OdishaLive Bureau
This is something to be cheered about.
A group of 94 Hindus from Pakistan’s Sindh province recently visited Shree Jagannath Temple and paid obeisance to Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Debi Subhadra. The Pakistani pilgrims comprised of children, youths and old people.
They came all the way from a place called Ghotki in Sindh.
Sindh is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, in the southeast of the country. Historically home to the Sindhi people, it is also locally known as the Mehran.
“Sindh has been the land of rishis, saints and fakirs who have helped the poor and downtrodden,” said Nanik Lal, a devotee.
Some of the pilgrims- who were kids and old men alike – were visiting India for the second time. Many of these tourists were seeing the 12th century shrine for the first time.
“This is my second visit to India and first to Jagannath Dham. We are overwhelmed at the spiritual atmosphere of Puri and hospitality of the people,” said Vikram Pal, a businessman of Ghotki.
Given Puri’s age-old religious importance, pilgrims cutting across geographies make it a point to have a darshan of Jagannath Puri at least once in a life time.
After Pakistan gained independence from Britain on 14 August 1947, 4.7 million of the country’s Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India.Similarly, some 6.5 million Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan. The 1998 census of Pakistan recorded less than 2.5 million Hindus.
Hindus permanently staying in Pakistan conduct all Hindu rituals at their houses and visits like the one to Puri are part of a grand spiritual and emotional journey.
If Puri is the tourism treasure of Odisha, the magnificent temple and the beach attract lakhs of foreign tourist’s every year.
“Puri is the only place in eastern India where one can find a sprawling beach. Though the beach in Vizag is no better than Puri, a large number of visitors flock there as they find a host of recreational facilities. We need to add value to our tourism products. The government should invest to improve the infrastructure facilities in Puri”, said Benjamin Simon, a tour operator.
While footfalls of foreign tourists in Puri are more or less the same over the years, sincere efforts need to be made to make Puri more attractive.
Puri draws almost half of the total visitors to Odisha. Of about 1.15 crore visitors to the state last year, about 42 lakh paid a visit to Puri.
The existence of two other major tourist destinations – Konark Sun Temple and Chilka Lake – in the vicinity should make Puri an unmissable destination.
But, a 2013 survey by the state tourism department revealed the average duration of stay of foreigners has come down to 11 days. In 2008 survey, the average duration of stay of foreigners was 15 days.
This needs to be jacked up and efforts on the part of various stake holders can surely bring a sea-change.
