India's religious tourism has patrons like never before. On January 17, the 'Srimandir Parikrama' project, which provides improved amenities for devotees around the Jagannath Temple in Puri, was inaugurated by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Just a day prior, on January 16, religious rituals at the Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya began with huge fanfare. The seven-day ceremony will end with the consecration of the idol of infant Lord Ram - Ram Lalla - at the new temple on January 22.
There has been a growing and renewed interest in India's religious and cultural circuits in the last 10 years. It is no coincidence that both these places, visited by millions of devotees, have been taken up for massive renovation simultaneously. While the Kashi Vishwanath Temple corridor earlier and the Ram Temple have been taken up by the BJP governments at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh, the Jagannath Temple Heritage Corridor was one of the pet projects of Naveen Patnaik.
Historically too, ancient religious cities and shrines have always witnessed pilgrims' influx and have been prominent hubs of economic and religious activities. Traditionally, temple towns like Kashi, Puri, Mathura, Dwarka in the north, Bodh Gaya in the east, and Rameshwaram, Tirupati in the south (to name a few) have thrived because of religious tourism.
A big spike in religious tourism has been attributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan of reviving religious destinations across the country. Realising the unexplored potential in the sector, the Modi government's flagship scheme PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) introduced in 2015 altered the landscape. Under the PRASAD Scheme, 41 religious sites from 25 states were identified for development in the country.
India's religious-circuit economy is expected to generate employment opportunities for the masses in fields ranging from infrastructure, construction to hotels, food and beverage, travel and tourism and other ancillary sectors.
Development of Varanasi, Puri and Ayodhya
Varanasi, Ayodhya, Puri and the Ramayana circuit are set to boost economic growth. Since 2014, when Varanasi became PM Modi's parliamentary constituency, the city has not looked back. The city has been beautified; untreated sewage water no longer flows into River Ganga and the famous 'Ganga aarti' is a site to behold. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor in Varanasi, the PM's dream project, has been the trendsetter for top class religious and cultural tourism and also for the holy city. The ministry of tourism's data suggests more than 70 million people visited the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in 2022 after its renovation, compared to around 8 million a year earlier.
Similarly, Puri has always been a famous religious destination for devotees of Lord Jagannath. The tourist footfall in Puri in 2022 was 1.48 crore. However, visitors from neighbouring cities like Kolkata, Ranchi, and Raipur prefer to return to their destinations or Bhubaneswar instead of stay in Puri town because of the lack of quality accommodations. The Odisha government initiated several corrective measures to boost tourism and economy like a tourism and ecotourism roadmap; land bank at identified tourism destinations. According to the sources in the Odisha government's department of tourism, 500-star-category room hotel accommodations amounting to Rs 460 crore from big brands (Taj, Hyatt, ITC) are set to be added this year. The overall contribution of the tourism sector to Odisha's GDP was 13 per cent in the year 2022. "After the inauguration of the Jagannath Temple corridor; the upcoming international airport and other infrastructure-related developments, especially in the Golden Triangle (Puri, Konark and Bhubaneswar), it is expected that by the end of 2025, the tourism sector will contribute at least 15 per cent to the state GDP. More tourists are anticipated to visit Odisha, and which in turn will create direct and indirect jobs in the state," says the source.
Economic growth in religious circuits
The Supreme Court verdict in 2019 cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Both the Central and state governments were conscious of the need for quality and a futuristic approach in the construction of the temple and the development of Ayodhya as a modern city. As with most religious places in India, the government was aware that diverse attractions were needed to hold peoples' interest beyond temple visits.
The outcome was the swanky upgrade of the Ayodhya railway station, the construction of a greenfield airport and highways, and cruises on the river Saryu. According to reports, the combined hospitality, travel, and tourism industry has created 20,000 jobs ahead of the much-anticipated 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. Anticipating a daily influx of devotees in lakhs, experts in the industry foresee a sustained increase in job opportunities in the upcoming months.
"Direct employment in hotels, food and beverage, transport, tourist guide profession will be created," says Asim Arun, Uttar Pradesh minister.
"Indirect employment will need more jobs in many sectors as the area of the existing cities will grow manifold, needing several specialised jobs to support in managing the enlarged municipal areas," he adds.
The UP government has also decided to develop religious circuits as part of its tourism policy. Places associated with Lord Ram are being developed as the Ramayan circuit, and those related to Krishna as the Krishna Circuit. There are also plans for a Buddhist circuit, a Jain Circuit and a Sufi Kabir circuit.
Mr Arun says the religious circuits are bound to increase the flow of pilgrims in huge numbers. "General civic improvement in the cities of Kashi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Naimisharanya, Gorakhpur, Sarnath has improved the experience of pilgrims. Theme parks, fairs along the ghat, a tent city, state-of-the-art convention centres, star-rated hotels will add dimensions to the overall experience. The Buddhist circuit, which is easily accessible, will attract more international tourists and will present a glimpse of our society to them," he asserts.
Electoral benefits
Religion and development seem to be a potent lethal combo for any party to garner votes. The Ram temple consecration ceremony has been turned into a mass movement. The 'akshat' distribution across India has engaged people directly with the ceremonies in Ayodhya.
On one side, it seems divisive. On the other side, development will encompass citizens across religions and provide them employment opportunities that don't exist today.
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(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.
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