India’s First Lighthouse Festival, at Fort Aguada, Goa,
The Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways, which takes care of the Lighthouses on country’s shores and ports, is taking up a novel step to develop Lighthouses into tourist hubs across the country under the Lighthouse Heritage Tourism. This initiative is inspired by the Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi’s vision to develop Lighthouses in to spots of tourism and other useful purposes. Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi spoke about the Lighthouses in his Mann Ki Baat program in its 75th episode on 28th March, 2021.
The MoPSW, under the leadership of Cabinet Minister Sh. Sarbanand Sonowal has come up with this initiative of Lighthouse Heritage Tourism to develop these Lighthouses under the PPP model. To launch this initiative and attract the common people as well as inventors towards the Lighthouse Heritage Tourism, the MoPSW is organising India’s first ever Lighthouse Festival at the historic Fort Aguada in Goa from 23rd-25th September, 2023. This would be a three day gala event in carnival style with local artists, dance troupes, food and culinary stalls, music concerts and similar activities to attract common people to Lighthouses.
the festival was inaugurated by the cabinet Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Aysuh Shri sarbanandsonwal in the presence of Chief minister , dr Pramod Sawant Union Minister of State Tourism, Shripad Naik, calangute MLA Michael lobo along with local elected leaders and representative of the State government leadership and bureaucracy.
‘We are modernising 75 lighthouses… the festival is aimed at rejuvenating the rich maritime history of India’s 75 iconic lighthouses and unravel the illustrious stories to the world,’ the Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister said.
The minister said the government’s vision is to promote lighthouses as tourism destinations, to breathe new life into these historic structures, and to create opportunities for local communities…
Interestingly, the Ministry is bringing together historians, archaeologist, cultural anthropologist and many other people with interest in history, culture and society to this event. They would be sitting along with leaders of the travel and leisure industry in Goa for session, which would be attended by the Cabinet Minister Sh. Sonowal himself along with the Secretary of the Ministry. The Ministry is committed to develop this novel idea into a successful venture bringing the business, culture and history together.
On saturday the Cabinet Minister participated in a two hour long session, ‘Vanguards of Our Shores: Lighthouses as Testaments of India’s Past and Present’ where famous historian and archaeologist, Prof. Vasant Shinde of the Rakhigarhi fame, would be talking about the historical significance of Lighthouses in India’s maritime history and development of it’s ports and port towns. Another experts from history and culture arena in the session are Dr. Sunil Gupta, Maritime Archaeologist and OSD at the Pradhanmantri Sangrhalaya, New Delhi; and Dr. Vasu Uspakar, Director of the Goa State Museum. This session is being organised by another initiative Bharat Pravah, which is working towards the cultural-historical-social significance of ports, shipping and waterways in the India.
This session then had a presentation by the Joint Secretary – Lighthouses of the Ministry who would present Ministry’s approach towards the Lighthouse Heritage Tourism Development and the investment opportunities across 75 Lighthouses in this phase. After this, the floor was open for investors for Q&A Open-Session around investment opportunities with the Cabinet Minister and Secretary being present there.
This in it’s own way, a novel initiative where the Minister and Secretary are doing a kind of road show to attract investors to develop these Lighthouses and also the gala three-day event to attract the general public towards Lighthouses as tourism hubs in a gala event of cultural performances by local and renowned artists including concert by famous singer, Shaan at the Fort Aguada in Goa.
Also, speaking at the event, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said lighthouses are beacons of hope and symbols of strength. ‘Our coastal state Goa has played a vital role in India’s maritime history,’ he said.
The Fort Aguada was decked up for this festive carnival like event and on the day two, there will performances from local dance troupes, local artists and celebrity artist Suresh Bhonsle. On the final day there would be a performance by famous singer, Hema Sardesai along with other cultural and musical events by different artists and groups.
The event would close on the evening of 25th September in the presence of Union Minister of State for MoPSW Sripad Naik, and union Tourism; minister Shantanu Thakur Union Minister of State for MoPSW; and senor bureaucrats from the MoPSW including Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary and DDG, DGLL.
The key highlights of India’s First Lighthouse Festival are cultural exhibitions, session highlighting maritime history and culture, classical performances, light and sound shows, melodious evenings with celebrity singers, flavours of the coast and community engagements.
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