Raipur, January 4-6, 2014: The Sirpur National Dance and Music Festival organised by the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board was held at Sirpur, Chhattisgarh from January 04 – 06, 2014 amidst much fanfare. Chief Guest of the event, Lee Joongyu, Ambassador, Republic of Korea, inaugurated the second Sirpur National Dance & Music Festival in the gracious presence of Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh; Dr. Raman Singh, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Chhattisgarh; Ajay Chandrakar and Member of Parliament, Chandu Lal Sahu.
Speaking at the event, Joongyu said, “I consider it a privilege to be a part of the second Sirpur National Dance and Music Festival. The Chhattisgarh Tourism Board has taken momentous initiative to bring out a series on the varied cultural heritage of Chhattisgarh. I am sure that this initiative to promote better cultural relations between Korea and India will remain a precious treasure house of ideas and information and source of inspiration.”
This event is organised every year in the first week of January by Chhattisgarh Tourism Board in order to promote Buddhist sites in Sirpur. The Buddhist cultural heritage has a long and special history that dates back to more than 2,500 years and unites most of South, South-East and East Asia. The influence of Buddhism can be seen across all Asian countries in terms of history and culture.
Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister, Govt of Chhattisgarh, said, “The second edition of the Sirpur Dance Festival is an important initiative that the Government of Chhattisgarh had taken to promote the culture of Chhattisgarh and Buddhist sites in Sirpur. The state hopes to garner more attention in the national and international tourist circuit.”
Every year, international tourists in large numbers from countries such as Japan, Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos visit the Buddhist Circuit in India. According to the Market Research Division of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Sri Lanka (306 million tourists), Japan (194 million tourists), China (142 million tourists), Singapore (119 million tourists) and the Republic of Korea (109 million tourists) are amongst the top 15 countries contributing to the total number of foreign tourists visiting India.
Chhattisgarh Tourism Board has, for the first time, published its promotional literature in six different languages, namely, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Sinhalese and Thai to cater to larger number of tourists from these countries.
