Recently Uttar Pradesh government has launched a scheme to promote the culture of Tharu tribes across the world. The scheme's intention is to place these tribal villages on the tourism map. Tharu was the most populated tribes in UP.
What is Tribal Tourism?
Tribal tourism is a form of travel where the tribes allow the outer population to visit and stay with them in form of tourists. They are exposed to tribal culture and experiences and is an opportunity to experience authentic indigenous life.
Significance of tribal tourism:
1. Tribal tourism creates jobs and provides economic Independence to the tribal population in any region.
2. It causes development work to reach the place sooner than it would have
3. Tribal tourism is a unique way of restoration of the culture of the region. It brings out the history to the front restricting the inter-cultural differences in various regions.
What is the UP Governments Tribal Tourism Scheme
1. UP state government through this scheme would connect these villages inhabited by the population belonging to the Tharu tribe, mainly located on the International border of Nepal.
2. The scheme would be like a Homestay scheme. The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department would be offering all the tourists who would be visiting these villages an experience of living in the natural habitat of the Tharu tribals.
3. The huts where the people would get to stay would be made of grass collected from the forest.
4. The Forest Department of UP would also be training the tribals to communicate with the tourists.
5. They tribals would also be acquainted with aspects of cleanliness and safety.
6. The Tharu tribals will be allowed to charge the tourists for their home-cooked meals and accommodation provided
7. The villages will be opened for both domestic and international tourists.
What is the Tharu tribe?
1. The Tharu tribe belongs to the lowlands located in the Shivalik or the lower Himalayas. Most of the population is forest dwellers who practice agriculture.
2. The word Tharu stands for Followers of Theravada Buddhism.
3. The tribes are distributed both in Nepal and India (in the bordering regions of Nepal). They are mainly distributed in Bihar, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
4. As per the 2011 census, the total Scheduled Tribe Population of Uttar Pradesh was 11 lakhs, which is expected to have increased to 20 lakhs now.
5. They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup. They also speak variants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi. In Nepal, they speak a variant of Bhojpuri, while in eastern Nepal, they speak a variant of Maithili.
6. Tharus worship Lord Shiva as Mahadeva. They refer to him as the supreme being “Narayan”, who is the provider of sunshine, rain, and harvests.
7. Tharu women have much higher property rights than is allowed to women in North Indian Hindu custom.
8. They also perform applique craft which is quite famous and is a cultural heritage
It is a great initiative of the government to develop the unexplored villages and areas belonging to the tribes of Uttar Pradesh. The scheme must be expedited and separate offices must be created to ensure that exploitation of the tribes does not happen once they are exposed to other population.
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