A member of the Gaekwad royal family of Baroda is on a visit to Cooch Behar to help preserve and promote the heritage of the Bengal district.
The former princely state of Cooch Behar, which merged with India in 1950, has links with the royal families in Gujarat through marriage.
Jeetendrasingh G. Gaekwad is a grand-nephew of Indira Raje, who married Cooch Behar Maharaja Jitendra Narayan in 1912. Gayatri Devi was one of the children of Indira Raje and Jitendra Narayan.
Gaekwad has been invited to the district by the NGO Cooch Behar Archive, which will organise its three-day annual programme from December 9.
Gaekwad wants to renew ties between the erstwhile princely states and also help in preserving and promoting the heritage of Cooch Behar and boost tourism.
Rzisshikalpo Paul of Cooch Behar Archive said Gaekwad was the chief guest at the annual programme. "We will hold an exhibition, seminars and quizzes during the three-day programme. Jeetendrasingh Gaekwad is a renowned heritage revivalist and he will be our chief guest. He is keenly interested in renewing ties with Cooch Behar and want to help preserve our heritage through mutual exchange of ideas. Our annual programme aims to achieve this," Paul said.
Gaekwad, who met reporters at the Brahmo Mandir Complex, said there was immense scope for improving heritage tourism in Cooch Behar.
"I strongly believe that there is a great potential of improving heritage tourism here. I am certain that there are many families who live in heritage buildings and have photographs and articles from the earlier times. You can have museums in such houses, which can also consider offering home-stay facilities. The number of such home-stays have increased in Gujarat and Rajasthan," Gaekwad said.
He added: "You have to tap the Internet and social media to highlight the heritage of Cooch Behar. Back in 1951, Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan had organised a tour for foreigners here. That tour was reported in foreign newspapers like The Miami Herald and created interest about this place in faraway America. I will help develop heritage tourism here. The links between Baroda and Cooch Behar is over a century old and we need to revive the ties. When I first visited Cooch Behar in 1968 with my family, I stayed with Jagaddipendra Narayan at the palace," Gaekwad, 50.
[Via: Telegraph, file pic: Coochbehar Palace]
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