Puri (Odisha), INDIA. Puri – the coastal city of south Indian state Odisha, also popular for world-famous Lord Jagannath and Konark temples, beaches, and pollution-free environment, is fast turning up a hot spot for Yoga Tourism also.
A score of Japanese people visit Puri every year to learn Yoga here, and a place called Hotel Santana is the epicenter of all the action.
Aged between 20 and 60, the Japanese men and women come here for 45-day Yoga course, and during this time they not only attend theory and practical classes here learning over hundred asanas (postures) of Yoga but also go out in the city to perform Yoga along the sea beaches, ashrams, temples, gardens, and parks especially during sunrise and sunset.
Many Japanese take up Yoga for a career while others learn it to maintain good mental and physical health for self, family, and friends.
Set up in 1952 by Chandra Sekhar Dash, a native of Puri Hotel Santana, the Santana Hotel houses the Japanese tourists only and is a replica of mini Japan from inside. No other person other than Japanese is allowed to stay here
The ambiance inside the hotel complex is very much Japanese. Starting from food and beverages to reading material like books, its all Japanese only and bit of a touch of Indian culture as well. Food is cooked by Japanese chefs only.
Also read: Japanese language, training experts travel to Puri from Hyogo
“Initially in the 1950s, Puri used to be visited by the tourists from countries like US, UK, Germany, France, Holland, etc and my father would maintain Khaata (account book) of those tourists and keep a record of their names and other credentials. It was in the early 1980s, the Japanese too started visiting Puri,” said Kunna Dash, the son of Chandra Sekhar Dash who had started helping his father when he just 15 years old.
During the early 1990s, the influx of Japanese tourists in Puri went up as they started feeling at home because of the facilities and pollution-free environment, greenery and beautiful beaches besides historical monuments.
It was at that time, Kunna Dash had an opportunity to interact with Japanese, and he too started speaking broken Japanese.
“The latest attraction for Japanese in Puri is the Yoga and locational advantage the city offers to them. During their stay at the hotel in Puri, they not only learn Yoga but also enjoy the scenic beauty of the place. Besides healthy living, work stress is also one of the major factors for which the Japanese want to learn Yoga. Many do it for career building in the healing and wellbeing sector too,” said Dash.
Dash now lives in Japan as he had moved to this country in 1990 when he had visited Japan for the first time.
The facilities inside the hotel Santana include the tourist guide book, which Dash himself has created for them in the Japanese language. The hotel has all the Dos and Dons in the Japanese language.
Mickey (the English name of a Japanese girl from Osaka), who works as a receptionist with a resort in Japan, chose to take up Yoga for better career prospects.
“In Japan, learning Yoga is very expensive as trainers there charge as high as $20 per hour. I came to Puri to learn Yoga in the 45-day course and I am enjoying it very much,” she said.
Minako Kanagawa, another girl from Japan is already a yoga teacher in Japan but wants to learn more nuances of Yoga from the experts in India, the origin of Yoga.
