Bihar tourism department cancels all events scheduled for April

Published on : Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Bihar tourism department has canceled all events scheduled for April and is thinking about revising events planned for May in the midst of a spike in Covid-19 cases.

As per this year’s calendar released by the tourism department, Patna Sahib Festival, scheduled to be held on the occasion of Vaishakhi on April 13, stands canceled. Vaishali Mahotsav, which was planned for April 25, has also been canceled. The department has been hosting the mahotsav for decades to commemorate the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir.

Besides this, events like Kundalpur Mahotsav in Nalanda, Lacchuar Mahotsav at Lacchuar in Jamui, Thawe Mahotsav in Gopalganj and Mundeshwari Mahotsav in Bhabua, also scheduled for this month, have been canceled.

“The events have been canceled due to the growing Covid threat. No tourism festival will be held in April. The government has already issued guidelines for public functions,” said Bihar tourism minister Narayan Prasad.

The minister said that although there are prescribed precautions to be taken to prevent the spread of corona virus infection, it will be difficult to curb the virus spread during such public functions.

“Even the programme of Union tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel has been revised due to Covid. He was to visit west Champaran to attend the Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on April 10. Now, the programme has been postponed to May 1,” the minister said.

In 2020 too, Bihar had to cancel a majority of events due to the pandemic. Mukesh Kumar, manager at a hotel run by the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation, said, “Events such as Buddha Purnima, Rajgir Mahotsav and Sonepur fair had to be canceled.”