Guwahati (Assam), Mar. 5 : Locals and tourists in Guwahati, Assam, recently participated in an environment awareness drive around the mythlogically important Basishta Temple.

The temple holds great importance for Hindu devotees, as according to mythology, Saint Basishta is said to have set up his hermitage green hills where the temple iss located.

The area has fallen victim to the ravage of time, and now both locals and tourists are actively involved in a campaign to improve the environment sufficiently to make it a popular religious tourism site.

An NGO called Parivartan is involved in the project.

"Ayurvedic group of artist from different parts of the globe, local and international have decided to organize a festival here in Basishta, thus giving importance to the place," said Pathak, one of the persons involved with the environment awareness project.

The week-long environment drive ends on March 8 ahead of the first Basistha Festival that takes place on March 9.

Argentinian Sebastian said that he was happy to see so many people involved in the planning of the festival, and hoped that the Indian Government of the Assam Government would extend the required support for the cause. (ANI)