By IANS
Ranchi : The Jharkhand art and culture department will start heritage tours for schoolchildren to increase their awareness about the state.
The Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Department (ACSYAD) will select 60 students, who will be taken to heritage sites across the state. In the first phase, students will be shown sites around state capital Ranchi and around Dumka district.
The culture department has selected eight sites in Ranchi and six sites in Dumka district. The Ranchi sites include Jagannath temple, Suitiambe Gharh (First Munda Kingdom site) and Ulihatu (birthplace of freedom fighter Birsa Munda).
The ACSYAD will send letters to ten government schools. Each school will select five to six students for heritage tours. ACSYAD will organize such tours in all 24 districts of the state.
“The guide who will accompany the children will inform them about the history of the place, cultural background, archaeological evidences and other things,” said Amitabh Kumar, assistant director of ACSYAD.
He said, “The idea of organizing heritage tour is to create interest among students about the culture and history of the state. What students hear or read in books will be shown to them for in depth knowledge.”
The department has not fixed any criteria for the selection of students.
The ACSYAD proposal has excited the students. “We are thrilled that we will now be able to visit the heritage sites in the state” Saurabh Kumar, a Class IX student, said.