BHUBANESWAR: Post-Covid, monuments in Odisha that are Centrally-protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have managed to earn around Rs 3 crore revenue from sale of tickets which is three times lower than the pre-pandemic times.
There are 80 monuments of national importance in Odisha which are Centrally-protected but just five of them are ticketed. They include Sun temple at Konark, Udaygiri, Khandagiri caves and Rajarani temple in Bhubaneswar besides, the Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri Buddhist sites
As per the Ministry of Culture report, while the five monuments together earned Rs 3.02 crore in the last one year from sale of tickets, the amount was Rs 9.38 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 2.3 crore in 2020-21 when heritage tourism was severely affected by the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Sun temple was one among the highest earning monuments of India after Taj Mahal. In fact, the Konark Temple is among the top five visited monuments of the country after Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutab Minar and Agra Fort.
Officials of Bhubaneswar circle said although footfalls to Konark and sites in Bhubaneswar sites are increasing, that to the Buddhist sites remains meagre. On average, 3,000 to 4,000 visitors visit the Sun temple while the number rises to almost 50,000 during holidays or festive occasions.
On the other hand, ASI’s expenditure on conservation, preservation and maintenance of the protected monuments in 2021-22 has risen to Rs 822.5 crore. The amount was `530 crore in 2019-20.
In 2020-21 when the sites had mostly remained closed for visitors, the expenditure on the 80 monuments was Rs 363 crore, as per reply given by Union Minister of Culture G Kishan Reddy to a question in Lok Sabha last month.
Going south