‘Kohima can be developed as cultural city’

Kohima, May 25 (MExN): Developing Kohima as a cultural city has been stressed during the two-day  seminar on cultural tourism and crafts and textiles of the North East, at Hotel Japfu, Kohima. Goutom Sharma, Secretary, Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Guwahati felt that Kohima can be developed as a cultural city for both domestic and international tourists for which , a planned and proper infrastructure is needed.

“In Kohima, if we can make a craft village where textile and a craft-marketing centre would be provided with regular cultural activities (music and dance). This would act as a booster to the existing cultural tourism package in Nagaland,” he continued.

Sharma also viewed that to make Imphal as one of the international tourist hot-spots, it requires that it should utilize its archaeological sites like the Kangla Fort and the Vaishnavite Gobinda Temple.

Tripura has great potential for development of cultural tourism. It can become a major cultural centre of India “if we make proper scientific development of its communication facilities.”

Cities like Aizawl – the capital of Mizoram, Lunglei and Champai can be made important tourist spots with proper planning as well.

Sharma suggested some places such as Tawang, Bomdila, Likabali, Khuncha, Along etc., as alluring tourist places for the world community. Each place’s museum- cum-cultural centre can be made, which, in the long run can make Arunachal Pradesh, an international tourist spot too.

Beautiful and naturally hill-bounded areas and water falls are major attractions in Meghalaya where one can find the finest cultural elements of the north east. Craft market with a regular music-and-dance centre exhibiting the rich culture of Meghalaya can be made for the delight of the tourists in the evenings.

He also felt that near Gangtok, there should be a cultural centre like Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra where Sikkimese culture including the rich Himalaya culture can be depicted.

Assam has tremendous prospects for the promotion of cultural tourism and the immediate need of the hour is scientific expansion of the communication sector like, roadway airways and waterways, Sharma observed.