Pran Pratistha Mahotsav which will be held at the Rs100-crore Swaminarayan Temple that will come up by May 2010, will not only bring life in Bhuj- an otherwise sleepy town in Kutch, but will also boost Bhuj's hospitality industry.
Bhuj's hospitality industry will get business worth lakhs with about 5lakh visitors including 1lakh NRIs visiting the town for the mahotsav. The temple is being built under the leadership of Narnarayandev Na Taba Hethad in Swaminarayan temple in Kalupur. Earlier, during the 2001 earthquake that hit the state, the Swaminarayan Temple was damaged. The temple is being constructed using only marble and gold. The Mahotsav is scheduled from May 15 to May 23 in Bhuj.
To accommodate the large number of visitors and NRIs from places like Nairobi, London, Oman and Africa, they have booked majority of rooms in hotels, guest house, community halls in Bhuj. Members of Bhuj Hoteliers' Association say, there are around 15 hotels apart from dozens guest houses, party plots and community halls each.
"Bhuj will see a boom in hospitality business during the mahotsav. Already about 75% of hotel rooms in the town are already booked. Unfortunately, there are not as many hotels in the town to accommodate such a huge number of visitors," said Ramesh Thakkar, a member of Bhuj Hoteliers' Association.
Majority of community halls and party plots are booked too for Mahotsav. Some of the residents of the town are already having a tough time hunting for marriage venue.
"My family has postponed my marriage which was scheduled for May2010 due to unavailability of venues during that time. We are planning for the same after the swaminarayan mahotsav is over," said Mitaly Thakkar.
Sources say that Jubilee ground and Khasda ground, the two biggest grounds in Bhuj are kept for parking arrangements.
