Bhubaneswar, March 10: The famous crafts village of Raghurajpur near Puri is in for a Rs 25crore makeover that will include overall development and beautification of the place.
The revamp plan, which involves both the central and state government, coincides with the Nabakalebar festival of Lord Jagannath and his siblings.
While the Union textiles ministry will give Rs 10 crore under the newly launched crafts village scheme, the state government will invest Rs 15 crore for an overall development of Raghurajpur, which is famous for its pattachitra, palm leaf art, traditional stone carving and idol making with papier-mâché. Odisha will be the first state in India to avail the central scheme.
Raghurajpur is an example of traditional Odisha village, which has kept its age-old craft traditions alive. In the past, the place was covered under the rural tourism package, but did not receive enough attention.
Under the scheme, the village will get good road connectivity from the Bhubaneswar-Puri national highway, street lights, drainage system, public toilets, common facility centre, shifting of cattle sheds, beautification of open spaces in the village and uniformity in the design of houses with unique frontage.
Joint secretary in the state handloom, textiles and handicrafts, Raja Parija said: "All the houses in Raghurajpur village will be given a uniform look with traditional design. Be it a thatched, asbestos or tin sheet roofed house, each one will look similar with a rhythm in the frontage design and colour code. The design, however, will be adopted after consultation with the villagers.''
In the integrated re-design plan, there will be a common facilitation centre in the village, where an artisan can use the facility to produce his artefacts paying a nominal fee. Artisans with limited space at home can use the facility to increase their productivity.
There will be spacious and well-designed souvenir shopping arcade, where the villagers can sell their art objects in addition to their own selling points at their homes.
"The souvenir shopping arcade can save time for busy travellers, who would have limited time to visit individual houses to see the art products,'' said art connoisseur Arunima Kanungo.
The drainage system in the village will be designed to keep the streets clean and there will be a patch of greenery in the middle of the village.
A senior official of the department said: "The Centre will release the first instalment of its grant shortly and work will start soon. However, as the Nabakalebar is slated to be held on July 17, the state government will start work to develop roads, drains and other infrastructure components. The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) will execute the project."
Tour operator Debashish Mohapatra feels that more and more villages in the state with potential similar to Raghurajpur should be identified and promoted by the tourism department to attract more tourists.
