The Cooch Behar Palace. Picture by Himangshu Ranjan Deb

Cooch Behar, Dec. 7: District information and cultural officer Arabinda Sarkar said in a news release today that the opening ceremony of the Cooch Behar Palace Festival will be held on the palace grounds.

The release comes in spite of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) denying the festival committee permission to hold the programme on the grounds of the historical site.

The three-day festival begins from December 28.

Sarkar, however, claimed that the committee has got permission from the ASI to hold the inauguration on the palace grounds. He said the rest of the fest will be held at the stadium adjacent to the palace.

ASI officials were unavailable for comment.

District magistrate Ravi Inder Singh, who is the chairman of the festival committee, said: ?The cultural programmes will be held at the stadium.? He, however, said he would not comment on the venue of the opening ceremony.

Sarkar said stages would be set up inside the stadium where performances of songs, dances and drama by local artistes will take place in the evenings.

The postal department is releasing a special stamp with the picture of the palace to commemorate the event.

There will also be package tours for visitors coming here during the fest. According to tourism department sources, a six-day, seven-night tour, organised by West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation, will begin here and take the visitors to Phuentsholing, Paro, Punakha, Dochula Pass and Thimphu, all in Bhutan. A three-day package, organised by Palace Festival Tour Operators? Committee, will go around Rasikbeel, Holong, Mendabari, South Khairbari, Kunjanagar, all in the Dooars, and just touch Phuentsholing in Bhutan, the sources said.