Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
A delegation of 11 tourism stakeholders from Germany spent the entire day visiting the world heritage Ellora Caves and other iconic monuments, including Daulatabad Fort and Bibi ka Maqbara.
The group, comprising six women and five men, included tourism stakeholders such as hoteliers, tour operators and representatives of tourism agencies. They were fascinated by the history of the cone-shaped Devgiri Fort at Daulatabad during their morning visit. Although parts of the monument still showed blackened marks from a fire incident that occurred two days ago, the visitors were impressed by the Chand Minar, cannons, cannon gallery, the iron bridge built over the moat, the dark passage, the cross-shaped main entrance, and the merloned fortification walls adorned with bastions.
The delegation was also deeply impressed by the intricate stone carvings and sculptures representing three religions — Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism — at the Ellora Caves. They were particularly amazed by the monolithic Kailasa Temple (Cave No. 16), carved out of a single rock.
In the afternoon, the delegation visited the renowned Ghrishneshwar Temple, one of the sacred Jyotirlinga shrines, where they paid their respects. Later in the evening, they spent time at the city’s iconic monument, Bibi ka Maqbara. The sprawling gardens, elegant minarets, domes and the grand architecture of the royal mausoleum drew great admiration from these special visitors.
The delegates captured their visits to the monuments using professional cameras and mobile phones. They expressed that they will design special travel itineraries to India after returning home, encouraging German tourists to visit the tourism capital and explore its cluster of remarkable heritage monuments.
The group was guided by German-language guide Dr Subhash Jadhav. Deputy Director (Tourism) Vijay Jadhav, along with assistant district tourism officers Azeemoddin Shaikh, Shoaib Shah and Rohan Kamble, accompanied the delegation.
The deputy director (tourism) said that the German stakeholders had arrived in the city as part of a familiarisation (FAM) tour. The delegates today spent considerable time taking selfies, photographs and videos at Devgiri Fort, Ellora Caves, Ghrishneshwar Temple and Bibi ka Maqbara. They are scheduled to visit the world heritage Ajanta Caves on Saturday and will depart from the city on Sunday, he added.