The annual Rajgir Mahotsav was inaugurated on Sunday in its fresh avatar with promises to develop the ancient hilly city.

To start with, the festival has been made a 17-day affair from this year onwards, which used to be held only for three days till last year.

Former chief minister Nitish Kumar had announced last year that the festival would be a 15-day event from next time. His successor Manjhi added two more days to it.

Manjhi also announced that the state government would develop a 12km concrete road between Jethian in Gaya and Rajgir, which is believed to have been walked by Lord Buddha himself.

In a bid to develop the tourism sector in the state, the chief minister announced that the state government would open five-star hotels at popular tourist destinations like Rajgir, Bodhgaya and Vaishali.

Manjhi also iterated the government plan to develop an international airport at Rajgir, which would not only augment the development of the place but also support the growth of new Nalanda University.

Though the chief minister and others were all praise for Rajgir Mahotsav but Satyadeo Narayan Arya, a former legislator from Rajgir, lashed out at the government alleging that the festival is only for enjoyment of officials.

'This government has not done much for development of Rajgir and all that they do is making big promises. This festival has become an event for enjoyment of bureaucrats with common and poor people being completely ignored. Many local residents were not even given passes for the inaugural event,' said Arya.

The inaugural event on Sunday started with the welcome speech of tourism department principal secretary Deepak Prasad, followed by address by other dignitaries on the dais and the chief minister. Later, a Sarva Dharma Prarthana (all-religion prayers) and traditional 'shankhnad prastooti' (presentation of auspicious sound of conch shell) rendered by Vipin Kumar Mishra were organised.

The main attraction of the inaugural event was performance by Bollywood music composer and singer Pritam Chakraborty late in the evening. After the mesmerising performance by Preetam, visitors would be regaled by a performance by Bollywood singer Javed Ali on Monday evening.

This year's Rajgir Mahotsav has several new features to woo visitors. For the first time in its 28-year history, a heritage walk from Jethian and Venuvan would be organised on January 10. Also, a children's film festival is also being held at Rajgir International Convention Centre. To add some glamour quotient, a fashion show would be organised by NIFT-Patna.

'We have tried to give this year's Rajgir Mahotsav an international flavour by showcasing dance and music shows by artistes from countries such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Equal importance has been given to Indian classical music and dance such as Kathak and Kuchipudi as well,' said tourism department principal secretary Deepak.

Apart from the performances from the renowned artistes during the evenings, traditional fair, tonga race, games and folk cultural shows would also be organised during the daytime at Quila Maidan, the fair venue.

In all, 50 temporary stalls have been erected at the venue by the tourism department through an event manager.