Day 1: Khajuraho festival gets lukewarm response

BHOPAL: Call it a paradox of sorts; while the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) is boasting of a record footfall at Khajuraho, tourists seem to be showing cold shoulder to the famous Khajuraho dance festival.
The Khajuraho dance festival, which started on Wednesday and will continue till February 7, saw a low turnout on day 1 despite the state government’s decision to charge no fee from visitors.
“The festival must be conducted in some other part of the year as the weather now is too harsh. There was hardly 30 to 40% occupancy,” one of the visitors, Amit Jha told TOI.
Talking about the dance festival, state culture director Sriram Tiwari, however, said the response on the first day was better than last year; and almost 1,500 people, including 300-400 foreign tourists, attended the festival on Wednesday.
This year, the festival has classified its performers into three categories -- Gurukul, Parampara and Pratibha –based on the tradition they have been following. It also has set up a Kala Mela to display artefacts by modern artists. In addition to that, Satriya, one of the art forms from north-eastern states, have been put on display too.
Record footfall: ASI
The heritage site made a record of sorts with the number of footfalls this year. As compared to 2,34,954 Indians and 90,721 foreign visitors in 2010, the tourist destination had 2,53,544 Indians and 97, 356 foreign visitors in 2011-12.
“This is a record of sorts in the last 10 years. This internationally popular tourist destination had never seen so many tourists in the last one decade,” Rahul Tewari, head of the ASI in Khajuraho, said. Most of the tourists come from Italy ,France, Spain Holland, USA, Germany Korea and Japan.
Talking to TOI, N Taher, superintending archaeologist, Bhopal circle, said the boost may be due to its archaeological significance. “I had heard a lot about Kamasutra and the architecture of the temples here, explored about this place and ultimately landed here. It is just amazing,” Giovane, a tourist from Italy, said. “These monuments are really very unique,” chimed in Lomlers from Holland.
Ajay Kashyap, a manager of a travel agency, said, “Had there been good roads around Khajuraho, it would have given a great boost to the flow of both foreign and Indian tourists.”