Discover tradition and folklore
SOMA BASU
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When travelling goes beyond sight-seeing to a broader cultural experience and interaction with local people…
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PHOTOS: DHAN Foundation
Authentic experience: Tourists getting to know local lifestyles....
She never stepped out of Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu for 46 years. And finally when she did for the first time ever, it was more than 5,000 miles away into the Hindi heartland of Delhi. In the wildest of her dreams, Rajeswari had never thought that a day will come when she will rub shoulders with artisans and crafts persons from across the country in the Capital’s famed “Dilli Haat”, a hotspot for art, crafts and culture.
All this happened last year when she became one of the five selected members of the famous Kandangi sari marketing group and was able to take her product to the North for exposure and sale.
Emerging answers
Just a few years ago, local NGOs were debating how to remove poverty from villages in Chettinadu region as there was no call on their traditional skills. The answer appears to be emerging.
Take the example of the Hollygun family from Canada. On a six month tour of the world, they chose Karaikudi for a home-stay in one of the Chettiar mansions earlier this year. So enamoured were they of the striking architecture of the palatial mansion, Chettinadu cuisine and the hospitality, the quaint antique shops, the rustic bullock cart ride that they left with the promise to return and also send more of their friends.
For women like Rajeswari, there could not have been a better opportunity to interact with tourists from abroad (also inland) and explain to them the steps in handloom sari making. And the story did not end with demonstration alone. It materialised into sale of their product. And what better than a woman making and selling her product directly to the customer from home? It is a perfect road to her empowerment.
No doubt rural India, steeped in tradition and folklore, is enchanting. Yet, the majority of Indian villages have remained hidden and wrapped in lack of opportunities, guidance, facilities and poor economic conditions.
“Our villages and villagers are pushed to the brink of fading into oblivion. There is an imperative need to rebuild their lives in their native places by not only providing them with financial assistance but also market linkages. By building the requisite infrastructure, if we are able to increase employment and income generation activities in the villages, it not only strengthens local economy but also revives artisan skills,” says K.P. Bharathi, Team Leader at DHAN Foundation, Madurai.
Rajeswari and Ilango were among the beneficiaries of DHAN’s “Development Tourism” concept that aimed at attractively packaging rural tourism to strengthen livelihoods of the locals and creating a value for Indian handicrafts in the domestic and global market.
Planning big
The Government of India is now stepping in a big way in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme to identify rural destinations across the country. Originally 36 destinations were short-listed but at present 16 are being aggressively promoted.
Of the 16 chosen rural tourism sites — launched under the Rural Tourism Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism — two are in Tamil Nadu. The city of Nattukottai Chettiars, Karaikudi in Sivagangai district, which won the Best Rural Tourism Award last year and where DHAN Foundation was already active on a similar project; and, Kazhugumalai in Tirunelveli district, one of the ancient temple towns in Tamil Nadu known for the monolithic rock cut temple dating back to 8th Century and decorated with sculptured panels, pillars and Jain carvings.
The DHAN Foundation was the natural choice as partners for unleashing the tourism potential of these two project sites in Tamil Nadu. Along with the Centre’s project, the Tamil Nadu Government has also come out with a new initiative for developing infrastructure facilities in and round rural tourist centres through an Infrastructure Gap Filling Fund being set up with assistance from Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Departments. Eight different sites across the State have been chosen for the tourism and hospitality related projects.
Keeping in mind that eco-tourism and eco-ethics are environment and culture-specific, a charter for sustainable tourism has also been drafted by DHAN. This is to ensure that responsible tourism observes basic eco-ethical tenets.
“Traditional or conventional tourism of the past had more of a negative impact, ignoring the sanctity of local environment, biodiversity and indigenous people. India, with her wealth of cultural heritages of great antiquity, has immense scope for ecotourism. Constant research to identify newer areas and spots for ecotourism, preparing brochures on them and on the eco-ethics relevant to each, organising environmental trails and training knowledgeable guides, preferably using the services of local people, are our obligations,” explains Bharathi.
Where homes are bound by generations of camaraderie and happiness in one household is celebrated by the entire community, where an extra dollop of warmth drapes every action and gesture, where art, crafts, culture, history, tradition and heritage are ever resplendent. Such a rural India is worth exploring and understanding, feeling the celebrations of grace and abandon. It is a sojourn off the beaten track unrivalled in spontaneity and sheer delight.
In Karaikudi and Kazhugumalai, tourists don’t ask for hotels but look forward to their stay in the age-old mansions which lend a personalised touch and offer authentic Chettinadu cuisine. Apart from local sightseeing and shopping, they also have the option of visiting the rock cut temple at Pillaiyarpatti or the vast 100-year-old temple complex at Thiruvenkadamudaiyan.
Well-planned itinerary
In Kazhugumalai, the main attraction is of course the Vettuvan Koil (Siva Temple), Lord Murugan Temple and Jain carvings (a bas relief from the Pandian era). The tourists are also taken on the freedom fighters’ circuit including Ettayapuram (which also has a memorial for Subramania Bharathiar), Panchalakurichi, the heroic village where the great warrior Veerapandiya Kattabomman dared to raise his voice against the British regime in 17th Century. And Kayathar where Kattabomman was hanged on a tamarind tree in 1799 where now stands a memorial in his memory.
As the primary source of foreign exchange earnings, the rapidly growing tourism industry is moving on. From “Mera Bharat Mahaan” and “Atithi Devo Bhava” to “Incredible India”...now it is the turn of “Explore Rural India”.
Selected destinations
The other 14 rural tourism destinations are:
Naggar, Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh
Jyotisar, Kurukshetra district, Haryana
Samode, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Hodka, Kutch district, Gujarat
Pranpur, Ashok Nagar district, Madhya Pradesh
Chaugan, Mandia district, Madhya Pradesh
Banawasi, Uttar Kannada district, Karnataka
Kumbalanghi, Ernakulam district, Kerala
Aranmula, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala
Pochampalli, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh
Ballavpur Danga, Birbhum district, West Bengal
Nepura, Nalanda district, Bihar
Lachen, North District, Sikkim
Sualkuchi, Kamrup district, Assam
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