Lucknow, Jun 11 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government would soon undertake a drive to map relatively unknown Sufi sites in the state and develop them into heritage tourism spots, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said.

The tourism department would be entrusted with identifying relatively unknown Sufi sites and further developing popular Sufi sites in the state, the chief minister announced here late Monday.

"A lot of initiatives have been taken to promote tourism in Uttar Pradesh. In the coming days, I am sure the development of Sufi sector could be a great boon for the state," Yadav said after releasing a book titled "A Leaf Turns Yellow - the Sufis of Avadh", authored by filmmaker Muzaffar Ali.

The chief minister regretted that despite the state being one of the prominent centres of Sufism for hundreds of years, many Sufi sites have been lost and are unknown to the present generation.

"It will be the endeavour of the state government to find them and restore their lost glory," the chief minister said.