one came to our stalls,” said Raghu, who was exhibiting glassware.
Tourism industry leaders Rajiv Tiwari and Rakesh Chauhan and hoteliers also felt alienated.
“When they don’t need our advice and are not prepared to listen to our suggestions, what reason do we have to get involved?’ one of them asked.
Uttar Pradesh tourism officials rejected the charges.
“From the beginning we had several rounds of discussions… The festival has been a great hit this year,” said Anoop Srivastav, joint director of Uttar Pradesh Tourism.
-IANS