Several news reports mention that the Ministry of Tourism of India has been very impressed by the evolution of Raghurajpur village of Puri district as an arts village. There every house has become an art gallery. So impressed the ministry of tourism is with the village, it plans to replicate it in five other locations of the country. Following is an excerpt from Chennaionline.

What started as promotion of ‘pattachitra’ (painting on palm leaf) in Raghurajpur village in Puri district as part of rural tourism project five years ago culminated into transformation of the village into a vibrant centre of folk art.

In 2002, only about 6,000 tourists visited the place. In 2005, the tourist arrival figure went up to 34,000. The sale from the art and craft work went up from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 52 lakh during the same period.

Stone craft, pattachitra, palm leaf inscription, papier mache, sodhai work, mural painting, golden grass coir, screwpine leaf and wood work, filigree, applique, terra cotta and bell metal work greet visitors whose number is increasing every year.

“Every house in this village is an art gallery,” said a senior ministry official.

“The village has served us not just as a role model for generating employment through rural tourism but also as an inspiration for how to preserve folk art,” the official said.

Besides Raghurajpur, the other villages identified for setting up gurukul tradition of teaching art are Pochampalli in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh, Hodka in Kachch district in Gujarat, Pranpur in Ashok Nagar district in Madhya Pradesh and Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala.