Tribal Complex in city to promote heritage tourism

To be a venue to showcase tribal products and art forms

Taking stock: Minister A.K. Balan visits the Tribal Complex that is getting ready on Foreshore Road in the city on Sunday.

The Tribal Complex on Foreshore Road in the city is getting ready to be a major venue for fostering heritage tourism with tribespeople, their produce, cultural forms and food gaining focus through a slew of activities.

The complex has come up on a 1.18-acre plot and has been built in three storeys at a cost of ₹8 crore.

It will function as a venue for exhibition of tribal products and for staging of tribal art forms. There will be food courts to promote the tribespeople’s food.

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes A.K. Balan visited the complex on Sunday and assessed the progress of the work, said a press release here.

A market for products

One of the main objectives is to find a steady market for products from the tribal communities.

Bamboo and wood products, sculptures, forest produce, honey, ragi and farm produce will be on sale at the shops.

Stalls by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, Attappadi Cooperative Farming Society and Amrit from Wayanad would be opened at the complex, the release added. Cardamom, pepper and other farm produce will also be on sale at the stalls.

The complex will be a permanent venue for staging tribal art forms. Various cultural programmes will be organised in collaboration with various agencies such as the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Department of Culture and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.