Twin National Heritage Cities

Union Tourism Ministry will soon confer the title of ‘Twin National Heritage Cities’ on the temple towns of Rishikesh and Haridwar. This will be the first instance in the country in which tag is being given to any of the cities. Both heritage cities will receive funds which have been earmarked for the development. Under the Twin National Heritage Cities, development plan has been proposed to develop two cities as world-class yoga and spirituality centres. The first priority of this development plan is to improve the infrastructure and traffic situation in these cities. Haridwar is very rich in cultural heritage as it has more than 370 heritage sites while Rishikesh has around 30 heritage sites. These heritage sites include old temples, akharas, dharamshalas, havelis, etc and have many artefacts and murals of historic value.