Andretta’s tourism potential untapped despite heritage tag

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 18

Andretta, the world famous art village of Kangra district, hardly has any facility for the visiting tourists. Thousands of tourists visit the heritage village every year to visit the art gallery of Sobha Singh, the old house of Norah Richards, pottery centre of Gucharan Singh and house of famous artist BC Sanyal.

However, there is no hotel, not even a tea shop to provide visitors snacks or a public rest house.

GC Pathania, president of the Andretta Vikas Manch, said the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, in the 1980s had acquired land and a building from small saving funds to create facility for tourists. Thereafter the Tourism Department took over the building and planned to build a hotel, restaurant a mud house and camping site. However, the half completed building was left as such by the department since 1990s. The building had been converted into a ruin and land was lying waste, he said.

Andretta was selected as their home by many artists of the Lahore School of Art after the Partition.

The first to arrive here was Norah Richards, the famous British Punjabi playwright. After her death, she donated her house to Punjabi University, Patiala. Students of the drama department of Punjabi University now organise a festival here every year in November or December. For the rest of the year, there is no activity there.

Sobha Singh, the legendary artist, who is famous for conceiving and creating the pictures of all Sikh gurus and other world famous paintings as that of Sohni and Mahiwal, had also made Andretta his home after the Partition. Many of his works are now displayed in his art gallery now being managed by his grandson Hirday Paul. Large numbers of artists and tourists visit Andretta to see the art works of Shoba Singh.

The village has pottery centre of Gurcharan Singh who is considered as the father of artistic pottery. It is being managed by his son Mansimran Singh or Mini Singh and has all facilities to train students in the art of pottery.

Famous actor Prithvi Raj Kapoor also used to visit Andretta and the Kapoor family still owns land in the village. BS Sanyal, the doyen of modern art, had his house in the village and spent most of his life here. The famous Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam wrote a novel ‘Agojar Dian Parianon’ on the Agojar village adjoining Andretta.

Despite such big names being associated with Andretta, the state government has not done anything to exploit the tourism potential of the village.

Lakhmir Singh, a regular visitor to the village, said the government could organise an art mela in Andretta and most of the artists take part in it. The state government can encourage the people of the village to start homestay facilities and it can prove to be a good source of earning to them. The facilities created at Andretta can also promote tourism in Baijnath, Bir, Palampur and Andretta tourist circuit.