Help Tourism

WTD Yatra 2010:

WTD or World Tourism Day is observed globally on the 27th of September every year with several themes to be carried forward for responsible contribution of the tourism industry. This is an important day to launch tourism products, especially in the Eastern Indian subcontinent as this is the starting of the yearly season after the monsoons.

Yatra, is an old Indian word which is a part of the Tirtha-Yatra, meaning pilgrimage or journey for enlightment. Hence, the word ‘yatra’ to ‘WTD’, a journey to tourism enlightenment, started on the 27th of September, 2010 from Dhaka. This was followed by the workshop at Paharpur and the journey completed at Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

About a 100 delegates from different works of life from Joypurhat, Naogaon, Bogora, Dhaka and India, of which about 87 of them had registered attended the workshop and contributed to the ‘Paharpur Declaration’, a continuation of the ‘Shantiniketan Declaration’, where tourism, peace and heritage conservation in cross-border initiatives were the priorities. The same priorities continued in the formation of the ‘Paharpur Declaration’. There were 60 recommendations in the ‘Paharpur Declaration’ which has been mentioned at the end of this report. Details about the Paharpur Circuit from Joypurhat will be available on the website www.livingbuddhism.in. During the occasion of the WTD Yatra 2010, DMSS opened its guest house on the outskirts of the Joypurhat town on the way to Paharpur. The 10 double bedded (attach toilet cum bath) rooms were used for the delegates and a plan for adding 04 family rooms are in process. The bookings of all these rooms, along with sightseeing and village visits will be available with Help Tourism’s Bangla Initiative. Special interest combined itineraries for Bangladesh will be available with Jouney Plus at Dhaka. For details please check www.journeyplus.com.

The Indian delegates was led by Mr.Goutam Ghose and the Dhaka delegates by Mr.Pijush Banerjee. The moderator for the Paharpur workshop was Mr.Shekhar Das and the Chief Guest was Mr.Safiqul Islam, DG-Archaeology. Dr.Nazmanara Khanum, the DC of Naogaon District was the Special Guest of the occasion. The workshop was opened by the film ‘Beyond Barriers’, a film by Ajoy Roy. The welcome address was made by Taufiq Rahman and the ground for the workshop was presented through a guideline explained by Raj Basu. The organizing part of the workshop and the Joypurhat hospitality was made successful by Shah Fakir Md. Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury Prince and Apurba Sarkar. Almost all delegates participated in the workshop and their inputs were noted as a part of the ‘Paharpur Declaration’.

Ground Work

Help Tourism during its last decade of serious work on Buddhism in the East Himalaya mainly with the scope of establishing Cross-Border tourism for peace and its connectivity with the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda deemed University) wanted to explore the positioning of Paharpur as a World Heritage Site to attract visitors and connect it to development of Community Based Tourism (CBT) locally. Sascha Prinz, a masters degree ecotourism intern from University of Applied Science – Eberswalde, Germany, who had come to work on the Help Tourism sites, was sent to make a preliminary survey in February 2009. As per his report, the region offers great potential but was lacking infastructure. There was no infrastructure to attract special interest tourists in Buddhism who would spent a few days at Paharpur, but the people in general were hospitable.

A two members team led by Raj Basu and joined by Biplab Saha took a YATRA (journey) to Paharpur between 9th to 11th September, 2009 as a part of Help Tourism’s Bangla Initiative (an initiative which was taken by Help Tourism in 2001 to explore the World Heritage Sites of Bangladesh) and talked to several possible stakeholder groups during this period. During this trip the interest and advantage of Joypurhat District town and its people were realized and the initiative to make it a base for Heritage Tourism in North Bengal of Bangladesh, mainly for Paharpur and Mahasthangarh was begun. Again on the World Tourism Day 2009, 27th September a group of tourists from Kolkata (Calcutta), led by Biplab Saha was taken to Joypurhat. They were taken around the several sightseeing places in the area, followed by a cultural evening by the people of Joypurhat and it was confirmed through their satisfaction, that this can easily be developed as the ‘Joypurhat circuit’. Since then several community meetings, local infrastructure development initiatives and circuit development programs were organized. The most active organizations of the area in this initiative have been the Joypurhat Municipality, Phulki, Sishu Udyan and DMSS.

The most important part to make everything happen is ‘Motivating Dhaka’. If the intellectual community, administration and travel industry of Dhaka is not a part of this initiative, then it would be half done. Hence, a strong partner from Dhaka became a must for this initiative. We could not think of a better partner than Mr.Taufiq Rahman of Journey Plus at Dhaka, who has been with this initiative from day one with all moral support. During his visit to Kolkata TTF 2010, he was taken for familiarization to Help Tourism’s Community Based Tourism Project at Bali in Sunderbans. This was the starting of a greater initiative connecting Bangladesh all along its borders with Northeast India and West Bengal known as ‘Heritage Tourism and Cross-Border Opportunities’. It was decided that the last one and a half years of ground work at Paharpur would be launched as Part 01 of this greater initiative during the World Tourism Day 2010 through the WTD Yatra 2010 ‘Dhaka to Darjeeling via Paharpur, connecting 02 North Bengals’. This was in continuation with the ‘Shantiniketan Declaration’, a workshop held at Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan on the 29th and 30th of March, 2010 being organized by Help Tourism in collaboration with Visva Bharati University, India Tourism, ACT, Travel to Care, IIPT, ICRT-India and West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. Accordingly, Taufiq with his network developed a Dhaka Team for the WTD Yatra 2010 for which the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh confirmed their collaboration.

About Paharpur

Atish Dipankar as Professor and Chancellor of Sompura Mahavihara translated Madhyamaka Ratna Pradipa into Tibetan language. It is believed that during his stay at Sompura Mahavihara, war broke out between King Nayapala, son of King Mahipala and Laxmilarna, King of Kalachuri. It was Atish Dipankar’s meditation that helped to terminate hostilities and establish peace. Though he was invited to visit Tibet and preach Buddhism by the then King Lah Lama Yioshi Hod, yet he could only make his YATRA (journey) in 1040AD during the reign of King Chang Chub Jnanaprabha. Tibetan Buddhists refer to him as Jabo Chhenpo (a great God), one of the greatest masters of Buddhism.
Tibetan works (Tibetan translations of Dharmakayavidhi and Madhyamika Ratna Pradipa, Taranatha’s history and Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang) reveals the glory of Sompura Mahavihara. Ratnakara Shanti was the stavira of the Mahavihara, Mahapanditacharya Bodhibhadra was a monk of this Mahavihara, Kalamahapada, Viryendra and Karunashrimitra spent time as scholars of this Mahavihara. Taranatha and other Tibetan sources mention that King Devapala built the Sompura Mahavihara after the conquest of the Varendra Bhumi.

The excavated ruins at Paharpur in the Nagaon District and 10 kms from the district town of Joypurhat, Bangladesh establishes the fact that Sompura Mahavihara was built by the 2nd Pala king, Dharmapala between 781 to 821 AD. Clay seals from the ruins bear the inscription ‘Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-Bhikhshu-Sanghashya’. King Devapala and his son King Mahendrapala continued their patronage to the Mahavihara. During the reign of King Mahipala (995 to 1043 AD) the Mahavihara was repaired and renovated. It is recorded in the Nalanda inscription of Vipulashrimitra, that his ancestor Karunashrimitra lost his life in the fire as he refused to leave the Mahavihara. This was probably from the attack of the Varman rulers of Vanga. About a century later, Vipulashrimitra restored the former glory of the Mahavihara and built a Temple of Tara. The expression then used for the temple was ‘Jagatang Netraika Vishrama Bhuh’ (a singular feast to the eyes of the world).

Help Tourism celebrates World Tourism Day at several destinations by empowering the grassroot level stakeholders in tourism and launching several green travel products.

Puri, by the Bay of Bengal is one of the most sought after pilgrimage destination for the Hindus worldwide has gradually emerged as a leisure holiday destinations for the millions of travellers from West Bengal and other parts of India. With the change in type, the quality of facilities also changed drastically. The pilgrimage dharamshalas (free/donation accommodation for pilgrims) were replaced by hotels, the temple prashad (food offered to the Gods and then distributed to the pilgrims) was all replaced by restaurants, rickshaws were replaced by auto-rickshaws etc. The 2000 auto rickshaws put the rickshaw pullers out of work, leaving them frustrated anti-social elements and Puri a polluted town.
A group of about 50 rickshaw pullers greeted the passengers with roses in the morning at Puri Railway Station. They were led by the local Superintendent of Police, Mr.S.K.Priyadarshi and the members of Barefoot (a local association of tour operators, hoteliers and other professionals). Help Tourism, Siliguri is an advisor to this association and acts as the principle motivator towards responsible tourism.
In the morning itself at 10am, the Mayor of Puri, Mrs.Shanti Pradhan flagged off the Green Rider Rickshaws from the Lion’s Gate of the Jagannath Temple. The rickshaws passed through all the major roads and sightseeing points, stopped occasionally by the people who supported the rickshaw pullers by giving them drinking water. The rickshaw pullers rode proudly around the town with a sense of achievement.

The evening was an exclusive event in the Panthanivas beach of Puri. This event dedicated to the rickshaw pullers and their families was attended by several tourists, travel agents and hoteliers. The chief guest of the event was Mr.S.Das Verma, the local MLA from Bragmagiri, Orissa and the Guest of Honour was Dr.Peter Patel, an active Rotarian from the United Kingdom who has been organizing several health programs in Orissa. Mr.Gobind C. Bhuyan, Asst. Director, India Tourism was a special guest at the event.
The highlight of the evening was the team of Mrs.Nanda Kundu, a salsha guru from Delhi and founder of Kiran’s Dance in Rhythm, who performed several international level western and Indian folk & classical dance forms. The team consisted of both Indians and foreigners and truly lived to the theme of World Tourism Day 2009, celebrating diversity. A team from the youths of the Sevait families performed yoga  under Bharat Yoga Kendra. The Green Riders were finally recognized on stage and several facilities were announced for them.
International sand sculptor, Mr.Sudarshan Pattnaik and his team created a beautiful piece of art in sand to match the World Tourism Day theme. A film by famous news personnel, Ajoy Roy, who is also the President of ACT (Association for Conservation & Tourism) made an excellent promo -documentary on the Green Riders.
The extraordinary initiative was taken by Mr.Yugabrata Kar, founder of Heritage Tours of Puri and Barefoot, Puri. This was supported by India Tourism (Kolkata & Bhubaneswar), Orissa Tourism, Mayfair  Puri, Chariot Puri, Holiday Resort, Shakti International, State Bank of India, Lakshya, NICE, Coca cola, 1000 Sands etc.

---

Kurseong, a part of the Darjeeling Hills in the East Himalaya houses the World Heritage Site, the DHR (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway), but the sense of ownership by the local people was missing as their livelihood had no relation with the DHR. This is when the DHR Director, Kurseong SDO , Divisional Forest Officer and several other  persons from the administration and political parties decided to support a local group of youth from Kurseong and adjoining areas to start ecotourism and hence their name Himalayan Ecotourism Welfare Society.

Help Tourism, as their advisors helped the youths to constitute a management committee and framed a greater heritage area added to the DHR World Heritage Site, ‘Kurseong Ecotourism & Heritage Park’. The Tea Estates and Forests with the people in and around Kurseong were included in the map. Hotels, Tea & Forest Bungalows, Homestays and other service providers were identified and added to the initiative. Activities including nature treks, nature drives, tea treks, tea drives, DHR heritage rides, cultural shows, handicrafts & handlooms and volunteering with schools, scouts, health & Agro based NGOs, salamander conservation programs etc were included.
The official launching was done on the World Tourism Day, 2009 in the presence of several people and media from the region. Chief Guest, Mr.Gopal Lama, Director, West Bengal Tourism and Guest of Honour,  Mr.Subrata Nath, Director, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway declared the project launching of ‘Kurseong Ecotourism & Heritage Park’. They both said that this initiative will bring back the old glory of Kurseong. Mr.Gopal Lama said that this will help in generating self employment in hundreds of families in this area and will support a better civil society. Mr.Subrata Nath said that they will provide all support for the successful implementation of this project, also a tourist information centre was inaugurated in the Kurseong Railway Station on this date to be managed by the Himalayan Ecotourism Welfare Society. Mr.Paras Dahal, the East Himalaya co-ordinator for Help Tourism said that the national & international bodies like DHR-India Support Group & DHR Society will certainly provide support to the initiative by participating in the several ecotourism programs that have been launched and will help in promoting the same.