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What is the News?
Pochampally Village in Telangana State has been selected as one of the best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). The award will be given on the occasion of the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in December 2021 in Madrid, Spain.
Note: Ministry of Tourism had recommended three villages for the UNWTO Best Tourism Village entry from India. However, only Pochampally was awarded as one of the best Tourism Villages by UNWTO. The other two villages were Kongthong in Meghalaya and Ladhpura Khas in Madhya Pradesh.
What is the Best Tourism Villages Initiative?
It is an initiative of UNWTO.
Aim of the Initiative: 1. To award those villages which are outstanding examples of rural destinations and showcase good practices in line with its specified nine evaluation areas, 2. To support villages to enhance their rural tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for improvement.
About Pochampally Village
Pochampally is a town in Nalgonda district of Telangana.
What is the Speciality of Pochampally Village?
Firstly, Pochampally is often referred to as the Silk City of India for the exquisite sarees that are woven through a unique style called Ikat.
Note: Ikat is a Malaysian, Indonesian word that means “Tie and Dye”. It is a dyeing technique used to create a distinct style of textile patterns. Ikat received a Geographical Indicator(GI) tag in 2004.
Read more: Assam’s rice wine Judima gets GI tag |
Secondly, Pochampally is also known as Bhoodan Pochampally to commemorate the Bhoodan Movement that was launched by Acharya Vinobha Bhave from this village on April 18th, 1951.
Currently, a two-room Vinobha Bhave Mandir exists within the village, which was earlier the place where Vinobha Bhave resided during his visit to the village.
Source: This post is based on the article “Pochampally village in Telangana selected as one of the best Tourism Villages by United Nations World Tourism Organisation” published by PIB on 16th November 2021.