Sitharaman’s New Budget Plan to Transform 3 Legendary Mahabharata Sites into ‘Vibrant’ Global Destinations
With the Centre announcing Hastinapur in Meerut district as one of the 15 archeological sites in the country to be developed as “experiential cultural destination”, the move is expected to give a boost to the Uttar Pradesh government’s “Mahabharata circuit” plan. Hastinapur, which has references in the epic, the Mahabharat, as the capital of the Kuru dynasty, has been one of the earliest urban settlements of ancient India. Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government had released Rs 4 crore to develop Kampilya in Farrukhabad district, which is considered to be the birthplace of Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas, and the capital of Panchala kingdom in the Mahabharat. In her Budget speech on Sunday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the development of 15 archaeological sites as “experiential cultural destinations”, where excavated landscapes will be opened to the public through curated walkways. “Immersive storytelling skills and technologies will be introduced to help conservation labs, interpretation centres, and guides,” she had said.Among the 15 sites, two are in UP – Hastinapur in Meerut and Sarnath in Varanasi. …









