Chief minister, Kamalnath Singh inaugurated the month-long fourth Jal Mahotsav (aqua festival) amidst fanfare at Hanuvntiya island on the backwater of Indira Sagar dam in MP’s Khandwa district recently.
Various land and water adventurous activities were held on the opening day of the festival. The sky was filled with cololurful kites and tourists enjoyed the paramotor ride, water parasailing, water zorbing and other activities.
This year the event will serve as a perfect platform to experience the life, culture, colourful customs and rich traditions of Madhya Pradesh through local art, craft, folk music, dance and cuisines. ‘Jal Mahotsav’ will offer sports and nature enthusiasts, a plethora of adventurous activities to rejoice and to create memories with Hot Air Ballooning, Cycling, Cruise Boating, Water Parasailing, Para Motoring, Island Overnight Camping, Star Gazing, Bird Watching to name a few.
As part of security measures, all activities at the complex were being monitored by drone-controlled aerial videography.
Highlights
· A one-month long festival of Adventure activities, Arts & Crafts, Music, Food, Nature and many more.
· A tent city in approximately 17 acres of land comprising of 104 Luxury Swiss tents and multi cuisine dining will be functional from 20th December 2019.
· Conference facility which will facilitate big corporate conferences and destination weddings has been developed.
· Island Activities will be available for Adventure loving people (Camping, Bird Watching, Trekking etc.)
· More Adventure activities on Land, Water & Air.
Jal Mahotsav has been awarded most innovative/Unique tourism product 2015-16 by Government of India, Ministry of Tourism in the year 2017.
Towards the clarion call on ‘green and clean’ energy by the government, festivals like ‘Jal Mahotsav’ may also promote awareness workshops on natural resource conservation, innovative communication campaigns on government schemes such as ‘Swachh Bharat’ and rich handicrafts from the state. The government engages with native artisans, dancers and people specialists through dances, popular music genre and cultural, crafts, giving cultural delight to travellers and audience, alike. These festivals are encouraging examples of public-private community partnerships and have the potential to add to biodiversity, livelihoods through local activities like fisheries, offering homestays, & showcasing local Arts, Craft, Culture & Cuisine to the visitors during the ‘Jal Mahotsav”.
Previous editions of “Jal Mahotsav”
1st edition of “Jal Mahotsav” was organized from 12th to 21st Feb. 2016 (10 days)
2nd edition of “Jal Mahotsav” was organized from 15th Dec. 2016 to 15th Jan. 2017 (32 Days).
3rd edition of “Jal Mahotsav” was organized from 15th Oct. 2017 to 02nd Jan 2018 (80 Days).
All the three editions were inaugurated by the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh.
Situated about 150 km from Indore and 50 km from Khandwa, Hanuwantia was all decked up to welcome tourists and the entire sports complex was decorated with colourful buntings. “Hanuwantiya” is an amazing, unbelievable place at the bank of “Indira Sagar Dam. It is a virgin and unknown hamlet with a huge reservoir (approx. 95 sq. km.). A resort has been developed by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department to kick start this destination. Indira Sagar Lake has over 90 islands with rich biodiversity. These islands are accessible by speed boat.