By Kiran Patil,
There are more than 500 forts in Maharashtra out of which roughly 350 forts can be positioned or are on records. Some of the forts had been constructed 2200 years ago way back in history throughout the instances of “Satavahana” or ahead of that. Forts had been the ideal way to retain an empire protected from the invaders or enemy attacks. Ancient forts had been primarily constructed for the security & safety goal to safeguard the surrounding locations & to retain a close watch on the trespassers. The forts can be primarily categorised as residence fort or Gadhi, Bhuikot Fort, Mountain Forts, Seaforts and so forth. Some forts had been only utilised as the “chowki” implies jakat or toll points to gather the taxes from the traders & also to retain an eye on the nearby movements. Forts of Maharashtra had been war forts which witnessed a lot of battles and the fort walls had to face the cannon attacks many instances. This is the primary cause why the forts in Maharashtra are not in very good situation now. Today, these forts are below the handle of many authorities for repair & upkeep. Visiting these forts must be on each traveller’s itinerary, for they are the correct reflection of the culture of the State. . Silent and beautiful reminders of a wealthy previous, these forts are replete with sagas of romance, chivalry and valour.
Maharashtra is recognized for organization travel to Mumbai & Pune, and luxury or leisure travel to Mahabaleshwar, Konkan, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Nasik and so forth. Sadly, the Forts are visited mainly by the trekkers & youngsters only. Families, luxury and leisure travellers have a tendency to show restricted interest in Forts. If the preferred destinations are promoted along with forts and heritage web pages in the vicinity, they can attract higher quantity of tourist visits. It is effortless to divert the flow of vacationers to heritage web pages as they are currently traveling to the preferred destinations and we only have to include things like the forts & heritage web pages in their itinerary. We require to collaborate and work closely with many market stakeholders & tourism bodies to conduct heritage tours to forts & ancient monuments across Maharashtra such as Marathwada & Vidarbha, as it will make equal possibilities in the State. We require to curate itineraries that include things like forts, caves, heritage web pages & historic monuments along with beaches, wildlife and hill stations. Combination of unique destinations will attract all sort of travellers with varied interests, which in turn will make a balanced tourism market in the State.
Our essential agenda must be to market our heritage web pages on each national as properly as international platforms and showcase our monuments as ‘Undiscovered Jewels’. This is only doable if we inform the stories of our heroes in an productive manner. People are increasingly hunting for experiences that bring history to life in an engaging way. We require to offer you a hands-on encounter that will inspire and entertain men and women of all age groups. Activities such as highlighting nearby cuisine by means of meals trailing, nearby folk dance, nearby martial art, storytelling sessions about the wars fought on every single fort & war heroes and so forth. can be carried out. The heritage promotions by means of fort tourism can be accomplished by imbibing values of authenticity, excellent, imagination, duty and entertaining. Furthermore, we must increase standard tourism amenities about these forts such as parking, access route, methods, cleanliness, toilets, drinking water, guides, safety, sign boards, info boards and so forth. Forts like Raigad, Janjira, Shivneri, Sindhudurga, Sinhagad and so forth. are witnessing big quantity of tourist visits. Some of the motives attributed to higher visits are accessibility, tourist facilities, guides, security and so forth.
Through a focussed strategy on Heritage Tourism, we can look at attracting a big quantity of travellers going to our forts & Heritage Sites. This will additional motivate authorities & private sector enthusiasts to invest in tourism facilities, infrastructure and amenities which would at some point lead to sustainability & continuity to the conservation work to tackle the defacement.
Each fort or heritage web-site can allow the financial and social improvement of nearby communities, and make sustainable earnings possibilities. Each traveller’s stop by to these isolated web pages by means of our efforts can produce income for the locals in the kind of Community Based Tourism be it nearby guides, safety guards, nearby acquire, accommodation, meals, transfers, and so forth.
We estimate a minimum of 20 direct & 50 indirect sources of employment from every single fort and heritage web-site. For direct employment, nearby villagers in the kind of nearby labour, nearby guide, safety guard, meals trailing activity, household keep and so forth. and for indirect employment, taxi service operators, travel agents, tour operators, parking lots operators, souvenir shops, cafeterias, activities like folk dance, cultural applications, martial arts, Social media authorities, graphic designers, occasion planners, and so forth. can be aligned.
Combination of Various Interests
We require to make awareness in the travel market by means of engagement with connected stakeholders such as inbound travel agents, tour operators, travel promoters, itinerary builders, vloggers and so forth. We must make a cluster of heritage itineraries exactly where preferred destinations are combined with forts in the vicinity such as Antur Fort with Ajanta Caves, Lohagad Fort with Lonavala, Tikona Fort with Pavana Lake, Pratapgad Fort with Mahabaleshwar, Janjira fort with Kashid Beach, Jawahar Palace with Sula Wines, Ajinkyatara Fort with Wai and so forth.
Effective use of:
Warrior Families, Their Residence Forts & Wada’s
Most of the descendants of the sardar (warrior) households live in Maharashtra. Some old residences, generally recognized as “Wada’’ are in a dilapidated state, producing their way to be quickly swallowed by the ravages of time. Few are in satisfactory situation but are not maintained. The history of these good households is lost right after centuries of Swarajya and the British rule. Apart from Royal households and handful of sardar households, rest of the households that played a pivotal part in swarajya, lack recognition today. Attaching their residence forts and old wada’s to tourism can aid bring back dignity and due acknowledgment to such households. The existence of ancient spears, swords, artefacts, letters, coins, costumes, artilleries and so forth. discovered in these homes can be used to make awareness as properly as restore old legacies.
Museums
Maharashtra has many museums, a handful of below the handle of Maharashtra’s State Archaeology Department and a handful of below the private ownership. Museum such as Gargoti Museum in Sinnar, Museum of Aundh, Bhor, Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum in Mumbai and so forth. are properly maintained by the authorities, which can also produce tourism. Many royal & warrior households have a collection of ancient artilleries which could be created productive use of. A Few of these include things like Dhamale Wada in Mulshi, Amatya Wada in Gaganbawda, Ghorpade Gadhi of Bahadurwadi, Jadhav Wada of Chikhali, The New Palace of Kolhapur, Dabhade Gadhi of Talegaon and so forth.
Jungles, Temples & Sahyadri
Jungle Safari, Pilgrimage, Holy Places & Hills of Sahyadri can also be incorporated in all form of travel itineraries in the State.
Communities, Local Art, Culture, Cuisine, Traditional Dance & Festivals and so forth.
The communities spread across the State can also be integrated in the travel itineraries. Each neighborhood has their exceptional life-style, costumes, culinary, art & life-style. Some examples of these communities include things like Varhadi neighborhood of Vidarbh, Warli Community of Palghar, Kokana neighborhood of Nadurbar, Khandeshi of Jalgaon, Korku’s of Melghat, Gond of Gadchiroli, Agri – Koli of Mumbai & Konkan and so forth. Travel agents & tour operators can suggest visits to these communities in the travel itineraries to market Maharashtra’s cultural heritage. Their properties can be marketed as rural accommodation and their cuisine and cooking solutions can be promoted in the kind of ‘’Food Trails’’…….!!
The scope of heritage tourism in Maharashtra is immense. The State’s flourishing history can nevertheless be witnessed in many majestic monuments & forts, and other historic destinations. We require to create our heritage and tourist web pages and make them tourist friendly to improve their tourism possible and cultural value.
(The author is Managing Director at Marathi Heritage and Founder of Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Institute Of Management and Entrepreneurship Development. Views expressed are individual and do not reflect the official position or policy of the TheSpuzz Online.)