India

Rajasthan to promote Battlefield Tourism

The Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) has come up with a new concept in tourism to attract more people to Rajasthan.  The new concept – Battlefield Tourism- was announced during its 7th Annual Convention in Bharatpur.

The idea is to reinstate the famous battle fields in the history to become tourist attractions.

There have been several important battles in Rajasthan such as the Battle of Jalore (1310-11) in which Alauddin Khalji defeated Kanhad Deo after a long war, Battle of Sammel (1544) in which Sher Shah Suri had a pyrrhic victory against the army of Jaita and Kumpa; and the two Mughal invasions of Marwar in 1562-1583 (by Akbar) and 1679-1707 (by Auranzeb).

“South-Western Army Command’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief,  Lt-Gen Cherish Mathson will deliver a lecture on the topic to introduce the hoteliers to this new form of tourism already popular in the US and South Africa,” said Rajendra Singh Pachar, Convener of the Association.

“The idea is initiated by Lt-Gen Mathson and we will make detailed draft of the programme after his presentation on the topic at the IHHA convention,” he added.

According to the IHHA blog, heritage hotels in the country operate in buildings like forts, castles, palaces, hunting lodges and traditional havelis or period buildings will be part of the battle field tourism.

“We are all here to explore, debate, deliberate and to arrive at a definite road map for renaissance of this sacred land,” said IHHA president Gaj Singh, who is from the erstwhile royal family of Jodhpur