BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 5 APRIL 2023:
Almost 50 years after the maestro of Indian Cinema Satyajit Ray had popularised the Jaisalmer Fort, the last living fort in the world, the Ashok Gehlot government of the state of Rajasthan has planned to install a statue of the legendary Oscar winning Bengali film director.
“After the release of the movie Sonar Kella in 27 December 1974, Jaisalmer Fort aka Sonar Kella has become a pilgrimmage centre for Bengali toursists,” says film director Sandip Ray .
The epic movie of saving a kid, Mukul from the clutches of his abductors with breath taking scenes on the sand dunes, camel ride, train ride on the famous desserts of Jaisalmer which culimanates with the sightings of the nartional bird peacock at Sonar Kella still mermerises cine buffs of all ages.
Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella and his protagonist Feluda ( Soumitra Chattopadhyay) has immortalised Jaisalmer Fort .
Other than Jaisalmer, Sonar Kella also featured several other forts, those at Bikaner (Junagarh), Jodhpur (Mehrangarh), Jaipur (Nahargarh). Infact it was Satyjait Ray who has been instrumental in exploring the true tourism potential of Rajasthan through celluloid globally. The bengali toursits started visiting Jaisalmer from the 1970s.
Talking to www.travelandtourismtimes.com, Mr. Hinglaj Dan Ratnoo, Officer in Charge of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation in Kolkata said that till today besides the famous sand dunes and dessert, the most popular tourist destination of Jaisalmer is Sonar Kella.
“ The district collectorate of Jaisalmer has sent a proposal to our state government and it has already been sanctioned and we hope that by September this year the state will be set up in Jaisalmer. The site has not been finalised yet,”added Mr. Hinglaj Dan Ratnoo.
He said that every year several lakhs of tourists from West Bengal visit Rajasthan, infact Bengal is the second most resource market in domestic tourism of Rajasthan.
“ Every Bengali tourist or familiy who wish to visit Rajasthan will definitely visit Sonar Kella in Jaisalmer. After almost 50 years of the release of the movie the fort is still so much popular thanks to Mr. Satyajit Ray,”says Mr. Hinglaj Dan Ratnoo.
About 60 % of the total annual visitors of Jaisalmer Fort are from Bengal, according to the tourist guides.
A majority portion of the first Feluda series movie has been shoot in Rajasthan. It has bagged the National Film Awards in 1975.
Not only Sonar Kella, but the maestro also shoot his fantasy adventure film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne also in Jaisalmer in 1968.
Jaisalmer Fort is built upon a sedimentary rock core of yellow limestone—the same stone used in the local architecture and fort walls.
UNESCO in 2013 included Jaisalmer Fort as a World Heritage Site listed under ‘Hill Forts of Rajasthan’.
Jaisalmer Fort is the second oldest fort in Rajasthan, built in 1156 AD by the Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal from whom it derives its name, and stood at the crossroads of important trade routes , which includes the ancient silk route.
Advertisement:
Add Comment