Odisha’s tourism looks up but Diamond Triangle awaits visitors
BHUBANESWAR: If the tourist footfall to the Golden Triangle of Odisha - Bhubaneswar, Puri, Konark - in the last year is any indication, tourism is inching closer to the pre-Covid times. But, this does not hold true for the Diamond Triangle of the State - the Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udaygiri. Buddhist tourism in Odisha is yet to get back on its feet post-pandemic. From nearly 1.26 lakh domestic and 1,041 foreign tourists in 2019, the triad has not even received 50 per cent of visitors in the last year.
According to government reports, before the Covid-19 outbreak, Ratnagiri and Udaygiri in the Jajpur district had received 78,100 domestic tourists and 1,041 foreign visitors in 2019. The number was 74,023 domestic travellers and 911 international tourists in 2018. Before the Covid outbreak in 2020, these sites got 12,733 domestic tourists and 243 international visitors from January to March.
Similarly, Lalitgiri in Cuttack district had drawn 47,809 domestic travellers and 367 foreign tourists in 2019, and the number was 45,471 (domestic) and 351 (foreign) in 2018. From 2020 to March, 19,924 domestic tourists and 186 foreign travellers visited the site. In 2021, while Ratnagiri and Udaygiri got 15,172 domestic tourists, the number was 243 in the case of foreign visitors. And in the case of Lalitgiri, the numbers were 18,743 domestic and five international tourists.
There are at least 200 Buddhist sites in Odisha but the Diamond Triangle attracts the most tourists as the ruins here showcase the evolution of Buddhism in the State. While Lalitgiri is the oldest in the triad built in the 1st Century AD, Udaygiri and Ratnagiri belong to a later period and all three sites are replete with ruins of sprawling monasteries, stupas (votive and commemorative) and sculptures.
Tourism industry stakeholders blamed an absolute lack of facilities and amenities at the sites. Even today, none of the three sites have an eatery or a washroom, said a member of the regional chapter of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.
Tourism department officials, however, said steps have already been initiated to improve the existing tourism amenities at the sites. The tourist properties owned by the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) at Ratnagiri and Udaygiri were leased out to a private agency in 2013. The lease was cancelled in 2020 due to the failure of the third party in running the properties.
The properties were taken back by the OTDC in May this year and renovation work has already started in Ratnagiri. Work on the Udaygiri property will begin soon, said Jajpur district tourist officer Himalaya Tripathy.