SPIRITUAL TOURISM WILL CHANGE INDIA

 

Most people do not realize that it is the pilgrim routes of India that created the notion of India in the first place — rivers and lakes and mountain springs connected through various trails identified by wandering monks, who were forbidden to stay in one place for too long — a rigid rule that helped them experience detachment and indifference to all things worldly. Hindus believe that the sacred space or temple, which is the tirthsthan, has the presence of divine power. Going on a thirthyatra is considered highly auspicious and the aim or end result of it is moksha – liberation from the endless cycle of birth and death.

Literally, a tirtha means a shallow area in a river that can be crossed easily. In fact, some of the most popular tirthas in Hindu religion are located along rivers – Ganga, Saryu, Narmada and Shipra. Symbolically crossing the river and reaching a tirtha is leaving behind the materialistic world and entering into the spiritual world. At the tirtha, a pilgrim seeks moksha and redemption from sins.

Those pilgrim spots that do not have flowing water is called a teertha-kshetra like Kurukshetra. In Sanskrit kshetra may denote a tract of land and the Kurukshetra specifically is the 'field' or 'precinct' where the Pandavas and Kauravas fought their holy war of the Mahabharata and where Lord Krishna  offered the teachings of Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna .

Now that we know that spiritual tourism is not a new concept but have mention in the Vedas as well, we also know that it is not a concept unique to Indians or Hindus. Muslims, Christians, Jews all have their religious sacred spaces and they too routinely visit these places like Mecca, Medina and the Vatican.

 

Hindu temples were actually Hindu national assets

Temples of ancient India acted as banks that financed infrastructure, commerce and industry. By the medieval period India outsized clout in global trade was driven by corporatized guilds and large merchant fleet that in turn were financed by the temple-banks. Plundering of temples not only enriched the plunderers but destroyed Indian kingdoms financially. The temples of India like the Tirupathi temple, the Vishwanath temple, the Golden Temple still run schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and langars and guest houses.

 

Tirupathi Tirumala Devasthanam

The economics of spiritual tourism

A recent paper by SBI research claimed that recently inaugurated Ram Temple and other tourism centric initiatives will yield tax collection to the tune of R. 5,000 crore ($ 0.75 billion or $ 750 million)  in 2024-25. Almost 5 crore (50 million) visitors are expected to visit Ayodhya annually. Foreign stock market research firm Jefferies has predicted that Ayodhya will surpass Vatican and Mecca in terms of visitor footfalls. Mecca attracts 2 crore (20 million) pilgrims and generates USD 12 billion in revenue and Vatican attracts 90 lac (9 million) visitors and generates USD 215 million in revenue.

A religious place like Tirupathi Balaji in Andhra Pradesh attracts 2.5 crore (25 million) devotees every year and earns revenue of Rs. 12,000 crores ($ 1.44 billion) whereas purely tourist destinations like the Taj Mahal attracts 70 lac (7 million) visitors and generates Rs. 100 crore ($ 12.3 million) and Agra Fort attracts 30 lac (3 million)  visitors and earns Rs. 27.5 crores ($ 3.3 million). The common tourist circuit of North India is Delhi – Agra – Jaipur but with the renovation of Varanasi and the construction of the Ram Temple and metamorphosis of Ayodhya the new popular tourist circuit will soon be Ayodhya – Varanasi – Prayagraj – Mathura. With over a billion Hindus all over the world, all trying to visit their religious and cultural roots at least once in their lifetime, you can imagine the prospects of religious tourism in this region. This is an unique occasion when India is discovering Bharat and Hindus are discovering Hinduism.

 

This is an ongoing trend

Refurbishing of Hindu temples and beautification of the city in which it is located is a new trend that can be clearly appreciated. This new approach of thinking about our cultural legacy as an economic asset, rather than a burden that we need to drag around merely because of sentimental attachment is both refreshing and economically rewarding.  Before Ram Mandir the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi, the Mahakaal corridor in Ujjain, the Sri Mandira Parikrama Parikalpa in Jaggannath Puri have already been completed and the Krishna Janmabhoomi corridor in Mathura and Vindhyavasini corridor in Mirzapur are also coming up. Assam is investing in Kamakhya temple corridor and the cleaned up corridor leading to the Golden Temple in Amritsar has enhanced the experience for pilgrims. Sacred spaces in India are being expanded, refurbished, re-imagined, re-planned and re-laid as a part of cultural renaissance and spiritual reawakening. What has changed is India’s unapologetic embracing of her religious and cultural assets.  

Kashi Vishwanath corridor

 

The history of the apologetic Hindu

We were rebuilding our Hindu temples even before but doing so most apologetically. The ruling dispensation was distinctly uneasy and blatantly unhelpful because it did not fit into their Neheruvian ‘secular’ agenda. In the first decade of independence Nehru diverted much of country’s scarce resources to build capital intensive projects like dams and public sector behemoths and they were dubbed as the ‘temples of modern India’. Though this investment choice cannot be debated but by calling them the new temples the ancient Hindu places of  worship were looked down upon and purposely ignored. The present government did not build the Ram Temple, nor did the Nehur government rebuild the Somnath temple, the donors did but while the present government created favorable circumstances Nehru did not, fearing that it would annoy the Muslim minority. Such was his antipathy towards our ancient culture that when Le Corbusier was chosen to design the city of Chandigarh, he was specifically told to design it without any reference to India’s past. So we have a beautifully laid out cityscape but with drab concrete box architecture, which looks anything but Indian.

The left liberals under Nehru forced the Hindus to remain in partial denial of their cultural and religious identity. The distinction cannot be more stark when we recall that Nehru refused to attend the inauguration of the refurbished Somnath Temple and even advised the then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad to do the same, who thankfully did not oblige. Thankfully today the government has understood the feelings of the Hindu majority and the Prime Minister himself was not only the ‘mukhya yajman’  of the Pran Pratishthan ceremony of Ram Lalla but did so after completing 11 days of yam, niyam and upvas. He unhesitatingly takes a holy dip in the Ganga and walks bare feet along the Kashi Vishwanath corridor with Ganga-jal in his hand to do jalabhishekh of the temple deity Shiva!

 

Ram Temple, Ayodhya

Liberalization taught us the value of our heritage

With the economic liberalization ushered in by Dr. P.V. Narsimha Rao and his finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh our attitude towards our cultural assets began to change. Many palaces and forts which were left to crumble and rot in the last five decades were now converter into posh hotels and glamorous resorts and these heritage hotels attracted foreign tourists. Now we knew our heritage could earn money, employ youth and feed families. Temples however were still not touched as a constant policy of minority appeasement.

The construction of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi was a watershed moment for Hindu temple revamping and cultural revival. The pre-existing temple was cleaned and enticingly refurbished and enhanced, the environs were re-visioned and re-designed and the stairway from the Ganga could now lead to a majestic corridor which took the pilgrims to the temple. The results were simply awesome and the pilgrim footfall increase ten times between 2019 and 2023!

 

It will change people and politics

This new trend of a popular iconic figure participating in religious activities unhesitatingly, without bothering about antagonizing any section of the society, sends a very strong signal to the Hindu youth who were confused about Dharma and Religion. They are for the first time learning the meaning of words like ‘Pran Pratishthan’, ‘Garbha griha’, ‘Kamkati puja’ and showing interest in our ancient literature and art. It was an easy game to keep the majority Hindu community divided along the lines of caste, creed and language both for British to govern and the post independent left and left of centre dispensation to win elections. Even today their descendants are trying to rally support for caste census and promise reservation to virtually everyone at the drop of a hat. Now when the Ram Temple comes up with temples of Vashishtha, Valmiki, Jatayu, Shabri and Nishad Raj the caste fracture lines are also being healed    

 

It will change India

The government of India in 2015, under the stewardship of Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi started PRASAD – Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive focousing on developing the spiritual pilgrimage sites across India to showcase India’s cultural and spiritual diversity to the world. Thus, not only the Hindu pilgrimage sites and the Ramayana circuit were planned but so were the Buddha circuit the Sikh circuit and the Jain circuit. Development of these sites were accompanied by development of road, rail and air connectivity, development of city roads and transport, hotels and guest houses and tourism related shops, eateries and other businesses. Employment generation, economic growth and improved accessibility for locals all add up towards making a pivotal moment in the city’s journey towards progress and development. There is no better way to exploit our cultural and religious heritage.