Devpur Village Tourism (Spiritual Heritage)

Rural Tourism India

Deopur village is located in Sironj Tehsil of Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is situated 12km away from sub-district headquarter Sironj and 97km away from district headquarter Vidisha. As per 2009 stats, Davpur is the gram panchayat of Deopur village.

The total geographical area of village is 389.69 hectares. Deopur has a total population of 777 peoples. There are about 172 houses in Deopur village. Sironj is nearest town to Deopur which is approximately 12km away.

History. Historically, Sironj was a part of the Malwa region, on the fringes of Bundelkhand, and has been a Jain pilgrimage. ... Under the State Reorganization Act of 1956, Sironj was made a part of Madhya Pradesh. However, it lost its status of a district and became a block (sub-district) under the Vidisha district of MP.

The Jama Masjid said to be Built By Aurangzeb. During 18th century, great Trignometric Survey is organised by Sir George Everest to measure the Height of Mount Everest in which sironj is one of the three Observatories in India. This survey was later completed by Radhanath Sikdar using a Theodolite. The ruins of These Observatory still alive near Sironj, in a Village called BHOORI TORI on Guna road.one can find there a good English architecture. The Girdhari Temple situated in the town is assigned to the 11th century AD. It is known for its sculptures and fine carvings. The temples of Jatashankar and Mahamai are said to be old and sacred. It is said that Tatya Tope of 1857-fame has halted here for some time. More information about Tatya tope's Sironj Hault is available in the book Operation Red Lotus by Parag Tope. The Mahamai temple is 5 km to the southwest of Sironj. It is situated on a hill. An annual fair is held here.

Tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for Rural Development. The development of a strong platform around the concept of Rural Tourism is definitely useful for a country like India, where almost 74% of the population resides in its 7 million villages. Across the world the trends of industrialization and development have had an urban centric approach. Alongside, the stresses of Urban lifestyles have led to a “counterurbanization” syndrome. This has led to growing interest in the rural areas. At the same time this trend of urbanization has led to falling income levels, lesser job opportunities in the total areas leading to an urbanization syndrome in the rural areas. Rural Tourism is one of the few activities which can provide a solution to these problems. Besides, there are other factors which are shifting the trend towards rural tourism like increasing levels of awareness, growing interest in heritage and culture and improved accessibility, and environmental consciousness. In the developed countries, this has resulted in a new style of tourism of visiting village settings to experience and live a relaxed and healthy lifestyle. This concept has taken the shape of a formal kind of Rural Tourism.

"Any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience can be termed as rural tourism. Rural tourism is essentially an activity which takes place in the countryside. It is multi-faceted and may entail farm/agricultural tourism, cultural tourism, nature tourism, adventure tourism, and eco-tourism. As against conventional tourism, rural tourism has certain typical characteristics like; it is experience oriented, the locations are sparsely populated, it is predominantly in natural environment, it meshes with seasonality and local events and is based on preservation of culture, heritage and traditions. "

Handicraft:

The Sironj cluster is able to form 200 plus Artisans & 20 SHGs supporting the strong work force. The mobilization gains momentum day by day.

Carpet:

Bhopal, Vidisha, and Khamaria are the main towns which have trained carpet weavers. Twisted cotton thread is used along with the Jute twine giving rougher qualities of carpet with about 60 knots per square inch. Cotton and woolen carpets are made in Bhopal and Vidisha where weavers produce traditional and new designs keeping the market demand in mind. Madhya Pradesh constitutes almost 90 % of the carpet work and nearly 80 % of the weavers currently available in India. Bhopal, Vidisha are the major carpet centers in the state. Among these Vidisha is worth special mention as the economy of this district and its 500 odd villages are entirely dependent upon the carpet business.

Carpet weaving calls for a high degree of skill and dexterity and is generally done by the Monpa women in West Kameng and the tribes of North Siang district. Carpets are woven in bright colors with predominantly Tibetan motifs such as the dragon or geometric and floral designs, reflecting the Tibetan-Buddhist influence in the area. Wool colors were originally obtained using vegetable and other natural dye sources, although synthetic dyes and chemicals are now commonly used.

Raw Materials:

Carpet consists of dyed pile yarns; a primary backing in which the yarns are sewn; a secondary backing that adds strength to the carpet; adhesive that binds the primary and secondary backings; and, in most cases, a cushion laid underneath the carpet to give it a softer, more luxurious feel. Both the primary and secondary backing are largely made of woven or no woven polypropylene, though some secondary backing may still be made of jute, a natural fiber that, when woven, looks like burlap. The adhesive used to bind the backings together is almost universally synthetic rubber latex. The most common padding is rebounds (bonded urethane), though various forms of synthetic latex, polyurethane, or vinyl might be used instead. Rebound is recycled scrap urethane that is chopped into uniformly sized pieces and pressed into layers. Although rare, some carpet cushioning is made up of horse hair or jute. A plastic top sheet is usually added to the top to insure a smooth surface against the carpet.

Process:

Bunch of loose strands of fibers called staples are used to make carpets initially. The staples are put into a hopper where they're heated, lubricated and formed into slivers, which are wound into a long spool of fiber. From there, the carpet-making process is ready to begin.

A needle pushes the carpet fibers through the underside of a piece of fabric called the carpet backing. A hook called a looper holds the fibers in place as the needle goes back down into the backing, forming the loop. It sounds a bit tedious, and it must have been before the advent of automated tufting machines. If the carpet is supposed to be tufted, then the actual creation process ends here. If cut pile carpet is being manufactured, however, then the tufted carpet goes through an additional step where the loopers holding the individual pile strands are pulled over sharp knives. This cuts the loops into the individual strands that make up a cut pile carpet. The coloring process may take place at different stages in production, depending on the desired visual effect.  Another method, continuous dyeing, rolls and sprays dyes onto finished carpet. Still another, pre-dyeing, takes place before the carpet is processed. Once the carpet is finished, it's washed, dried and vacuumed. Errant piles are trimmed and then it's sent on a conveyor belt past a final employee who uses a pile gun to fill in any overlooked bare areas. The carpet is now finished.

Techniques:

Vertical plain colored threads, stretched from loom beam to loom beam on which knots are tied. Horizontal plain colored thread, which runs across the width of the rug, over and under the warp strings and between each row of knots. Weft helps hold rows of knots in place and strengthen the structure.Different colors are used in knotting in accordance with the pattern. Throughout the world there are many different knotting techniques, the double or gordes or symmetrical knotting is used by the Turks and is also known as the Turkish knot. In this technique each knot is looped around two different warps, both ends are pulled down and cut. The other common knotting technique is used in Iran, China and Afghanistan and is called the non-symmetrical or single knot or Persian knot, where one end of the knot is looped around one warp and the other end comes straight, both ends are pulled and cut.

7 Benefits of Rural Tourism:

• Generates employment and income for the residents of remote villages. This is most especially beneficial to women who often have no new opportunities to earn income away from home.
• Creates a market and appreciation for local products and services..and keeps them alive.
• Encourages conservation and care of natural resources such as the rivers, forests, mountains as well as local fauna and flora, birds, fish and almost extinct animals. When these are valued as living assets to attract income, they are usually cared for.
• Provides incentives to preserve some of the old customs and traditions, crafts, traditional festivals, architecture, food and other practices unique to certain cultures.
• Given that services are often provided by residents of the village, rural tourism benefits the village in that there is greater cooperation among villagers as they operate the local enterprise of providing for the tourists.
• Provides opportunities for mutual sharing of cultures. Hopefully, these encounters will result in greater understanding among peoples and closer ties to the global family.
• Helps slow urban drift as it gives a better economic future for families in rural areas.

Activities for Tourist:

Village Exploration 

Tourists who are interested in experiencing the Villagers life, Ujjain village is a absolutely right place for them. You can converse with the indigenous people in the village and know about their lifestyle. You can also take a walk around the village enjoying its beauty. Explore the forts, palaces and Temples of the village. 

Village stay 

If you are planning to stay here for the longer time to can also hire the cottages in the village. During the day time you can venture in the fields. You may glimpse the villagers working hard in the fields. If you want you can also work with villagers in the farms. 

Forest Safari

Tourists can also take the forest safari along with the forest officials.  

Learn Handicraft and Wood Art

Visit places nearby

Traditional and local cusine

community works

Visit small scale Carpet making Industries. 

Visit temples and historical buildings.

How to Reach:

By Air: Bhopal Airport, also known as Raja Bhoj Airport, is the nearest airport to Vidisha, which is nearly 56 km away from the heart of the city. Bhopal airport is connected to Mumbai, Indore, Gwalior and Delhi. International flights to Gulf cities like Sharjah and Dubai are operated from Bhopal.

By Rail: Bhopal is on one of the two main Delhi to Mumbai railway lines and also on the main line to the southern state capitals of Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Thiruvananthpuram. There are direct trains to Amritsar and Jammu Tawi and also to major towns in Madhya Pradesh.

By Road: Regular public bus services connect Vidisha with neighboring cities. Regular frequent bus services are avaialble from Vidisha to Bhopal.

Source of Information is Internet, Might vary, Kindly crosscheck/reconfirm before finalizing the Tour Plan.