National panels on Ramayana, Krishna circuits to meet tomorrow

The first meeting of the recently-formed national committees on Ramayana and Krishna circuits will be held tomorrow, to deliberate upon various issues related to these circuits.
The meeting, to be held under the chairmanship of Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma may take up various issues, including fund allocation for development of various destinations under the circuits. The Centre has earmarked Rs 200 crore each for Ramayana and Krishna circuits, a source said.
It may also take up discussion on the route of the circuits and development of various destinations, including temples, along the way, he said.
The issue of construction of Ramayana Museum at Ayodhya, which would portray the epic journey of Lord Rama, may also come up for discussion, the source said, adding the government is in the process of identifying land for the museum, which would be kept away from the disputed site.

He said Ayodhya would be the centre of the Ramayana Circuit which would be, on one hand, extended to Janakpur in Nepal, believed to be Sita's birthplace, and to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka on the other hand.
Similarly, Mathura would be the centre of Krishna Circuit, which would pass through Haryana and Rajasthan to Dwarka in Gujarat on one hand and to West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh on the other, he said.

Last month, the Tourism Ministry had formed two separate national committees for Ramayana and Krishna circuits to advise the government on developing these theme-based tourism circuits under 'Swadesh Darshan Scheme'.

The national committee on Ramayana Circuit comprises five members, including Ram Avtar Sharma, who heads the Shri Ram Sanskritik Shodh Sansthan Nyas; spiritual guru Vijay Kaushal Ji Maharaj and Akhilesh Gumastha, who has penned 'Ramayan, The hymns of Himalaya'.
Journalist Rahul Sinha and social activist Gopeshwar Tripathi are the other members of the committee.
The six-member national committee on Krishna circuit include Satya Prakash Mangal, who has taken interest in developing the Govardhan Hill off Mathura and Ramendera Singh of RSS-backed Vidya Bharti Sanskriti Shiksha Sansthan.
Other members include Satyanarayana Dasa of Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies, Krishan Dayal of Mathura-based charity Kalyanam Karoti, and Gopeshwar Nath Chatrurvedi, who worked on reducing pollution in Yamuna.