Suman Sharma

Incredible tangible and intangible heritage of India play a vital role towards the nation’s overall growth and development. Ancient literature posse’s sufficient references about the travelers, scholars and philosophers those preserved and portrayed the heritage for future generation which is apparently visible from various travelers’ diaries, traditions and exhibitions. Despite a difficulty in finding out the right sentiment for expressing the true meaning of heritage, the concept of heritage has been explored to its core for an acceptable definition in this research study. This study suggests that heritage can act as an important holistic development tool for the overall community development. The opinion of stakeholders was recorded with the help of a questionnaire administered on local community nearby places of historic significance. The study provides ample scope and opportunities towards heritage tourism development in India as per stakes of local community. According to Mahatma Gandhi “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people”. Therefore local community has been considered as the ultimate ambassador for heritage and cultural tourism in this research paper.