KOZHIKODE : People who are curious to know the date, venue and time of the spectacular Kerala festivals and celebrations can hereafter rely upon an exclusive e-calendar on the web www.keralatourism.org/festivalwiki.
The designers behind the web have extended freedom to all users to upload the details of regional festivals to the electronic platform after opening a personal account for the information of their counterparts located elsewhere in the world.
According to the officials with the Tourism Department, the portal will be more beneficial for foreigners who are eager to watch and capture the traditional festivals of Kerala.
At present, they have hardly any good source, other than guides, to get information on the regional festivals and celebrations. The portal is designed in such a way to provide all the historical background of a particular event, its specialties and cultural importance at the Indian context. A monitoring committee is also operational to check the authenticity of the items being posted to the web every day.
Officials with the Tourism Department say that the user can have access to every detail of a particular event just by entering a key word associated with the event or an approximate date. The location name can also be used as key word, which will provide the details of the entire festivals conducted at the region.
A visual treat is also offered to the people who search for information on the portal. Clippings of almost all Kerala festivals have been uploaded to the web for enjoying a preview of a particular event. The promos can be enjoyed for around three minutes.
The stunning visuals available on the portal include Tali temple festival of Kozhikode, Aranmula Uthrattathi boat rowing competition, Thrissur Pooram, Onam celebrations, Neelamperur Padayani and Mannarkad parish festival.
According to officials, more clippings of regional festivals will shortly be uploaded to the web with the help of District Tourism Promotion Councils and Tourism Department.
The Tourism Department had earlier incorporated facility on its web to connect various regional tour operators with the tourists from various destinations. It is claimed that the latest festival portal is first-of-its-kind in Kerala, which provides authentic and detailed information to users at a mouse click.