Licence awarded to 136 polyglot tourist guides in Ayodhya

Trained to speak in Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali and Nepali, apart from Hindi and English, 136 guides have been issued licence to brief tourists visiting Ayodhya on the many facets of the historical town.

Tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh on Friday distributed the licence to some of the students who had completed their training at the Manyavar Kanshiram Institute of Tourism Management in Lucknow. This licence is valid for 10 years.

Ayodhya has witnessed an unprecedented turnout of devotees after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22.

“Around two and half lakh people are visiting Ayodhya daily. They are individuals from diverse linguistic backgrounds from the country’s South and West. Local guides have been trained to communicate with them in Gujarati, Nepali, Telugu, and Bengali as well,” said Singh.

“Almost all the students have the knowledge of Hindi and English languages. Some students will also be able to communicate in Marathi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tamil, Kannada, French, Russian and Korean,” added Singh.

A total of 136 persons, around 100 of whom are from Ayodhya and nearby districts, successfully cleared the 40-day training. At present, 13 tourist guides are offering their services in Ayodhya. The licence can be renewed after 10 years.

The new guides know about the city’s religious, spiritual, geographical, social, economic, and historical aspects. Their training included insights into Ayodhya’s evolving landscape, field visits and guidance from experienced tourist guides already working in Ayodhya.