Uttar Pradesh to boost cemetery tourism

Cemetery tourism (graveyard tourism) seems to be the latest catch of the season in the tourism scenario this year.

Encouraged by the interest shown by the central government to celebrate this year the 150th anniversary the 1857 revolt, the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is busy in showcasing the state's connection with the event of 1857 and thereafter.

The Indian Revolt of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence, the Sepoy Rebellion and the Indian Mutiny, was a prolonged period of armed uprisings in different parts of India against British occupation of that part of the sub continent.

The Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is thinking seriously about a great "Mutiny Tour" which they expect will turn out to be a great opportunity for the department to showcase the monuments, colonial buildings and cemeteries present in the state.

"The state includes many a sites which faced the 1857 revolt. The monuments left thereafter and the cemeteries of the British are a great tourist attraction among the Britishers who wish to visit the cemeteries where their forefathers lay buried," Om Prakash, Uttar Pradesh Principal Secretary (tourism) told Business Standard.

The department is conducting a survey and records of cemeteries from places like Lucknow, Jhansi, Kanpur, Meerut, Bithoor, Allahabad and Gorakhpur are being documented.

The plan of action followed by the tourism department includes identifying the sites, cleaning them up, providing signboards with details of the events.

"A proper list of such sites will be prepared to help the tourists trace their forefather's connection with the state. We may also take up the task of renovation of sites which are in damaged condition," informed Prakash.

The department has already prepared records of about twenty people in the Cantonment Cemetery and around eighty people in the Nishatganj cemetery in Lucknow.

These include cemeteries of British men like Martin Gybbins, Lt. Col. P.A.Mosse and Col. Robert Renny, who used to hold important positions at that time of British rule.

"We have also asked the Regional Tourist Officers of all the districts to identify the sites of cemeteries at their place. Letters have already been directed to the UK Embassy to share their information with us, also inviting them to visit India," added Prakash.

The famous Residency of Lucknow, built in 1800 for the British Resident still bears the marks of cannon shots and the cemetery at the nearby ruined church has the graves of 2000 men, women and children, including that of Sir Henry Lawrence.

Similarly the Dilkusha Palace, Musabagh and Sikanrabad which witnessed the fights of 1857 are of equal importance and interest for the tourists in the state.

The department also plans to contact the gazetteer department of the state as well as the burial board of different districts to gather ample information about the remains of the 1857.