THE WEEK Heritage Awards 2026: Making heritage a living experience

Heritage tourism must go beyond monuments and include festivals, local arts and crafts, cultural traditions and less-known destinations, tourism officials said during a panel discussion titled “Beyond Monuments: Creating Heritage Destinations for the Future” at THE WEEK Heritage Awards.

Ashish Kumar, managing director of the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, began by highlighting how the festival of lights in Ayodhya has helped the city gain global recognition.

“Ayodhya's festival of lights is reaching new heights every year. We are also celebrating the same. It connects very well with the topic. Beyond monuments, we have arts, crafts and festivals through which people celebrate art, craft and culture,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of conserving heritage buildings so that future generations could experience them. Conservation, therefore, takes sensitive care of use of materials that are sensitive to the original structures and do not destroy their essence. Kumar also spoke about how Uttar Pradesh has made efforts to connect key destinations in the state with Delhi in order to make them more accessible to tourists.

Neelesh Ushatai Ramesh Gatne, managing director of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, spoke about an innovative heritage conservation project that he said would be established within the next one-and-a-half years in Maharashtra.

He said planning for the project was in place and that the corporation had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Murdoch Limited. The project involves a Triton submarine, which he described as offering a 360-degree view, unlike conventional submarines that generally have windows on one side.

He said the project would involve scuttling a vessel to encourage coral growth and support marine life, while creating a new attraction for tourists. A submarine barge, which would serve as a platform, would carry tourists from nearby ports, with speedboats transporting them to the site.

Tourists would be able to experience the underwater environment, while adventure enthusiasts could also opt for scuba diving. Gatne said the submarine would operate at a speed of three nautical miles, allowing tourists to have a safe and proper overview of the project.

He added that Gujarat and Goa had also started similar initiatives. He also referred to financial support from the Maharashtra government and the Government of India for the project.

Manvi Jagan, general manager for marketing, Telangana Tourism Development Corporation, highlighted the heritage destinations of Telangana, particularly Warangal, the former capital of the Kakatiya dynasty.

She spoke about the Bhadrakali Temple and the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is traditionally associated with the left eye of the temple's goddess. She also highlighted Ramappa Temple, a popular destination, and the Kakatiyas' proficiency in building networks of tanks to improve water availability in an area where groundwater was limited.

Jagan also referred to Bogatha Waterfall, describing it as another attraction that showcases Telangana beyond its better-known destinations.

She said overcrowding at popular tourist locations was a challenge in several states and argued that hidden destinations needed greater promotion. Improving all-weather connectivity, she said, was one way the government could help bring these less-known places to tourists' attention.

Ritu Kataria, assistant director, Ministry of Tourism, said India had a wide range of destinations to offer visitors.

“There is no dearth of destinations for us,” she said, adding that domestic tourist visits had increased threefold over the past decade.

She acknowledged that some destinations were under pressure and had exceeded their carrying capacity. Under the government's Dekho Apna Desh initiative, the ministry was working to increase awareness of less-known sites.

Kataria said the initiative had two verticals focused on cultural destinations and heritage towns. These would be packaged by the tourism industry as tourism products and promoted through national branding.