Authorities of Malda College have devised a unique initiative to popularise historical tourism in Malda, a district known for the famous ruins of Gauda (or Gaur), an erstwhile kingdom, and Adina, another site of historical importance.

The college has come up with an attractive model of the entire Gauda and its monuments, and unveiled it at a function held in Malda College on Saturday. Academics, researchers, students of the institution and representatives of trade bodies and tourism stakeholders were present at the event.

Sauren Banerjee, the vice-chancellor of Gour Banga University and president of the college’s governing body, unveiled it.

“All the monuments of Gauda (Gaur) have found places in the replica. Each of these monuments is tagged with a barcode. One can scan the barcodes with one’s smartphone to know the historical importance of each of these monuments in Bengali and English. It is indeed a unique initiative which will help students, researchers and the tourism industry,” said Banerjee.

Pijush Saha, a faculty member of Malda College, said they had spent around ₹35,000 to make the replica.

“We have requested hotel owners across the district to place such replicas in their reception area to draw tourists into the district. People visiting hotels can know more about Gauda and its historical significance,” said Saha.

“In due course, we will come up with similar replicas of Adina and Jagjibanpur, two other prominent tourist spots of the district,” he added.

The Malda Hotel Owners’ Association and Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce praised the initiative.

“Those who come to Malda for various purposes often ask us about Gauda and other historically important tourist places in the district. Now, if such replicas are placed in the hotels’ reception, we believe that the visitors will be encouraged to visit the actual sites,” said Himadrie Roy, a representative of the association.

Course for guides

Manas Baidya, the principal of Malda College, said on Saturday that they would soon introduce a short-term course for skilled guides who can help tourists visiting historical sites of Gauda, Adina and Jagjibanpur.

“We are preparing modalities of the course so that the guides trained by us can impart authentic knowledge of historical sites to the tourists,” said Baidya.