Puris beach festival attracts hundreds of foreigners

The colourful beach festival in Puri in Orissa is attracting thousands of tourists, including many foreigners.

Puri (Orissa), Nov 27 : The colourful beach festival in Puri in Orissa is attracting thousands of tourists, including many foreigners.

The five-day long festival kicked off to a colourful start on Friday evening in the backdrop of Puri's moonlit golden beach.

Thirteenth in the series, this annual festival is aimed at promoting tourism in Puri located on the Bay of Bengal coast, which is otherwise famous for Jagannath Temple and the chariot procession of the temple deities.

"Obviously things have improved over the past few years. Through this festival, more people will come and visit Orissa and Puri," said Ram Krishna Dasmohapatra, the organiser.

Cultural programmes comprising classic and folk dances with budding artists participating to showcase their vast talent mark the festival.

Artists from all over the country including those from neighbouring West Bengal and far away Punjab are also participating.

"I like this place. I have performed and I like the people also. We hope next time also we come and perform," said Anusuya Barik, an artist.

Foreign tourists marvelled at the graceful performances by classic dancers.

"I like it, I come here every year and it is going on every year. It is a very good tradition," said a tourist Lalita.

The festival also showcases the traditional handicraft of Orissa.

Tribal artists from Sambalpur, Angul, Dhenkenal and Korapat are displaying their products at the makeshift shops set up at the festival venue.

The efforts of the Orissa tourism department and the local hotel industry, jointly organising the festival, have been proving worthwhile, as the number of tourists has been continuously increasing.

ANI