A view of Kuthlur village, Belthangady Taluk in Dakshina Kannada which won the Best Tourism Village award. File
Once synonymous with Maoist activities in the State, Kuthlur village in Dakshina Kannada has now been recognised as the destination for adventure tourism by the Union Ministry of Tourism.
The village under Naravi Gram Panchayat in Belthangady Taluk has been awarded as one of the Best Tourism Villages in the adventure tourism category in the Best Tourism Village Competition 2024 organised by the Union Ministry of Tourism.
Three youths who are natives of Kuthlur village under Naravi Gram Panchayat had prepared a documentary on the village and submitted the same to the government with other documents required, as part of the competition. Their proposal had passed the district and State level competitions and finally got selected at the national level competition.
The youths are Harish Dakayya Poojary, a software engineer now working in Bengaluru, Sandeep Kutlur who is working in Qatar and Shivaraj Anchan who is self employed in the same village.
Out of them Mr. Poojary, Mr. Anchan and Mr. Srinivas, Joint Director, Department of Tourism, Karnataka received the award on behalf of the village from the Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at the World Tourism Day function at Vigyan Bhavwan in New Delhi on Friday (September 27, 2024). The Vice-President of India Jagadeep Dhankar and the Union Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Gopi were also present.
The Ministry said that the competition was organised to acknowledge a village that best exemplifies a tourism destination which preserves cultural and natural assets, promotes community based values and lifestyles and has a clear commitment to sustainability in all its aspects – economic, social and environmental.
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The village is on the foothills of the Western Ghats. It has beautiful Arbi water falls. It also has a trekking spot. Adventure activities do take place on the hillocks of the village. Tourism destinations like Dharmasthala, Moodbidri, Karkala, Mangaluru are in 50 k.m. radius of the village.
Mr. Poojary said that earlier Kuthlur village hit the headlines for wrong reasons as it was a village affected by Maoist activities. Now by winning a national level award the village has been identified as the Best Village for adventure tourism. The village needed this tag and not the earlier one. “It is a pride for all people of the village,” he added.
Published – September 28, 2024 03:27 pm IST