Guwahati, Feb 18: Ganga Vilas, the ship undergoing world’s longest river cruise from Varanasi to Dibrugarh, reached Goalpara before time at 04.45 PM this evening due to good draft at Brahmaputra.
The ship departed from the IWAI Dhubri terminal at 10:40 AM this morning before undertaking a 117 kms journey to its next pit stop in Goalpara. The ship is anchored at Kachari Ghat in Goalpara until it sails tomorrow morning for Sualkuchi.
Tourist visited Gurudwara of Guru Teg Bahadur
Ganga Vilas continues to be escorted by SL Subansiri and HPT Ambedkar for their journey from Dhubri upto Pandu. After dropping of anchor at Goalpara, the tourists are likely to come to the Goalpara town via SB Manjua, SB Tashmina and SB Bilkish ferries of Inland Waterways Transport Department, Government of Assam tomorrow morning. The tourists are scheduled to visit the historic Surya Pahar, which is famous for its archeological remains.
The rock cut sculpture of this site depicts deities of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, a rare combination. Earlier today in Dhubri, the 28 Swiss tourists visited the famous Asharikandi village and got a first hand experience about the beautiful handmade artefacts made of terracotta. The tourists also paid a religious visit to the Gurudwara of Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib ji and Darshana of Holy Peeps tree.
Tourists visited the famous Asharikandi village
Flagged off by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the historic cruise set sail from Varanasi on January 13, 2023, and, after traversing through Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal as well as Bangladesh, arriving at Dhubri in Assam on its 39 day of the voyage. Dubbed as the longest river cruise in the world, the Varanasi to Bogibeel voyage by the Ganga Vilas is scheduled to complete the journey on March 1, 2023, when it anchors at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh drawing a close to its 51 day cruise.
Earlier, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal termed the arrival of Ganga Vilas cruise ship at Dhubri in Assam, India as a ‘watershed moment’ in the inland waterways transportation towards transformation of the Northeast India.
The Minister congratulated the people of Assam and the Northeast on this historic moment that is set to unlock huge potential of river tourism, allowing trickle down development for people across the bank of the Brahmaputra.