The Bihar State Tourism Development of Corporation (BSTDC) is all set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) next week with Assam-based Assam Bengal Navigation (ABN) for launching a river cruise in Ganga River from Kolkata to Patna. It would be operational during the festive season starting October this year.

The cruise, with 12 cabins having double bed (A/C) rooms, open deck, dining hall, bar, restaurant, massage centre, big hall and emergency medical facilities, will have a capacity to accommodate 24 tourists. The cruise will have six -day stoppages in Bihar including Rajmahal, Bateshwar Sthan, Sultanganj, Munger, Simaria Ghat and Patna. The rates are yet to be finalised.

ABN, an Indo-British joint venture, has offices in Guwahati and the UK. In 2003, ABN pioneered long-distance river cruising in India with unique cruises in River Brahmaputra in Assam, and in 2007 it was the first to run cruises in River Hugli.

Last year, BSTDC had launched the first ever ten-day cruise on Kolkata-Varanasi route mainly for foreigners which was a big success. About 500 kms of the total 800 kms stretch of the cruise passes through various tourist places of Bihar, including Bhagalpur, Munger, Patna and Buxar. BSTDC had signed MoU with UK-based Pandaw Cruise India Pvt. Limited.

Rashmi Verma, Principal Tourism Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Bihar said, “Till date, the cruise has already made eight trips in which over 450 foreign tourists travelled on this route. In view of the overwhelming response, we have decided to launch another river cruise in Ganga River for domestic, as well as foreigners at a low cost.”

The first stoppage of the cruise will be at Rajmahal which was once an early Mughal capital of Bengal. Similarly, Munger would be visitors delight to view a fine Mughal fort further expanded by the East India Company and a world famous first Yoga university.

A road journey south of the river is the pilgrimage centre - Bodh Gaya - where Buddha attained enlightenment. The temple is surrounded by monasteries housing pilgrims from Tibet, Sri Lanka, Japan and many other countries. En route has the early Buddhist monastery of Nalanda and the sacred Rajgir Hill.

Finally, Patna which was one of the major centres of the East India Company, enriched by opium and indigo plantations, and now boasts of a museum and fascinating mosques and temples would be one of the highlights for visitors. Neighbouring Sonepur boasts of India's largest and most colourful cattle fair during autumn.