The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) is planning to outsource the work for running and managing the Khasi Heritage Village at Mawphlang to experienced agencies.
The Khasi Heritage Village is a landmark project conceived by the KHADC to preserve the traditional heritage and social customs of the ethnic local tribes of the Khasi Hills.
According to sources, the KHADC recently invited Expression of Interest (EOI) from experienced agencies in the field of arts and culture for maintaining and operating the Khasi Heritage Village for a period of six months.
The selected agency will operate and use the existing available structures, make the entire Khasi Heritage Village attractive and alive by holding weekly or monthly events to increase footfall. It will also organise sales and exhibition of looms and handicrafts, promotion of local cuisines and local artistes besides holding cultural and educational programmes, micro workshops and live demonstrations. The other activities by the selected agency would be marketing and branding of the Khasi Heritage Village.
There will also be shops each specialising in sale of various craft like weaving, basketry, iron, wood carving and other woodworks, a food court with three stalls each having a seating capacity of about 30 people. These food stalls would have both indoor and outdoor seating and would cater to food dishes of the various tribes like Bhoi, Khynriam and War.
The Heritage Village was constructed at Mawphlang in an area of about 3.0 acres, which is further sub-divided into 20 plots, set within a meandering and landscaped footpath. Each plot has a traditional structure which is made as authentic as possible. The structures are made of stone, wood and bamboo using traditional methods of preservation and treatment. The craftsmen for the building were brought to the site from the villages to reproduce an authentic re-creation of these traditional structures.
One of the distinguishing structures of the Heritage Village is the open amphitheater designed to have a seating capacity of about 1400 people. This structure is surrounded by landscaped gardens and also traditional huts showcasing the daily lives of different regions of the Khasi Hills in the form of an authentic re-creation of the various areas that constitute a traditional home and will also have various implements, utensils, musical instruments, clothes and figures.
The village also hosts other structures like the museum, ticketing booth, security cabins and other infrastructural facilities like toilets.
The proposed Heritage Village will give a huge impetus to the growing tourism economy of the area and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the people of the surrounding villages.
