Friday, 22 January 2016

Atithi Devo Bhava Depicting the True Culture of India

Atithi Devo Bhava is a verse from Sanskrit, which means that guest is equal to god or be the person for whom guest is equal to god. This verse was obtained from an ancient scripture and has become a code of conduct in the Hindu societies. This explains the procedure between the host and his guest. Recently Indian Tourism Department took up this verse as their tag line to promote tourism in India. Taittiriya Upanishad comprises four mantras, namely athithidevo bhava, acharyadevo bhava, pitrudevo bhava and matrudevo bhava. The literal meaning of this mantras is , be the one for whom guest is equivalent to god, be the one for whom teacher is equivalent to god, be the one for whom father is equal to god, be the one for whom mother is equal to god. 

 
Atithi Devo Bhava Making India a Multifaceted Destination

In Sanskrit, Tithi refers to calendrical date. During ancient period, the route of communication was very limited and hence it was difficult for guest to inform their exact date of arrival and therefore atithi literally refers to ‘without fixed calendar time’. By euphonic combination, the term Devah was pronounced and written as Devo, which means God. Bhava refers to ‘Is or be’ – be the person for whom guest is equivalent to god. Indian subcontinent attracts millions of travelers from all over the world every year.  In order to attract more and more tourist, the Indian Tourism Department came up with their campaign carrying this verse with the central theme in the name of ‘Incredible India’. 

Incredible India – Journey of Your Lifetime 

This campaign was aimed to improve the social awareness in order to treat tourist with greater sense of humanity and friendliness. The campaign was targeted towards the public by focusing on stakeholders of tourism industry. Through this campaign, they provide various types of training and also orientation programs to police, immigration officers, tourist guides, taxi drivers and other personnel who are in the position to communicate directly with tourists. The various stages of this campaign are the sensitization process, screening process, process of induction followed by certification and then feedback from key stakeholders in order to develop the desired tourist-friendly ambience over gradual period. The culture of India is well known all over the world for its affection and warmth. This is the actual reason why millions of tourists love to visit India. Indian cuisines attract food lovers from all parts of the world. Indians display great hospitality and affection towards their guests.

 

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