*Victims of social,economic or criminal injustice can just walk into the court of Kotlu devta in Mandi districts Balachowki area and hammer a nail into a pillar to seek divine justice they will not have to pay a fee to approach the court,which has no fixed working hours and is not shut on holidays. As the people of this valley believes,Kotlu Devta does not take much time to dispose off pending petitions. The offender himself walks into the temple after sometime and confesses his crime. The victim is called in and a compromise is reached at to pave the way for removing the nail.
* In a natural waterbody called Rumani Kund at Salasi village in Bilaspur,Rukmani daughter-in-law of an erstwhile king sacrificed herself after the area was hit by feminine. Following this,the area never faced never famine or shortage of water.
These are among the 12 popular legends one each from 12 districts which will hard sell Himachal Pradeshs rural tourism.
This is a first-of-its-kind effort to document folk stories and famous tales to find their roots to temples,remote places and also pious water bodies.
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All the 12 stories,complied in a book called Har Gaon Ki Kahani,will be launched on August 19 by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal at a workshop organised by state tourism department in Shimla.
I have called all tour operators,block development officers,DCs,SDMs,hoteliers,gram pradhans and representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions,zila parishad chairmen and travel writers for a brainstorming session to draw up a strategy to hard sell Himachals potential in rural tourism. We will also unveiled plans on different rural circuits, said Director (Tourism) Arun Sharma.
Broadly,the schemes main objectives are to develop rural infrastructure in the state,diversify tourism into new areas,create employment opportunities among the youths and to market the hidden rural cultural heritage nationally as well as internationally.
Recently it was adjudged as the best initiative for promoting rural tourism in the country in Bangalore. Har Gaon Ki Kahani dwells on the rich reservoir of unending stories scattered throughout the state, said Sharma.
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