Pandawa Cruise is the ship that has helped Bihar become a cruise tourism destination in India. The special moment for the Indian state came on the day when Pandawa Cruise entered Bhagalpur, sailing in the Ganges from Kolkata. It carried 50 foreign tourists, hailing from US, UK, Russia, Australia and Canada. With this event, Bihar marked its entry on the cruise tourism map.
Sanjay Sreevats, Director of Indian Tourism - Patna, played the major part in getting the tour operators initiate this cause. On the occasion, he said that on its entry to state, the ship was greeted by winds and heavy rains, as if God had blessed and welcomed the ship. The cruise was planning to go to Varanasi from Kolkata. The 14-day long journey started from Kolkata, on September 28 and ended on October 11.
Sreevats told that a technical snag prevented the ship from entering Bhagalpur, but the engineers were working to maintain it. He also said that the idea to promote Bihar as cruise tourism place hit him when he was posted at Jaipur, with an additional charge of Bihar. Other than Bihar, Goa, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Kolkata Guwahati, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nikobar Islands are the major cruise destinations in India.
