Karnataka To Set Up Its First Craft Tourism Village In Anegundi Near Hampi

Anegundi, that is said to be the cradle of the Vijayanagara dynasty, will soon host the first craft tourism village of Karnataka.

The project, which was announced much earlier, will soon be completed and open to tourists by June, say reports.

The crafts village is being developed by the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC) under the aegis of the Union Ministry for Textile with the cooperation of local NGOs.

“Crafts-tourism being in-thing in tourism "crafts tourism village" is being done at Anegundi, near Hampi, by Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corp under aegis of @TexMinIndia. Today I visited, discussed plan & execution. Artisans here specialise in banana bark products-bags/baskets,” tweeted KSHDC MD and IGP D Roopa, who visited the village and interacted with the artisans.

The region is known for its artisans who work with banana fibre and bamboo and is currently home to around 300 artists. As per reports, a special officer has been appointed to oversee the development of the project and the local panchayat members too held a meeting with the district collector.

Beautification of streets, provision of separate spaces for artists to work will also be undertaken in the process.

The departments concerned will be apprised of the need to hasten the process and get the craft village in place at the earliest, assured Roopa, as reported.

She also assured the artisans that the corporation would provide greater support for the production and promotion of the bamboo and banana fibre craft work produced in the region.

Karnataka has been promoting its artisans and craftsmen with greater enthusiasm, especially after the campaign for Aatmanirbharata was launched by PM Narendra Modi.

While the state has begun work on the country’s first toy cluster, it also highlighted its traditional toy makers from Channapatna at the recent India Toy Fair.

Prime Minister Modi interacted with the toymakers from this town asking them to innovate as well as nudging the state to use its IT resources for better promotion and marketing of the toys produced by artists in this region.