As the country is celebrating Diwali today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday pitched the idea of "Festival Tourism" and said that we must try to popularise our festivals and invite people from other states and countries to join the festivities. Speaking on the 58th edition of his monthly radio program 'Mann ki Baat', he said: "Festival tourism has its own exciting attractions globally. India is the land of festivals that presents immense possibilities for festival tourism."
"We must try to popularise our festivals such as Holi, Diwali, Onam, Pongal or Bihu and it must be our endeavor to ensure that we should invite people from other states and countries to join in the festivities. Every state and religion in our country has their own festivals and people from foreign countries have a keen interest in them," the Prime Minister said. Modi also underlined that Indians living abroad have an important role in boosting festival tourism in the country.
He also paid his respects to Guru Nanak, whose 550th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year. "From Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji we learn the importance of service. The world bows to Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji", said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi also kick-started a "Bharat Ki Laxmi" campaign where he discussed about the women who have brought a great change in the society.
But the focus of Sunday's radio talk show somehow centered around Sardar Patel. Modi paid rich tributes to Patel ahead of his birth anniversary on October 31. Calling him a "stalwart who unified India", Modi said: "We all know about Sardar Patel's efforts towards unifying some of the bigger places such as Hyderabad and Junagadh. But, do you know that he focused equally up on smaller places like Lakshadweep also".
