Friends:Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) is very much pleased to join
hands with Luit Holidays in promoting the two days ethnic festival at the Koya
Kujia eco park at Abhayapuri (about 160 miles west of Guwahati). This is our
humble joint effort not only to promote local tourism but at the same time
trying to preserve our valuable culture and heritage in the region. Most often,
the public holds a wrong notion that tourism industry is something which the
government is supposed to build without the least idea how the tourism industry
would actually benefit the local people. As a result, during the last 60 years,
a huge governmental bureaucracies have been established by all the separate
states, and a huge amount of money are being spent in seminars (mostly in Delhi
and Kolkata) and various other projects in the name of tourism in the North
East India. However, the result is for everybody to see. The North East is
still hardly in the tourist map of India not to speak of the world tourist map.
Even now the North East receives only a tiny fraction of the international
tourists that visit India every year. While the money flows, the general public
has been made to believe that insurgency is the problem in North East India. As
a result, many of our exquisite tourist spots lack the required infra
structures and other amenities which are vital for tourism industry. To make
matters worse, most often, the tourism policies are dictated by people from
outside the North East who simply do not have the knowledge or the
sensitiveness for the local culture or ecology of the region. In fact so much
money is flowing in the name of tourism that we may rightly say that we 'do
not see the forest because of the trees'. What we are trying to do in
Abhayapuri is something that money cannot buy. We are trying to show how
tourism need to be developed not by policies dictated from above, but by
policies initiated by local people who are and should be the main stake holders
for tourism and culture. We are trying to show that tourism must NOT be
developed at the expense of our vital ecology and local culture. We are trying
to show how the local community must be involved in development of tourism. We
have chosen Abhayapuri as a show case because the region holds not only a huge
potential for the global tourism but also it holds our vital heritage and
colorful ethnic cultures. If you are hearing the word Koya Kujia for the first
time, we consider ourselves successful in bringing the awareness to you. Koya
Kujia is a recently developed eco park near Abhayapuri where tourists are
starting to trickle in. Nearby, there is a big lake which is known as Tam Ronga
(Copper-Red) Lake (hrod) (about 500 acres size) for which there are various
local myths relating to oneTam Ronga lady (may be copper colored) and the male
river the Brahmaputra. There are two famous Vaishnavite Xotros on its bank, the
Bishnupur Xotro which was established by Sri Xongkordev himself in the 15th
century, and another the Gorexia Xotro which was rediscovered only recently.
Both these xotros need preservation, support and promotion as historic and
cultural heritages. The region also holds Raghunath temple where a unique Rama
'murti' was discovered. Jogi Ghopa, (the caves of the Yogis), the famous
ancient Buddhist caves are nearby. The region also holds the historical relics
of Rajbari , an ancient royal estate. Ecologically, the region is famous for
abundance of precious devadaru trees, the golden monkey and varities of plants
and animals. The region is also famous for annual migratory birds. On the south
side of river Brahmaputra is the famous Suryapahar which was an ancient
Buddhist (Hinayana) shrine in 2nd century B.C. Later, various others religions
took shelters there including Vaishnavism, Saivasim and Jainism. In 9th
century, the Mahayana Buddhism flourished here again. There are so much
religious relics that archeologists like to compare Sryapahar with the famous
Elora temple. It is not surprising that, like Elora and Ajanta, Suryapahar was
situated on the crossroad of a famous ancient international trade road, called
the Southwest Silk Road (SSR) that goes from Pataliputra (present Patna)
through Suryapahar ,Hajo and Pragjyotishpur (present Guwahati) onto Bhamo in
Burma through the Patkai hills (Pansu Pass).From Bhamo the road further went to
Yunnan province in China. This trade was in vogue till 7th century, and Kamrupa
was supplying Magadha, since the days of Yodhisthira and before, with silk,
rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, horses (from China and Bhutan), animal skin,
bamboo products and many others. Kautilya's Arthashastra give details of some
of these. Nearby, Bhaitbari (near Tura) was another trade center where recently
a Buddhist Stupa of pre Christian era has been discovered. With such rich
historical and cultural heritage, it is sad to see how much neglected and under
developed this whole region is. When I visited Suryapahar in January 2010, I
was horrified to find that there was no tourist information about Suryapahar in
Guwahati Tourist office; the road to Suryapahar was horrible beyond anybody's
belief. I was more horrified to find that the huge Suryapahar and Bhaitbari
region is now at the plights of illegal immigrants. This not only explains
where money for tourism is NOT being spent but it also tells that something
somewhere is seriously wrong. But instead of complaining, we are trying to
act. We are joining hands with Luit Holidays in Abhayapuri to bring awareness
of the whole situation of the region to all the stake holders of tourism and
culture and heritage. We want to show that tourism industry need to be built
with the right balance of ecology and cultural heritage. We also want the
government to know that the whole region needs huge investment in building the
basic infra structures of roads, bridges, rest houses and public facilities. At
the same time, FASS International also want to encourage local entrepreneurs
like Luit Holidays for doing what are they trying to do. Needless to say that
neither Luit Holidays nor FASS International has the resources to do what need
to be done. But we want to show what is the right way of doing things, and
encourage and inspire the stake holders to do the needful. With the above in
view, this is an appeal to all those who live in Guwahati or nearby, to come
and visit Abhayapuri (only 160 miles from Guwahati> see map link) and spend the
week-end (March 5th and 6th) there. Please visit the region and experience the
rich ethnic culture and ecology, and give us your feedback so that we can help
ourselves. We want to make Abhayapuri your week end pilgrimage spot for the
whole family. (For more information, you may see attached link also may call
Mr. Bhaskar Barua, the chief architect of the event at Ph. 9706010838). FASS
International is not only for Assam but for the entire North East India. We are
willing to cooperate with other NGOs in other states in the North East for
development of the local tourism industry with a right balance of tourism,
ecology and culture. We have many creative ideas which we want to explore. We
also want to promote the idea of Bed and Breakfast in North East India so that
an individual can benefit from development of Rural and Ethnic Tourism. At
present, FASS International is also trying to publish a comprehensive Tourist
Guide Book for the North East India. You may write to us at
friendsofas...@gmail.com with information of hidden tourist spots in the North
East. When the British took pride in India as the Jewel in the Crown, North
East India was considered to hold the hidden secrets, the gems of that jewel. A
large numbers of these hidden gems are in the form of our exquisite tourist
spots. Let us try to rediscover those hidden gems in North East India. Best
Wishes to all in the North East. Rajen BaruaFASS
InternationalHouston713-677-9162Please check our website (link below) for an
updated details on the Koya Kujia Festival starting March 5th and 6th, 2011. We
shall be continuously updating the site for our online audience with additional
information as the days progress.. As we are moving closer to the event date
and working hard to make it a success, it would be great if the online
community can pass the word around and make the event a grand
success!http://luitholidaysonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=176&Itemid=148
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