Going with the digital trends

As Maharashtra ranks first on utsav.gov.in portal, Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism department, Govt. of Maharashtra, says she is glad her department is keeping pace with the digital trends.

TT Bureau

During the pandemic, the Union Ministry of Tourism (MoT) launched its website utsav.gov.in and called for content of various events and festivals, as well as live darshan details of temple deities, from all the states/UTs. Maharashtra tourism department promptly responded to the call and shared the desired details. The ministry recently released a list of the states, ranking Maharashtra as number one on the portal with 10 published live darshan listings, and among the top 10 states with eight published events and festivals’ listings.

Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism department, Govt. of Maharashtra, said, “I am glad that our department is keeping pace with the digital trend where tourists want to get all the information on a single click. Religious tourism being the oldest form of tourism followed in India, and where Maharashtra has unique religious circuit like Shirdi-Shegaon-Pandharpur, it plays a vital role for us to display about them on the national platform. Similarly, festivals are a way of showcasing the culture of our state and is equally important for tourists. As both the aspects are crucial to shape tourism in the state, we have taken keen interest in this initiative of MoT.” She added, “I would like to appreciate the efforts made by MoT for bringing information on festivals and religious tourism of all the Indian states under one roof. This will definitely benefit in attracting more domestic and foreign tourists.”

Having innumerable religious places/ temples/ pilgrimages, Maharashtra is also known for its religious circuit. Shirdi, Pandharpur, Tuljapur, Jejuri, Trimbakeshwar, Vani (Saptashrungi) and Siddhivinayak temple of Mumbai are only a handful of religious places that devotees/ tourists visit in huge numbers.

During the pandemic, when devotees could not physically visit these holy places, the temple authorities took up the initiative of online darshan. It became convenient not only for the management, but also for the devotees to be able to get a glimpse of deities from the comfort of their homes.