Ajanta-Ellora Festival called off by authorities

The Ajanta-Ellora festival has finally met its fate as the authorities confirmed that the festival is being called off. The Ajanta-Ellora International Festival was last held in October 2016.

Organised by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), the Aurangabad festival’s edition for the year 2017 was postponed for the first quarter of 2018. MTDC now says that the festival will not be held at all. The event that was much loved and attracted numerous tourists during its heyday has caused art lovers to spark outrage. Before 2016, the Ajanta-Ellora festival was off for the past seven years due to various reasons like draught and law-and-order being the top two. Then it was resumed in 2016, only to get discontinued again.
Nitin Mundaware, Regional Manager, MTDC, said that an official committee was formed to decide upon the fate of the Ajanta-Ellora International Festival, which reached the conclusion that the festival should be shelved.

“The festival could have attracted good footfall in October itself, but it could not take place due to inevitable reasons. Later, it was mooted that the event could take place during February or March, but those plans also could not materialise as the festival schedule could have clashed with HSC, SSC and other examinations,” he said.

According to Ashish Garde, the former president of Chamber of Marathwda Industries and Agriculture, said, “Different formal and informal groups related to heritage conservation and tourism along with government must join hands for organising the festival. The festival can serve as a good opportunity to promote Aurangabad on world map.”