Panaji, Jun 15 (IANS): Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai on Wednesday said there is a lot of scope for Goa to develop 'spiritual tourism' as there are many important things related to it in the coastal state.

Pillai was speaking while laying the foundation stone for the new Raj Bhavan in Panaji.

President Ram Nath Kovind was also present, along with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union MoS for Tourism Shripad Naik and other cabinet ministers.

"Our cities, our beaches are beautiful, but villages are more beautiful than cities. There is a lot of importance to spiritual tourism, not confined to any religion. There is scope for spiritual terrorism. There are so many important things (related to it)," he said.

Speaking about the ancient Raj Bhavan building, Pillai said it is an auspicious moment in the history of Goa that it is declared as a national monument.

"People don't get the opportunity to see it due to various reasons. Security and other such strict conditions are there. It is difficult for an ordinary person to visit it easily, but once the new Raj Bhavan premise is complete, the present Raj Bhavan would be thrown open to tourists and locals interested in visiting the historical place," he said.

"Age of Raj Bhavan is more than 450 years. Other things I am not going, whether it is stable or not, somewhat it is stable. But at the same time, all states are constructing new Raj Bhavan. Some states are initiating processes to construct new one. It (present Raj Bhavan) will not get destroyed, it's a national monument," he said.

"Not a single part of it (Raj Bhavan) will change, it is a matter of prestige," he said.

Earlier, Congress and other sections of society had criticised the construction of new Raj Bhavan, saying if the existing one is in good shape, then there was no need to construct new.