Tourism minister Sunil Kumar ‘Pintu’ releases the logo of Rajgir Mahotsav, 2011, in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Dec. 24: The Bihar government wants the Rajgir Festival to be a star-studded extravaganza, topped with a variety of attractions, to woo tourists to the state.

From performances by Bollywood singers like Alka Yagnik, Roop Kumar Rathod and Sonali Rathod to the strains of folk music, ethnic culture and traditional sports like wrestling — the list of attractions to treat the tourists during the three-day festival beginning December 27 has it all. The visitors can also enjoy the royal “buggy” rides at Rajgir during the festival.

“Our aim is to cash in on the rise in number of tourists and improve the tourism sector. My department is working hard to take Bihar tourism to the number one slot on the national (tourism) map. We are happy with the number of both domestic and international tourists visiting our state in the past five years,” tourism minister Sunil Kumar ‘Pintu’ today said. Chief minister Nitish Kumar would inaugurate Rajgir Mahotsav.

Giving an estimate of tourists visiting the state, “Pintu” said: “About 5.27 lakh international tourists visited Bihar till November this year as against 63,321 during the corresponding period in 2005. The number of domestic tourists has also gone up from 86 lakh in 2005 to 1.27 crore this year.” He added: “We will showcase our cultural and historic traditions during the three-day festival. We will also try to provide quality accommodation and transport facilities to the tourists.”

The tourism department has plans to make Rajgir hills an attractive tourist destination. Ghoda Katora has been developed as an eco-friendly place with facilities such trekking and rope climbing. The minister said Bhojpuri film producers have eveinced interests to shoot in the area.

The department has also come out with television commercials promoting the event.