Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Aranmula wins tourism laurels

Winning act: A view of the pageantry held as part of the snake-boat regatta in Pampa in Aranmula.

PATHANAMTHITTA: Kerala Tourism has got a lot to cheer about as it won two international Gold Awards instituted by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for Cultural Tourism (Aranmula) and Marketing Brochure (Kumarakom), along with the Grand Award received by the Union Ministry of Tourism for Marketing.

Receiving the Award, Sheelbhadra Banerjee, Secretary to Ministry of Tourism, said efforts were fast under way to promote India as “a tourism destination for all seasons.”

It is noteworthy that the Union Ministry of Tourism had decided to promote Aranmula in Pathanamthitta and Kumbalangi in Ernakulam as two major rural tourism destinations in a big way at national and international level.

District Collector Ashok Kumar Singh and the Executive Director of the State-run Vasthu Vidya Gurukulam, P.N.Suresh have jointly made a presentation on the rural tourism potential of Aranmula at workshop held in New Delhi two weeks ago. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has already uploaded the digital video presented at the workshop, ‘Aranmula, a heritage that lives by a river,’ according to Mr. Singh.

The workshop had also decided to chalk out new strategies for marketing the rural tourism potential of Aranmula and Kumbalangi across the globe, he said.

Aranmula and Kumbalangi were the two villages in Kerala that have been selected for implementing the Endogenous Tourism Project (ETP), jointly sponsored by the government of India and the UNDP, three years ago.

Mr. Singh said the district administration had also chalked out a project to make Aranmula a ‘zero-waste’ panchayat in a time-bound manner.

The small village of Aranmula situated on the banks of the Pampa houses as many as 100 small and medium ancient temples and churches, attracting a good number of foreign and native tourists, said Mr. Suresh.

Uthrittathi Vallamkali, the annual snakeboat pageantry in the Pampa at Aranmula during the Onam festival, is a major tourism event that attracts both native and foreign tourists.

The world famous metal mirrors of Aranmula, better known as ‘Aranmula Kannadi,’ have taken the popularity of this small hamlet across the globe. The centuries old Lord Parthasarathy Temple is also situated on the banks of the Pampa in Aranmula.

The Vasthu Vidya Gurukulam, an autonomous institution for the promotion of traditional architecture and mural painting under the State Cultural Affairs Department, is in Aranmula. It also houses a well-designed mural art gallery.

The Gurukulam has also been identified as the National Nodal Agency for promotion of traditional architecture (Vasthu Sastra).

The Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has recognised Aranmula as a Cultural Heritage Village a few years ago. The Vijnana Kalavedi, a centre for native arts, Kathakali, etc, run by Louba Schild, is another tourism attraction in Aranmula.

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