IIM-AHMEDABAD helps Bihar attract tourists

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has reached out to Modi-land for tourism development. He is getting tips from students of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on developing and selling Bihar tourism.

Six students of post-graduate programme in Agri-business Management have worked on a project to improve the tourist inflow to Bihar. The students identified the problems in infrastructure, developed websites with attractive package deals and offered solutions in developing the eco-tourism in the state.

"We studied all aspects related to tourism including agriculture, industry and communication among other things to suggest an appropriate solution. We also identified the roles that could be played by a facilitatore”be it the government, private companies or associations," said Shashwat Siddhant, one of the students, who developed the project as part of their Rural Immersion Programme.

The students suggested developing two districts which have the potential to attract eco-tourists”Madhubani, which is home to Madhubani paintings, and Bhagalpur, which is famous for home made khadi and silk. The reports have been submitted to the respective district magistrates in Bihar.

The students studied three important aspects pertaining to Madhubani ” its paintings, Khadi and tourism-and conducted interviews with painters, weavers and others to develop a website on Madhubani paintings. The students, in collaboration with NABARD, are helping the tourism department set up e-kiosks at Madhubani railway station to provide information on the art and its availability.

The students also identified the religious importance of the districts in Bihar as mentioned in Ramayana and Buddhism. "Bihar is significant from the religious point of view. So we have also explored the angle of religious tourism as well," said Siddhant.

Madhubani paintings attract attention from Mauritius

Madhubani paintings attract attention from MauritiusPatna, Nov 2 - Mauritius has invited two experts of the famous Madhubani paintings of Bihar to train its artists and art teachers at a workshop beginning Nov 4, an official said here Monday.

Rabindra Nath Tagore Institute under the Youth, Sports, Art and Culture Ministry of Mauritius invited the two experts - noted art designer Amitabh Pandey and Madhubani painter Raj Kumar, son of internationally known Madhubani painter late Yashoda Devi.

Mauritius artists and art teachers will be trained at a 16-day workshop.

"Mauritius has invited two experts of famous Madhubani painting from Bihar to train its artists and art teachers," an official of art and culture department said.

For ages, rural people, mostly women, of Mithila in Bihar have developed their tradition of art, popularly known as Madhubani paintings - named after Madhubani district. This painting tradition dates back to the seventh century AD.

Traditionally, Madhubani paintings were made on the eve of certain religious festivals and weddings. In the last few decades, master painters have popularised Madhubanipaintings the world over.

The famous Madhubani paintings are now an exclusive brand as they have been registered under the provisions of Global Indications (GI) Act for patenting.

Mauritius has strong cultural ties with Bihar as the Indian state is the land of the ancestors of a large number of people of Mauritius.

Last year, Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam visited Bihar and stressed on developing closer cultural ties with India.

Ramgoolam had touched the ground after alighting from the aircraft here, and quickly smeared some mud on his forehead.

His grandfather Mohit Ramgoolam was one of the hundreds of labourers forcibly taken by the British from Bihar to work in Mauritius sugarcane plantations in 1871. About 60 percent of the 1.2 million population of Mauritius is of Indian origin, a large number of them from Bihar with Bhojpuri as their mother tongue.link