Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur stressed the need to engage specialised and motivated workforce to promote tourism in the State and to attract both foreign and domestic tourists to Punjab.
Phillaur, after receiving the National Tourism Award for Amritsar Heritage Walk from President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi, said a prestigious project ‘Heritage Walk’ was envisaged by Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board for the old historic city of Amritsar to attract tourists for discovering the 400-year-old history of the city.
“This walk is a guided tour providing unique opportunity to the tourists to learn more about Amritsar’s history like; town planning, traditional trade and craft, old bazaars,the intricately crafted wooden facades and doors along the route fascinate,” said the Minister.
“The originality of the ancient city of Amritsar has remained intact and during the walk one gets to see katras, akharas, bungas, havelis and hattis - the vocabulary of traditional town planning and architecture,” he added.
He said that the walk took people back to the traditional trades and crafts being practiced,as have been done for centuries.
Phillaur added, “This walk is an opportunity to feel part of this beautiful, sacred, vibrating, Guru di Nagari. The walk has 14 pause points in its route. It is a varied composition of colonial past, Hindu temples, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s buildings, old bazaars etc.”