Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Chettinad belt emerging as a major tourist attraction

A view of the Chettinad Heritage building in Karaikudi.

MADURAI: The Chettinad belt in and around Karaikudi, which abounds with many majestic but lesser known palaces, is being developed as the next major tourist attraction for foreigners, in south Tamil Nadu.

Towards this objective, a major two-day Heritage Festival was organised recently by the State Tourism Department.

The highlight was a massive rally taken out by students and folk artistes to create awareness about various tourist places.

Efforts are on to bring into limelight more places and local events such as the ‘jallikattu’ at Siravayal village near Pillayarpatti held annually a few days after Pongal, State Tourism Department sources told The Hindu on Tuesday.

While around 15,000 foreign tourists visit the Chettinad belt annually, Sivaganga district attracts more than 20 lakh domestic tourists every year.

Officials opine that these figures could increase by at least 15 per cent more if lesser-known places are popularised.

As a first step, plans were afoot to recruit locals in 74 villages in Chettinad belt around Karaikudi who would showcase heritage buildings in their respective localities, sources said.

With Madurai and Kanyakumari already a major draw among foreigners, the State Tourism Department hopes to put Chettinad belt also in the tourist map owing to its geographical proximity to Madurai, sources said.

Non-governmental organisations have already been roped in. In their initiative, village tourism development committees had been formed at places like Pallathur making the local community a stake holder in the Tourism business, sources said.

Another effort in this direction is a project of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) – to conserve the Chettinad buildings.

A team recently visited the areas and studies are still under way, according to sources.

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