Spiritual tourism gets boost in India: Kishan Reddy

VIJAYAWADA: Union Tourism and Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy has said the BJP-led NDA government is developing spiritual tourism across the country in a big way.

The minister visited the Amanalingeswarar Swamy temple at Amaravathi and offered special prayers there on Tuesday. He was welcomed into the temple with ‘Poorna Kumbh’ by the priests.

He noted that India was the birthplace of four religions -- Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Hinduism --and the BJP-led government was developing 50 tourism centres with special provisions in the Union Budget.

He said an amount of Rs 27.7 crore was sanctioned for the development of the Amaralingeswara Swamy temple. “We are developing Nagarjunakonda, the Kakinada wildlife sanctuary, Budameru, the Mypadu beach, the Buddhist Circuit, Amaravathi and other places,” he said.

The minister said that in AP, under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, a sum of Rs 141 crore was already granted and several tourism projects in the state were being funded by the Centre with the involvement of the AP tourism department.

Maintaining that the tourism sector suffered badly in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister said it was in progress in 2022 and a large number of tourists arrived in Sri Nagar in an unprecedented manner last year.

As India is set to host the G-20 Summit, the minister said delegates from 29 countries were expected. “We are arranging 250 meetings in 56 cities with an expected participation of nearly 1.5 lakh delegates,” he said.

Promising efforts from the Centre for developing temples in Simhachalam, Arunachalam and the Vedagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Nellore this year, Kishan Reddy said PM Modi was instrumental in developing the infrastructure for devotees in 169 temples across the country.

The minister laid stress on programmes to take students to the tourist centres to help them learn in-depth about Indian culture, traditions and history and urged the AP government to promote the concept of ‘Your Tourism’ in the institutions under the state education department.

The Union minister visited the Bapu Museum and lauded the display of ancient relics depicting the history and culture of the people of Andhra Pradesh, there.