[361.11]. Singh, Rana P.B. 2011.

Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism in

India: Countering Contestation and Seduction; in, Singh, Rana
P.B. (ed.) Holy Places and Pilgrimages: Essays on India. Planet
Earth & Cultural Understanding Series, Pub. 8. Shubhi
Publications, New Delhi: pp 307-334. <chapter 12>. © Rana P.B.
Singh. Hb, ISBN: 81-8290-228-2. Price Rs 1495.oo/ US $ 55.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism in India:
Countering Contestation and Seduction
Rana P.B. Singh
Banaras Hindu University, India
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abstract. The essay examines the merger of Hindu pilgrimages and pace of
religious tourism in India by critically appraising the reflection of radiant
glories (mythologies) and also the on-going practices and happenings that
flourish side-by-side in the gloomy way. The interacting and counteracting
two sides of human life, sacred and profane, consequently turn into
contestation, seduction and difference; however they meet at different levels in
the formation of ‘wholeness’ where earth based humanity meets with the
terrestrial divinity. Sacrality of pilgrimage is sometimes threatened by
profanity of tourism after passage of time, which also results to concerns for
representation, belongingness, control and power, dissonance and contestation
― the issues refer to seducing tradition. In India the greater value accorded
tourism as an avenue for development reflects a perception that the marketing
of pilgrimage sites and religious buildings offers a means of preserving and
enhancing the value and visibility of the endangered residues of the past, but
having little consciousness of historical value and its transformed relevance
today. The growth and importance of pilgrimage-tourism may be related to an
increased desire among Hindus to assert their identity against an ever more
visible Muslim population. As ecology of being pilgrimage-tourism can also
be purveyed into larger reality in search of interconnectedness what was
evolved in the ancient past.
Keywords. sacred places, holy cities, contestation, seduction, ritual suicide,
secularism, religiosity, religious tourism, pilgrimages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flower-like the heels of the wanderer,
His body growth and is fruitful;
All his sins disappear,
Slain by the toil of sacred journey.
— The Aitareya Brāhmana (Rig Veda), 7.15.
308 12. Rana P.B. Singh

1. Introduction & the Context

Probably the most popular of all forms of tourism is the pilgrimage to a
sacred place; however, it is little understood. One of the functions of
pilgrimage is that it allows us to understand our cultural heritage while
searching for a harmonious relationship between man and the sacrality of a
given place. To its central objectives, like many ritual actions, pilgrimage
is a simple, easily understandable ― travelling activity (often meaning
walking) to a sacred place ― which is well suited for political action. The
mixture of religious and political elements captures popular imagination
and also suits to the common masses (cf. Ross 2007: 74-76). Pilgrimage
can fuse culture and politics in particular explosive ways as leaders
manipulate it and use as means of emotional blackmailing in pursuit of
their own goals. Pilgrimage can be viewed as both a religious and political
activity. In a way sometimes pilgrimage promotes cultural contestation in
ethnic conflict. Mahatma Gandhi’s march to Champaran (Bihar) in 1930
against British rule, and Martin Luther King’s 1965 Selma to Montgomery
march against American racialism revealed the minds of masses against
malpractices and evils in society. In Indian mindset such marches called
‘yātrās’ (sacred journeys) are propagated as a means to upgrade and revive
higher identity and a cultural awakening to strengthen the historical links
that would lead to promote strong social networking.
Religion had played a role for controlling power in Indian monarchy in
the ancient past, and in contemporary India too it played a role in the
formation of Hindu nationalism and corporate identity, through commonly
using processions, pilgrimage, religious assemblies, and religious fairs
(melā). Religious performances were used as means during British
colonial rule for mass consciousness that united people. In the western
model religion has desperate identity, while in India it is more like a
cultural symbol that fully fits to Hindu psyche and mindsets what
politicians use for their own vested interest and stronghold through
emotional blackmailing. This mostly turns to be an issue of contestation
and also seduction of history. The common and innocent masses rarely
thought critically, in stead they accept religious happenings as phenomena
that maintain its continuity since ancient past. Nevertheless, there exist
differences in opinions about the degrees and intensity of relationship
between religion and politics in the cultural arena (cf. Sax 2000).
Using the ancient strategy of digvijaya (‘conqueror of the quarters’)
that was used earlier to fulfill desires of kings to conquer by auspicious
and powerful parikramā (circumambulatory movement), the religious
processions (and associated pilgrimages) have been used as a means for
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 309

religious awakening which used as means to get political support to the

organisers. The connotation of pilgrimage is used for political motives in
1990 by a procession of Rāma’s chariot (a decorated Toyota van, called
Rāma Rath Yātrā) by BJP leader L.K. Advani in Somnath, the site of
famous episode of Hindu temple destroyed in 1026, and ended at
Ayodhya, covering about 10,000 km (cf. White 2011: 295-296). This
‘patriotic’ journey succeeded in invoking a range of emotions and getting
support for their political agenda of re-constructing a Hindu temple at the
site of the 16th century mosque. Of course popularly they projected the
main objective of this yātrā was to “preserve the old symbols of unity,
communal amity and cultural oneness”, in fact, this was a well-planned
move to get support of common masses for their own political power.
After completion of this yātrā, L.K. Advani expressed his experiences
that: “It was during the Rāma Rath Yātrā that I first understood the truth of
Svami Vivekananda’s statement that ‘religion is the soul of India and if
you want to teach any subject to Indians, they understand it better if it is
taught in the language of religion.’ It was the Rath Yātrā that made me
realise that, if I were to communicate the message of nationalism through
the religious idiom, I would be able to transmit it more effectively and to a
wider audience” (for details, cf. Jaffrelot 2007: 279-301).
The growing pressure of tourism and consequential development of
built structures are a testimony to consumerism and to current economic
gain which ignores the sustainable approach. All these institutions have
their own agendas for promoting sustainable development in their own
ways, obviously there appear a week co-ordination among various
organisations (private and public) dealing with tourist industry. Lack of
mass awakening and inactive involvement of public hurdle the progress of
“civic culture: civic sense”, while this is the vital aspect of conservation
and preservation programme. Remember, ‘a thing is right when it tends to
preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the heritagescape as living
organism of our culture’. There is an ethical gap somewhere in the
promotion of (cultural) tourism too. Tourism should have been carefully
developed and promoted in the light of a spiritual perspective, where
tourists become pilgrims, and issues like heritage preservation, religion,
and sustainability are emphasised as part of the pilgrim’s visitation.
Touring is an outer journey in geographical space primarily for the
purpose of pleasure seeking or curiosity. Pilgrimage in the traditional
sense is an inner journey manifest in exterior space in which the immanent
and the transcendent together form a complex phenomenon (Singh 2006:
220). Generally speaking, human beings need both — outward and inward
journeys. Hinduism, or more appropriately Sanātana Dharma (‘the eternal
310 12. Rana P.B. Singh

religion’), has a strong and ancient tradition of pilgrimage, known as

tirtha-yātrā (‘tour of the sacred fords’), which formerly connoted
pilgrimage involving holy baths in water bodies as a symbolic purification
ritual. Faith is central to the desires, vows and acts associated with
pilgrimage, and pilgrimage is a process whereby people attempt to
understand the cosmos around them (cf. Singh 2006). The number of
Hindu sanctuaries in India is so large and the practice of pilgrimage so
ubiquitous that the whole of India can be regarded as a vast sacred space
organised into a system of pilgrimage centres and their hinterlands
(Bhardwaj 1973: 7).
In lack of concerns for contemporaneity, contextuality, participatory
observations, experiences and revelation, most commonly in Indological
and classical Indian studies, it is believed that the ancient glorious literary
representations and rhapsodies (mythic and mystic) of places, routes and
environment are static, ‘timeless’ and ‘unchanging’ entities that form the
core of traditions. With the preconceived notion followed studies
continued that promoted seduction of history (cf. Henderson and Weisgru
2007: xxix). Of course the innocent and illiterate pilgrims follow the tract
in way like superstition or just to follow on the ways what their ancestors
once did, without having quest of historicity, inherent messages and
present context. Such contradictions generally promote contestation,
conflicts and encourage seduction of history. In this paper such examples
from holy centres of north India are illustrated, with a hope that these
observations be taken as diagnoses for making sustainable planning for
pilgrimage-tourism and sacred places.

2. Holy cities in India: Historical context

There is a strong tendency in Hinduism to follow the ancestors and
predecessors without any critical observation, rationality, contextuality
and contemporary relevance in serving the humanity. This turns into belief
systems of ‘strict’ faith/s, also promoting and consisting therein
superstitions. This also includes addition of modern rituals, performances
and side-shows that are only to promote exotic tourism taking religious
happenings as major attractive events. The built architecture and
environments of the temples, shrines and monasteries associated with
different gods, divinities and local godlings (loka devatā) are the major
objects those suffered in maintenance of the ancient traditions, grandeur
and conveying the ecospiritual messages for which once India led the
whole world. Tuan (1974: 146) has rightly remarked that “While the
development imperatives have taken precedence, many religious adherents
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 311

in fact conceive of their religious places as sacred places that should not be
destroyed, irrespective of their architectural or historical merit”. In passage
of time the difference between religious/ritual performances and spiritual
awakening has been lost; in fact, rituals superseded the spiritual. This
development process led the adherents believe that religious places are
intrinsically sacred and possess spiritual values from where the devout
Hindus charismatically get their wishes fulfilled.
In spite of the message of communal harmony and brotherhood, after
the death of Prophet Muhammad in CE 632, Arab raided outlying
settlements in the northwest of India that marked the religiously
intentioned destruction of Hindus’ religious builtup like temples, shrines
and monasteries. From the 8th to the 15th centuries successive waves of
ethnic Muslims entered the subcontinent – Arabs, Turks, Afghans,
Persians, Mongols raiders came to loot the palaces, treasuries, and
temples, but it was the settled merchants and other colonists who slowly
spread the new religion (Knipe 1991: 64). The Arabic Qur’an, as revealed
through his messenger, the Prophet Muhammad; the only aim of Islam has
been to establish a single community with a single law and the notion of
an abode of Islam (dar al-Islām) in which religion and polity are one; a
doctrine of the unity of God that has no place for iconography, let alone
myths, symbols, and rituals celebrating the dynamic multiplicity of the
divine.
The Mughal dynasty (CE 1526-1707) in South Asia has tactfully and
brutally tried to fulfil the dream of a dar al-Islām through destruction of
Hindu monasteries, temples, pilgrimage sites, and iconography and
transplanting there own built structure, traditions and culture. The bigoted
and fanatic emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) was a ruler by confront-
ation who declared Islam as the religion and constantly destroyed the
Hindu temples, including the major temple at Ayodhya, Mathura and
Varanasi. But by 1800 the Mughal empire had all but collapsed, and with
it the dream of a dar al-Islām too.
The World Hindu Council (Vishva Hindu Parishad, VHP) extends
their agenda for getting under their control several disputed mosques,
strongly arguing for the important mosques in the holy cities of Ayodhya,
Mathura and Varanasi (Banaras). Historian Eaton (2000) clearly shows
that cases of destruction of places of worship were not restricted to
Muslim rulers alone. He recounts numerous instances of Hindu kings
having torn down Hindu temples, in addition to Jain and Buddhist shrines.
He says that these must be seen as, above all, powerful politically
symbolic acts. All other Hindu sacred places too equally suffered
destruction in the rule of Aurangzeb in the 17th century, with mosques
312 12. Rana P.B. Singh

built on them, like Krishna’s birth temple in Mathura and the rebuilt
Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat. The neo-Hindu revivalism and
awakening of Hindu identity with vested interest are getting inspiration by
the VHP and making their mind to destroy those Muslim monuments built
on the razed site of ancient Hindu temples.
Travel for pilgrimage purposes is an important part of Hindu doctrine
and millions of adherents travel throughout India and from abroad each
year to participate in enormous festivals, pilgrimage circuits, and ritual
cleansings. Likewise, thousands of people of other religions visit India
each year to admire its ancient and beautiful Hindu architecture and
important historical sites that are associated with the religion. With the
revival of traditional Hinduism during 1950s pilgrimages became more
popular. Of all domestic travel in India, over one-third is for the purpose
of performing pilgrimage. The growth and importance of pilgrimage-
tourism may be related to an increased desire among Hindus to assert their
identity against an ever more visible Muslim population. Such competition
emerged more actively after the destruction of Babri Mosque at Ayodhya
on December 6th 1992, by conservative nationalist Hindu groups who
wished to build a temple on this sacred site, which is assumed to be the
birth place of Lord Rāma. This act of aggression resulted in civil
disturbances throughout the country. Since then large numbers of Hindus
have become more conscious of their Hindu heritage, resulting in
increased participation in traditional rituals, celebrations, the construction
of temples, and of course pilgrimages (cf. Singh 2006).

2.1. Allahabad
Allahabad, culturally known as Prayāga, is eulogised in puranic
mythologies as the “tirtharāja”, the king of all sacred places. Situated
picturesquely at the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the
invisible Sarasvati, it is one of the three holy cities symbolising pillars of
the bridge to heaven; the other two are Varanasi and Gaya. People from
different parts of India come here especially during the month of Māgha
(January-February) to bathe in the sacred waters of the confluence
(sangama) and every twelve years they come by the hundreds of
thousands to the World’s greatest religious bath-fair, the Kumbha Melā.
The greatness of Prayaga is eulogised in Vedic literature, in the puranic
mythologies, in treatises, epigraphic records, Buddhist and Jain literature
and foreign accounts. The land between the rivers Ganga and Yamuna is
said to be the mons veneris of the Earth Goddess, and Prayaga is regarded
as its generative organ (cf. Mahābhārata, III.87.71; Matsya Purana,
105.19). This is a cosmogonic allusion to the place, suggesting that
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 313

Prayaga is the symbolic centre (axis mundi) of the creation of the universe
(cf. Singh and Rana 2006: 287-288).

Fig. 12.1. Allahabad: The Kumbha Mela City; the nexus was the Fort.
314 12. Rana P.B. Singh

The Mahā (Great) Kumbha Melā is the largest gathering of humanity

on planet earth. The last at Allahabad in 2001 (9 January - 21 February,
Hindu Samvata 2057) set world record for the largest human gathering,
recording about 33 million people those took bath in the sangama, the
confluence place of the three rivers, viz. the Ganga, Yamuna and invisible
Sarasvati (cf. Fig. 12.1). Every 12-years, at one precisely calculated
moment based on astronomical conjunction, all the pilgrims splash into the
water, an act that is believed to undo lifetimes of sins. This moment is
determined by the alignment of the planetary movement that generally
happens in an eleven or twelve year cycle, at the entering of the planet
Jupiter into Aries or Taurus, or the entering of the Sun and Moon into
Capricorn. At every 6th year at the combination of Jupiter-Scorpio, or
Sun-Capricornus there happens the Ardha Kumbha (“half Kumbha”).
Columns of charging ascetics (sādhus), often naked and smeared with ash,
are among the most zealous bathers. The Chinese pilgrim, Hsüan-tsang
who attended the 6th quinquennial assembly organised by the king
Harshavardhana at Prayaga in the month of Māgha in CE 644, supplies the
first historical reference to Kumbha Melā (Ardha). In the CE 9th century
Shankaracharya started an organised form of celebrating the Kumbha
Melā, and transformed it into a pan-Indian meeting of ascetics, devout
pilgrims and Hindus of various sects. In fact, the Kumbha Melā represents
the microcosm of Indian civilisation and multiplicity of Indian culture.
Till 1830s there was a tradition of Muslim melās (religious fairs) at the
confluence point (sangama) and the fort, however since 1840s persistent
resistance by the local Hindu priests (Prayāgawāls) continued till 1880s
when the Muslim participation was stopped (Maclean 2008: 122-123).
Thus sharing of sacred ground in Allahabad became a story of the past. In
1905, Prayawalas ceased eating at a charitable feast (bhandārā) due to
proximity of a Muslim police officer. In 1941 Mahanirvani Akhara sent a
petition to the Governor of the united Province for stopping presence of
non-Hindus (missionaries as well as Muslims). This ground successively
became popular place for propagandalists protecting Hindu interests.
Christians has also used the Kumbha Melā for their own interest, but could
not succeeded under the strong threat by the Hindus.

2.2. Ayodhya
Situated on the bank of the Sarayu (Ghāghara) River, Ayodhya is one
of the seven sacred abodes (puris) and places of pilgrimage that give
liberation from transmigration. Considered to be the birthplace of Lord
Rāma, it is also connected with many events in the Rāmāyana. According
to puranic tales, Manu, the first traditional king of India, founded this city
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 315

in ca 3100 BCE. Ikshvaku was the eldest of Manu’s nine sons, by whose
name the race and clan is known. In the early period of development in
and around Ayodhya (ca 500 BCE - CE 500), Buddhism and Brahmanism
alternatively dominated the landscape and culture.
Fig. 12.2. Ayodhya: Religious Landscape.
316 12. Rana P.B. Singh

By the turn of the 2nd century CE, the city of Ayodhya was well
established and known as a pilgrimage centre, and by the turn of Gupta
period (4th-6th centuries) many temples and ghāts along the Sarayu River
were made. With its general decline all over India from the 6th century
onwards, Buddhism lost its position in Ayodhya too, and appears to be
virtually extinct there after CE 1000. It is evident through literary and
archaeological evidence that in the 12th century there were five important
Vishnu temples located one each at Guptar Ghat, Chakratirtha Ghat and
Janmabhumi, and the western and eastern sides of Svargadvara Ghat.
Three of these temples were demolished and replaced by mosques and one
was swept away by the Sarayu River. The fifth one is perhaps occupied by
Chakrahari temple. In 1193 Muhhamad Ghori invaded north India,
including Ayodhya. His army officer Makhdum Shah Ghori came to
Ayodhya and destroyed the famous Jain temple of Adinatha in 1194. Since
then under the Sultanate rule at Delhi and the Mughal rulers, the city of
Ayodhya was invaded and destroyed many times. By the order of the
Mughal invader Babur, in 1528 his army chief Mir Baqi Tashkandi
demolished the famous Rāma temple of Pratihara from the Gahadavala
period at the birthplace of Rāma, and in the following period of 15 months
he built a Muslim monument (mosque) using the debris of the temple (cf.
Fig. 12.2). Since its inception this has been so controversial and sensitive
place that for centuries now, Muslims have never performed prayer
(namaz) there. Since then it has been centre of Hindu-Muslim riots, but the
main site was always opened for devout Hindus till 23 February 1857
when the East India Company (Britain) made a separating wall and
prohibited the entry of Hindus through the mosque. Since 5 January 1950
under the law, only restricted entry was permitted (cf. Singh and Rana
2006: 300-301).
On 6 December 1992 a mob led by a rightists group of Hindus from
World Hindu Congress (VHP), ultimately in their last attempt succeeded
in razing the sixteenth-century controversial Muslim monument/mosque,
Babri mosque in Ayodhya. However, some leftist historians opine that on
the basis of available evidences proving the existence of Hindu temple at
this site is doubtful. A stone slab of about 5’x 2.25’ recovered from the
debris on 6 December 1992, records the construction of a magnificent
gold-topped temple of Rāma during the reign of Gahadavala emperor
Govindachandra (CE 1114-1154) by King Naya Chandra and Ayush
Chandra. This certainly proves the presence of a temple that was
demolished to make way for a mosque. During last four hundred years
there had been several attempts to remove the mosque through court,
direct action, or planned attacks. In the mid 18th century Nirmohis, a local
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 317

Hindu sect laid their unsuccessful claim over the Babri Mosque. But these
claims led to the violent conflict of 1853-55. Again in 1885 Mahant
Raghubar Das filed a suit with the Sub-judge at the district headquarters
for permission to build the temple, but it was turned down, but it resulted
to a battle, recording casualties of some seventy-five Muslims. The
mosque was listed as a protected monument under the Indian “Ancient
Monuments Preservation Act of 1904,” and courts continued to protect the
mosque as an historic landmark. After India’s independence in 1947 the
different religions and their monuments had largely co-existed side by
side, as in Bosnia. Taking the controversy of installation of Lord Rāma’s
image inside the mosque on 22 December 1949, the administration has
ordered to stop entry by any group of the people. In October 1984 the
VHP tried to make the mosque-temple question a national issue through
their newly form organisation for getting the Rāma’s birthplace liberated
from the control of Muslims, and ultimately they succeeded in their
mission on 6th of December 1992. The Ayodhya crisis must also be seen
within the climate of increased tensions between India and Pakistan over
the last few decades, and the fundamentalist groups between Muslims and
Hindus within India itself (see Elst 2002, 2003). Says Bevan (2006: 137),
that:
“The demolition of sacral buildings has become a key proxy through which
post-Partition inter-communal strife is now expressed. Ayodhya is India’s
Twin Towers – a ground zero from which the waves of violence are spreading
to engulf thousands and potentially millions of people”.

Ayodhya for a period of over 2000 years has borne witness to the
presence of Jainism, Buddhism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Islam, as well
as sects and cults which transcend sectarian identification. On the other
hand, its pluralistic and reconstituting religious identity is subject to
shorter temporal rhythms determined by sect, caste or annual festival
cycles; and unfolds within a cultural landscape which embodies in varying
degrees an interplay of memory and delusion, politics and religion, faith
and fanaticism (Shaw 2000: 698). Mere facts and interpretations of
archaeological remains would not solve the problem of contestation and
conflict. In Thakurta’s words, ‘the solution lies less in the reiteration of
science, and the staking of its separate boundaries, and more in its re-
alignment with a new historical imagination that can recover for Ayodhya
the variety and multiplicity of its pasts’ (Thakurta 1997: 42).
Remember what Metcalf (1995: 964) opines, “Histories will always be
rewritten. One reason is the relatively straightforward one that new
material will be unearthed ― the scent of untapped source materials that
makes historians salivates. But a second reason is that the world changes.
318 12. Rana P.B. Singh

History is ultimately a pragmatic science: in a wide variety of ways we

write and read history precisely because at some level it is used to make
sense of the past for the present.”

2.3. Bodh Gaya

The Mahabodhi temple is the most sacred place and sanctuary for
Buddhist adherents, numbering 376 millions all over the world (including
8.2 millions in India). The Buddhist monastery and temple (Mahabodhi) at
Bodh Gaya was built by the king Ashoka in ca 232 BCE and remained an
active site till CE 1192 when Muslim invaders destroyed it. Some of the
railings are dated to 150 BCE. During the rule of Mughal King Akbar,
from 1590, the temple was under the control of a Shaiva Hindu priest who
managed to set Shiva Linga in the inner sanctum, which after passage of
time turned into religious conflicts. Even in the British regime attempts
were made to resolve the conflicts between Hindus and Buddhists for
possession and ownership. In 1872 under the patronage of Burmese king
the temple was renovated and re-built. After independence, since 1949
through an Act both Hindus and Buddhists got authority for worship and
joint control. But Buddhist have not accepted this arrangement, thus a
continuous movement to liberate this temple from the interference of
Hindus is noticed, including peaceful march of around half-million
Buddhists from all parts of the world in October 1992 and November
1995. This contestation is still in continuance. The main temple too is a
sacred site and it has been enlisted by UNESCO in its World Heritage list
on 26 June 2002. Every year, at this site one can witness magnificent
‘Prayer Festivals’ attended by thousands of devotees. Here, His Holiness
the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the Karmapa as well as a number of other
outstanding Buddhist Teachers sit from the early hours of the morning till
noon, and again from mid-afternoon till dusk, for a number of days in
continuity, chanting or delivering discourses. During the Shaiva Hindu
control it has been recorded that some of the original statues of Lord
Buddha have been defiled and stolen from the Mahabodhi temple, idols of
some of the Hindu Gods have been smuggled inside the temple including
Shiva linga to dilute and defame Buddhism, and all sorts of Hindu rituals
and rites are being followed inside Mahabodhi temple to defame and bring
impurity in Buddhism. In the present century, the Buddhists are peacefully
raising their voice to get their possession nationally and internationally.
A contesting issue of sacrilege of the holy seat of Buddha’s En-
lightenment is the offering of pinda (pinda-dāna, oblation of rice-balls)
within the premises of the Mahabodhi Temple by the Hindus who go to
Gaya for performing shrāddhas (ancestral rites) on the name of their
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 319

ancestors. All such unacceptable rituals by outsiders naturally spoil the

serenity and aesthetic beauty of the Great Mahabodhi Temple (Ahir 1994:
156). This is directly an example of seducing the historicity at such a
sacred place only for the political empowerment and diverting the main
focus. The first incidence of conflict and mass movement to handover the
control of Mahabodhi temple to Buddhists started in 1891 when there were
only 50,000 Buddhists in India; but their number at present crossed 8.2
millions (2001 census). Unfortunately even today the management
committee of the Mahabodhi temple is overall dominated by the Hindus.
Quite natural, for international visitors Mahabodhi temple, and for
national and local people Sujata Kuti (lying in the encroached space
behind the Shiva temple) are the main attractions; according to a recent
survey together recoding 40 per cent of responses (Singh and Kumar 2011:
271-272). This is an indication as to how ‘locality’ is projected in the
frame of ‘universality’ with pride, seduction of history, and media
projection to promote marketing and alternative choices by such process of
place-making. Both of these places are not only varied and multivocal,
they are often ambiguous or sometimes contradictory that results to
contestation, tension and even conflicts where Buddhists and Hindu
adherents interfere and cross their boundaries to show their power and
control. At Sujata Kuti groups of local mafias rooming there always cheat
and loot the visitors, especially foreigners through making false-and-funny
stories about great reconstruction and renovation plan underway!
After India’s independence in 1947, the Congress government tried to
build a fairer and more democratic society, under which stream early in
1949, was introduced the Bodh Gaya Temple Bill (later Act) into the Bihar
Legislative Assembly. The Act transferred control over the running of the
temple to a nine-member committee comprised of the district magistrate of
Gaya (as chairman), four Buddhists, and four Hindus (including the
incumbent mahant of the math). It also decreed that in the ease of
irreconcilable disputes, the government of Bihar would have the final say.
But the tension and conflicts continued even today (cf. Copland 2004, esp.
p. 542). The supports and contestants of both the groups have their own
claims and blames that sometime turn into collapsing situations and
devout pilgrims have to tolerate them.
The movement to save and handover control of Mahabodhi temple to
Buddhists has recently turn in another way on the line to preserve the
serenity and sublime beauty of the Buddhist landscape by the drastic
superimposition and threats by the five-star based tourism. A Buddhist
monk narrates it that: “the threaten pace that sells its soul to the developers
of a tourist ‘paradise’ whose main object is to generate wealth for a few
320 12. Rana P.B. Singh

through their utopian urban planning and so called heritage tourism and
spaces for posh tourists ― in fact, they are not concerned to have
experience of the spirit of the Buddhist landscape, in stead want to have
amusement and recreation through exotic and religious happenings”.
Through personal dialogues and interactions with monks it is obviously
noted that they feel themselves insecure and pessimistic about the future
planning. Let Bodh Gaya not be transformed into a Buddhist theme-park,
a kind of spiritual Disneyland for mass tourism consumption! Let
UNESCO and the recently launched JNNRUM City Development Plan
serve as the glue that holds the culture of peace, compassion and global
humanism, together recognizing the needs of local communities and other
interest groups in a more harmonious way! (Singh and Kumar 2011: 284).
Like in case of Lumbini (the Buddha’s birthplace), in Bodh Gaya also
differences in values, interests, expectations and priorities among stake-
holders, a major source of dissonance, may create conflict in heritage and
can be a challenge for its preservation and management. Here currently
experiencing “latent dissonance” can be reduced through communication,
cooperation and collaboration among various stakeholders

2.4. Sarnath
In order to help living beings gain control of their minds, the Buddha
began the first turning of the Wheel of Dhamma at Sarnath. He taught the
middle way that avoids the extremes of pleasure and austerity, the four
noble truths, and the eight-fold path. Among the five disciples Kaundmya
was first to understand and realise the teaching; Ashvajit was the last. The
rest three were Bashpa, Bhadrika and Mahanaman. All eventually became
arhats. The teaching included in the collection known as the first turning
of the wheel, which began here, extended over a period of seven years.
Other teachings, such as those on the Vinaya and on the practice of close
placement of mindfulness, were given elsewhere, but the Wheel was
turned twelve times at Sarnath. From the time of the Buddha, monastic
tradition flourished for over 1,500 years on the site of the Deer Park.
Sarnath and its archaeological site is considered as special sacred place
for the Buddhist adherents where the Buddha gave his first sermons,
“Turning the Wheel of Law”, in 529 BCE, that is how this is one of the
most venerated and compulsory places of pilgrimage. However a special
fee of Rs 100 (or US $ 2) is changed for visitors in the archaeological site.
Moreover, the pilgrims are not allowed to perform their rituals like
lightening the candles and incense in the nearby environs since 2005. To a
great surprise that no one neither complains against it, nor support the
Buddhists those agitating against such charges and rules. This decision and
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 321

control by the Archaeological Survey of India has persuades conflicts and

humiliation to the Buddhists. In fact, the trend to charge an entrance fee to
Buddhist sites began in South-East Asia and it was only after India’s
immediate neighbour Sri Lanka made it compulsory for devotees to pay an
entrance fee that India too followed suite. But the Buddhists feel that such
charges are against the basic ethics and philosophy of “peace, justice and
equality among all beings” that the Buddha gave to this world. On the
name of secular policy the government of India has threatened the emotion
and cultural traditions of a group. While the Constitution of India (Article
25-28 of the Fundamental Rights), as well as the Declaration of Human
Rights, specifies that adherents of all religions have the freedom to
worship unconditionally without any restrictions whatsoever. There is an
urgent need the Government of India should review its Archaeological
Laws and make suitable changes in respect to its sacred sites, especially
the Buddhist. For this they can used the guidelines under UNESCO World
Heritage Site that refers to ‘cultural heritage’, ‘cultural landscape’ and
‘intangible resources’ – all these recommend for continuity of traditions
and performances that evolved in the historical past. The case of
Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya is an example that promotes cultural
integrity and honour to the Buddhists. All one can see at Sarnath are
busloads of tourists being given a guided tour. At most they may spend an
hour or two chanting on the name of religion, however lacking the
spiritual experiences while setting themselves in the serene and sacred
environment. Sarnath has been deprived of its spiritual relevance by a very
short-sighted Governmental Administrative System through their political
vision. On 9 October 2007, a petition and movement already started that
mentions: “We demand that the Government reconsider its total
dominance on the site and share administration by way of creating a
Managing Committee comprising of Indian Buddhists as well offering the
Buddhists pilgrims from all over the world the liberty to perform their
rituals over a period of days or weeks and to stop charging an entrance
fee”.

2.5. Varanasi
Varanasi: the city that is a prayer. On the banks of the river that is
almost a faith, the flowing Ganga, stands Hinduism’s greatest city:
Varanasi. For several thousand years, pilgrims have cleansed themselves
of their sins here and sought release from the cycle of rebirth. Hinduism,
deep and mystical, is perceptible everywhere here: in a decorated
doorway, in a glimpse of glittering temple, in the sound of a sacred bell, in
the chant of the priests and in the fragrance of flower oblations.
322 12. Rana P.B. Singh

Fig. 12.3. Varanasi: Socio-Cultural space (linguistic).

The sense and spirit of holiness embedded in Banaras has attracted

people from various sects and religions like Vaishnavites, Shaivites,
Tantrics, Buddhists, Jains, and even Muslim Sufis. For many of the
adherents, this is a special place of pilgrimage. In Banaras alone, there are
over 3000 Hindu shrines and temples, about 1400 Muslim shrines and
mosques, 12 churches, 3 Jain temples, 9 Buddhist temples, 3 Sikh temples
(Gurudvārās) and several other sacred sites and places (cf. Fig. 12.3). This
is the only place in the world where such a huge number of Hindu and
Muslim sacred places co-exist, resembling to form cultural mosaic.
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 323

Fig. 12.4. The ancient Vishvanatha temple in the early 19th century; front (east)
is mosque, the back (west) temple debris (after James Prinsep 1833).

The city is known as cultural capital of India and also as sacred most
city for Hindus. Varanasi: the city that is a prayer. On the banks of the
river that is almost a faith, the flowing Ganga, stands Hinduism’s greatest
324 12. Rana P.B. Singh

city: Varanasi. For several thousand years, pilgrims have cleansed

themselves of their sins here and sought release from the cycle of rebirth.
Hinduism, deep and mystical, is perceptible everywhere here: in a
decorated doorway, in a glimpse of glittering temple, in the sound of a
sacred bell, in the chant of the priests and in the fragrance of flower
oblations.
The temple of the patron deity and the oldest temple, i.e. Vishveshvara
(also called Vishvanatha) in Varanasi, was first built in ca. CE 490, which
was destroyed by Qutub-ud-din Aibak the military governor of Ghazani
empire in CE 1194 (cf. Fig. 12.4). Later at this deserted site Razia Sultana
(1236-1240) had built a mosque. At different site in the nearby it was
again built in ca. 1585 under the patronage of Todar Mal (?).
Demolishment of the famous temple of Vishvanatha and replacing it by a
mosque in 1669 by the order of Mughal king Aurangzeb becomes a
subject of constant conflict between Hindus and Muslims. Aurangzeb did
not just build an “isolated” mosque on “a” destroyed temple. He ordered
all temples to be destroyed, among them the Kashi Vishvanatha, one of the
most sacred places of Hinduism, and had mosques built on a number of
cleared temple sites. Until today, the old Kashi Vishvanatha temple wall
is visible as a part of the walls of the Gyanvapi (Jnanavapi) mosque which
Aurangzeb had built at the site after demolishing the temple. However,
part of the back portion was left as a warning and an insult to Hindu
feelings. Panikkar (1994: 73) offers a more political variation on the theme
that the Kashi Vishvanath temple was destroyed to punish the temple
priests for breaking purely secular laws: “the destruction of the temple at
Banaras also had political motives. It appears that a nexus between the
sufi (Islamic mystics) rebels and the pandits (Hindu priests) of the temple
existed and it was primarily to smash this nexus that Aurangzeb ordered
action against the temple”. Unfortunately, the eminent historian quotes no
source for this strange allegation, but it indirectly further help politicians
to play the malicious role of promoting conflicts between the two religious
groups.
A Muslim terrorist group has blasted twin bomb in the compound of
Sankatmochan (‘Monkey-God’/ Hanuman) temple, the second most
important temples of veneration, on 7th March 2006 resulting to 21
casualties. It was carefully planned to provoke the devotees and the
devout, rationalists and others alike. By the next morning, residents of the
city – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians – demonstrated peaceful
outrage against the acts of terror. And also, Burka-clad Women, Muslim
traders and Muslim clergy were not only visible in their protest and grief
but could also be seen offering prayers at the temple. This helped to re-
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 325

establish and maintain the cultural harmony and brotherhood in the

society. Note that conservative scholars commonly propagate that
Muslims rarely join hands in maintaining social harmony and peace ― to
be taken as example of seduction of history, of course exceptional. But in
the above incidence the integration of Hindus and Muslims has shown a
model. The analysis of this happening confirms the centrality of ‘civil
society’ in minimising the potential for communal violence, but also
significantly emphasise the vital role of human agency in understanding
the processes by which peace is maintained (cf. Williams 2007).
The Old City and Riverfront Heritage of Varanasi underway, since
2001, to get enlisting in the World Heritage site is facing problem of
contesting consensus among Hindus and Muslims. Muslims opine that
under the international image of protecting heritage Hindus try to interfere
in their sacredscape and again through mobilising Archaeological Survey
of India interested to describe their live mosques as monuments. The five
historical mosques (at Jnanavapi, Bindumadhav Ghat, Raj Ghat, and Koila
Bazaar, and Chaukhambha) are built during Mughal period on the debris
of famous Hindu temples. These all are architectural and historical
treasures and defined as heritage resource that can be used in both the
context, i.e. for rituals and as destination for other visitors. This conflict
and desperate perspectives are used by local politicians for their own
motives, what is compared with British imperialist policy of divide and
rule.

2.6. Champaner-Pavagadh

Champaner-Pavagadh (a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed on 7

July 2004), like other heritage sites in India, is both an historic and
ethnographic landscape. It exhibits both the palimpsest of landscape layers
inscribed over time and the juxtaposition of Hindu (ca CE 8th to 14th
centuries) and Islam traditions (Sultanate period) in architecture and city
planning (see Sinha 2004). The site is the only complete and unchanged
Islamic pre-Mughal city in India. Both Hindu and Islamic cultures
exploited the visual potentials of the topography. The sense of harmonic
relationship between Hindu (like Kālikā goddess) and Muslim (like Jami
and Shehri mosques) co-exists in maintenance of this heritagescape, which
exists facing each other, but this may be questionable in future. The
concept of cultural landscape as a heritage resource is a recent
development on the line of old idea of historic conservation and certainly
did not guide monument-centric colonial efforts at restoration (Sinha and
Harkness 2006: 97). On this line the Yamuna riverfront around the Taj
Mahal (enlisted in UNESCO WHL) Champaner-Pavagadh is suggested as
326 12. Rana P.B. Singh

‘cultural heritage landscape’. This also raises the issue of suspicion of

tensions between Hindus and Muslims at some places. Defining heritage
territory under the strict control of heritage law will help avoiding
conflicts and contestation together with active public participation.
However, the live and active rituals at mosque could not easily be stopped,
either by law, or without common consciousness of Muslim community.
The certification of UNESCO has encouraged a mass of tourists and even
devout people to visit the side-by-side existing Hindu and Muslims
shrines, but close up watch indicates conflict and tension that lead
frustration among the visitors.
Fortification, siege, and conquest were major themes in the history of
Champaner-Pavagadh, and they constitute important aspects of its cultural
heritage. Its hybrid pilgrimage and tourist sites draw together diverse
people from the region (Wescoat 2007: 71). It is sympathetically
suggested that “providing safe places and spaces for people to reflect
upon this heritage, advance it collectively, and enable all to participate
safely and economically in it, would consciously privilege a heritage of
peace over violence” (ibid.: 72).

3. Delhi: Political vs. Religious

In his challenging and critical essay on Delhi Yātrā, White (2011)
proposes three premises and arguments, viz.: (i) in the ancient past the
capital cities through the royal courts embodying divine images and
portraying the king as representative of god, in course of time accepted as
a sacred place (tirtha) and followed up developed pilgrimage traditions,
like Pallava capital of Kanchipuram, Maharana Rajput capital of Udaipur,
Gahadavala capital of Varanasi, etc.; (ii) through superimposition of
vāstupurusha model of the temple precincts (of course in distorted form),
Edwin Lutyen’s design of New Delhi as an intentional symbol of British
imperial grandeur and power successfully attempted to propagate that
British were conscious of Indian architecture model and that is how they
superimposed the Western mode on Eastern base; and (iii) using emotional
attachment of people to the old capital city of Indraprastha (modern
Delhi), the place should also serve as tirtha (White 2011: 284-285). The
BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) under the leadership of L.K. Advani took lead
to press their political agenda as they make “sacred” pilgrimage toward the
tirtha that is Delhi: the epitome of ancient India’s capital-cum-tirtha,
intentionally and unintentionally. This, after all, has been ultimately the
goal of all such yātrās in India: to defeat adharma [chaos] and restore
dharma [moral order] by returning to the sacred time and space that once
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 327

was in mythical dominance. The recognition of the tirtha as embodying

both significance as place associated with sacred natural elements like
water or hill that gives revelation to the spirit of sacrality (pavitra
sandesha), a structural monument (like temple, mandira) where through
auspicious glimpse (darshana) by devout visitors, and state of mind that
posses promotes faith and belief systems.
The Svaminarayan Akshardham temple (36.5 ha area) in Delhi,
consecrated and opened on 6 November 2006 is a modern grandeur of
Hindu sculptural art and symbol of how the rich class can create the new
world of religious scenario where old vision of darsana and pilgrimages
meet the new kind of religious tourism. This temple may be compared to
the three grand the biggest temples in India, viz. the Minakshi temple in
Madurai (dated the 16th century CE, covering area of 6.9ha), Shri
Ranganathasvamy temple in Srirangam (dated ca CE 19th century, spread
over 63.0ha), Arunachaleshvara temple in Thiruvannamalai (dated ca CE
the 9th century, covering area of 9.7ha), and Chidambaram temple (dated
ca the 5th century CE, covering area of 1.6ha). The authorities and
scholars attached to the four latter temples have argued that temples are
places for worship and hence restaurants, boating facilities and other
entertainment facilities cannot be part of the temple which predominate the
overall scene in the case of Akshardham. Also to be noted that
construction area of the actual Akshardham temple is much lesser than the
four cited temples of the South India. In the latter temples people pay visit
for spiritual gain, solace and reciprocal interaction with god. In case of
Akshardham temple, of course people also go for spiritual merits but these
are superseded by the modern tourists facilities like arrangement of
specially designed peacock shaped boats where visitors sit and make their
way around an artificial river, passing through a model of Takshashila, the
world’s first university, chemistry laboratories, ancient hospitals, and
bazaars, finally ending with a message expressing hope for the future of
India. These arrangements fit to the present mindset of newly growing
burgeon classes those using religious symbolism for their upward mobility
of identity, changing their black-money into white on the name of god and
getting respect by the common masses who see the inscribed name/s on
marble plates of the donors and sponsors lying at the entrances.
Presently Akshardham temple is one among the top five places for site
scene in Delhi. Through propaganda, media and advertisement now this
places is considered to be a powerful temple; again to be noted that this is
mostly for rich people, because poor masses cannot afford to pay entrance
fee of Rs 200 and other fees at different places of amusement and food.
However, now the temple has encouraged people for Delhi Yatra, and
328 12. Rana P.B. Singh

consequently used as resource by politicians through their tricks of

emotional blackmailing. This is already evident by its inauguration by the
president of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, presence of the prime minister,
Manmohan Singh, and leader of opposition, L.K. Advani, held on 5
November 2005 and attended by ca 26,000 people ― of course mostly
politically inclined people or to have a fun and pleasure watching mockery
of democracy and its religious envelop. By displaying centuries old
traditional Indian and Hindu culture, spirituality, and architectures, the
Akshardham temple succeeded in making an image that modernity also be
accepted as a counter-chaining process that maintain and revive the age
old traditions of ancient religious traditions of India. But one can think the
other side that all such awakenings are at what cost and for whom? The
people from countryside and the poor masses could no way afford to pay
the entrance fees, and other payments for amusement and even food
available there. In a way such huge and magnificent Disneyland and
structure can help the rich to make their life better and make their identity
higher; and at other end the poor people are moving far distant and unable
to cope with the upper stream. This temple is also now used as a resource
for politics and emotional blackmailing. This is further in corroboration
with a recent remark that: “In the Indian psyche, there are two image
views of society: (1) the very rich, who are considered to be like earthly
gods as a result of their good karma in the past, and are perceived as happy
people by others, and (2) the rest, who are poor, always trying to
experience some pleasure through monetary gain. The first group donate a
lot of money in the name of gods and to make their shelters (temples),
while the second group worship there and always pray to the gods living
there to be kind enough to bless them with wealth. Even the kingdom of
God is controlled by rich and powerful humans” (Singh 2009 b: 398).

4. Towards Epilogue
With the growing consciousness to understand any problem from the
multiple scales and also in the frames of multidisciplinary approaches,
especially in the light of contemporary ideas like postmodernity, identity,
globalisation and political economy, the old notion of pilgrimage-tourism
has been considered vividly (cf. Edensor 2007: xv). It is the hard reality in
life that good and bad go together, only the degrees and scale vary:
contestation and corroboration, seduction and exposition, … and so on.
From the ‘outsiders’ view many destination are assumed as homologous
and peaceful, while from ‘insiders’ view they are subject of contestation,
conflict and seduction (e.g. see case of Taj Mahal, Edensor 1998). Indian
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 329

culture, which is made of culminating mixture of ancient glories,

mediaeval Mughal encounters, and British colonial changes, has suffered
long-way through the ‘Oriental’ image that in the west projected in mystic
and rustic way. Says Edensor (2007: xvii), “There were a recycling of the
mythic foci grounded in these earlier accounts which evoked an ‘Oriental’
imaginary of India, replete with moral judgements about the superiority of
western ‘civilisation’, mixed with the desires evident in fantasies about
romance, decadence, sensuality, cruelty, sex and the unfathomable”. Like
other spheres of life, there always exist battles between institutionalised
units (big and overseers) and commoners’ concerns (devout visitors),
between ‘official’ (mostly Brahmins) and ‘outsiders’ (non-Brahmins), as
part of broader regulatory and bureaucratic tendencies to close down
tourists/pilgrims practices and experiences and confine the meaning of
place that fits to their motives in producing more reliable, predictable
representation and products. Above all, let hybridity and syncretism go
together in maintaining the mosaicness of cultural whole. Additionally,
several biased rules are imposed upon restricting visitors and the
performances; however through the backdoor offerings of bribery (‘grease
money’), ubiquitous and compensatory fee, these rules are violated (cf.
Segal 1965: 279). Politicians and influential rich group can easily get such
unexpected benefits. In general sense there is a good rapport between
sacred and profane, but in reality invisibly profane dominates sacred and
mobilise it its way to get more profit.
The pilgrimage centres are subject to the threats of increasing
pressures by constant increase of devout visitors that consequently demand
more economic opportunities and supporting facilities, however rarely met
and arranged by the local government or the organisation associated with
pilgrimage centres. These pressures affect the environment in at least three
interrelated ways: (1) stress on basic services (shelter, water supply,
sewerage, and solid waste), (2) pollution (mainly air and water) and (3)
degradation of natural resources (forests, groundwater, natural soil). The
former two are almost directly related to the magnitude of visitation and
therefore mitigated to a large extent by the adequate and sustainable
management of the organization, like in case of Tirumal-Tirupati
Delopment board. These are a few such organisations that concerned with
the maintenance of the ecological ordering of the place, loss of
biodiversity and nature conservation (Shinde 2007: 356).
The nature of environmental problems associated with pilgrimage calls
for involvement of stakeholders such as religious institutions in
environmental management on at least two premises, viz. (i) functionally,
they engage in some way in the management of pilgrimage environment
330 12. Rana P.B. Singh

that promote harmonious relationship between nature and humankindness,

and (ii) on the ethical and religious/spiritual basis (ecospirituality) that has
always solicited reverence for nature and its protection, while linking the
ethical domain that has contextual reference in ancient religious texts and
still people use them as prayer (Shinde 2007: 359). The present ongoing
scenario of sustainable ecological development programmes sponsored by
religious organizations or the temple management boards (or monasteries)
seems only remotely inspired by religious values (and more driven by
financial resources, facilities and the available infrastructure). In fact, it
does pave way for a meaningful realisation of the links between religious
values and ecology through some of its activities such as tree planting
schemes especially of herbal trees and plants that are infused with
religious meanings (ibid.).
With the growth of global tourism and a widespread interest in seeing
culture in the mirror of history and tradition, religious heritage resource
management becomes a critical issue in two primary ways: protection and
maintenance of sacred sites and the survival and continuity of pilgrimage
ceremonies that preserve centuries old human interactions with the earth
and its mystic powers. Fostering a rediscovery of forgotten (or, about so)
common cultural heritage and practices at sacred places that centred on
reverence to and harmony with the Earth as source and sustainer of life,
the conservation and preservation of such holy sites would put a strong
step in this direction (Singh 2009a: 183-184).
Journey, circulation, and sacred experiences are the three basic
phenomena of pilgrimages, of course strongly in Hindu traditions. The
popularity of religious travel can be seen not only in the increase of
religiously motivated travel to sacred sites but also in the combination of
New Age spirituality with pilgrimage travel (cf. Timothy and Olsen 2006:
4). Increasing impact of diasporas has also encouraged pilgrimages to
Hindu sites, however such pilgrimages are often closely entangled with
religious tourism. Similarly the increasing pace of heritage tourism is also
promoting pilgrimages to sacred places having heritage sites. In spite of so
many potential and varied phenomena, and the pervasiveness of religious
tourism and spiritual connections to place, relatively few scholars have
explored the other side (i.e. dark) of multitudinous and multifarious
relationships between religion, culture, spirituality, tourism, especially
heritage and religious tourism (cf. Singh 2009 a: 154). It is strongly
expected that the nature of pilgrimages and religious tourism would go
under significant changes as the world becomes more mechanised,
modernised, and liberalised, but it will assuredly continue to expand (cf.
Timothy and Olsen 2006: 276).
 Pilgrimage & Tourism in India: Contestation and Seduction 331

The root of Indian mindset is Hindu tradition that possesses the

inherent roots of tolerance, secularism and adjustability in the line of
changing socio-economic conditions at global level. Says Bakker (1999:
10), “For the inhabitants of India it (Hindu tradition) is much more than
that; the development of Hinduism do not take example by the bloody
history that joins the three great Semitic religions”. This does not mean to
return back to naive tradition or any sort of fundamentalism. One has to
remember that “pilgrimage is a rhythm of awakening, a root pulse that
carries with it the codings of all our becomings. It is a yeasting in the
searching soul” (Houston 1993: 1). Pilgrimage is a journey into larger
reality, an initiation that leads to a union, or continuity with powers and
principalities beyond one’s little local self. As a pilgrim, one becomes part
of an extended larger eco-system, a larger ecology of being ―
experiencing a unified reality of nature-spirit and human psyche. The
programmes and plan promoting pilgrimage-tourism should be in the light
of experiencing Living Sacred Earth ― re-establishment and re-search of
the values involved and revival of such traditions and festivities with the
support of local and private stewardship (cf. Singh 1995: 206).
The indigenous Gandhian thought of ahimsa has shown us the right
path to proceed (cf. Singh 1999: 57). Let the integrated frame of
pilgrimage-tourism come across the tidy wall of seducing history and
encountering contestation and make the world of happy, harmonious and
peaceful places and spaces where variety of flowers bloom in the different
fields and corners, borders and peripheries, routes and destinations, with
distinct, beautiful and soothing fragrances that make environment
congenial and spiritual.
Sustainable pilgrimage-tourism is a march of awakening (chetanā-
yātrā). Our bankrupt materialist vision of “tourism” has brought the
practice of consumerism and individualism. Let us recognise the inherent
qualities of heritage where lies the spirit of the Mother Earth or Nature. By
the deeper sense of nature theology (ecospirituality) the approach to
sustainable pilgrimage-tourism may be viewed as a sacred path where the
True (Satyam), Good (Shivam) and the Beautiful (Sundaram) become
inseparable and the One. Each one is rooted into one another, that is why
no one can be separated. The revelation and realisation of this message of
sustainability may ensure the supreme bliss of enjoyment (ānanda).

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―. 2009a. Hindu Pilgrimages: From Roots to Perspectives; in his,
Uprooting Geographic Thoughts in India: Toward Ethics, Ecology and
Culture in 21st Century. Planet Earth & Cultural Understanding Series,
Pub. 1. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne UK:
153-191.
―. 2009b. Development in India: Appraising Self Retrospection; in, his:
Geographical Thoughts in India: Snapshots and Vision for the 21st
Century. Planet Earth & Cultural Understanding Series, Pub. 2.
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne. U.K.: 394-422.
― and Kumar, Devesh 2011. Bodh Gaya, a World Heritage Site: Tourists’
and Natives’ Perceptions of Heritage and its Value; in, Singh, Rana
P.B. (eds.) Heritagescapes and Cultural Landscapes. Planet Earth &
Cultural Understanding Series, Pub. 6. Shubhi Publications, New
Delhi: 255-286.
― and Rana, Pravin S. 2006. Banaras Region: A Spiritual and Cultural
Guide. Indica Books, Varanasi. 1st Ed. 2002.
Sinha, Amita 2004. Champaner-Pavagarh archaeological park: a design
approach. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 10 (2): 117-128.
― and Harkness, Terence 2006. Heritage, the Eye visit: the Taj Mahal in
Agra, India. Indian Architect & Builder, July: 95-98.
Thakurta, T.G. 1997. Archaeology as Evidence: Looking Back from the
Ayodhya Debate. Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.
Timothy, Dallen J. and Olsen, Daniel H. (eds.) 2006. Tourism, Religion,
and Spiritual Journeys. Routledge, London & New York
334 12. Rana P.B. Singh

Tuan, Yi-Fu 1974. Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception,

Attitudes and Values. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ.
Wescoat, James L. Jr. 2007. The Indo-Islamic garden: conflict, conserva-
tion, and conciliation in Gujarat, India; in, Silverman, Helaine and
Ruggles, D. Fairchild (eds.) Cultural Heritage and Human Rights.
Springer Science, New York: 53-77.
White, J. Daniel 2011. Delhi Yatra: India’s Capital as a Sacred Symbol
for Political Discourse; in, Singh, Rana P.B. (ed.) Holy Places and
Pilgrimages: Essays on India. Planet Earth & Cultural Understanding
Series, Pub. 8. Shubhi Publications, New Delhi: 283-306.
Williams, Philippa 2007. Hindu-Muslim brotherhood: Exploring the
dynamics of communal relations in Varanasi, North India. Journal of
South Asian Development (Sage Publ., New Delhi and London), 2 (2),
October: 153-176.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prof. Rana P.B. Singh
Professor of Cultural Geography & Heritage Studies, Banaras Hindu
University, New F - 7 Jodhpur Colony, Varanasi, UP 221005. INDIA.
Email: ranapbs@gmail.com
§ Rana has been involved in studying, performing and promoting the heritage
planning and spiritual tourism in the Varanasi region for the last over three decades
as promoter, collaborator and organiser. On these topics he has given lectures and
seminars at various centres in Australia, Austria, Belgium, China PR, Denmark,
Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, USA (&
Hawaii), USSR. His publications include over two hundred research papers and
thirty eight books and two regional guidebooks for cultural tourism, like Banaras
(Varanasi), Cosmic Order, Sacred City, Hindu Traditions (1993), Environmental
Ethics (1993), The Spirit and Power of Place (1994), Banaras Region: A Spiritual
& Cultural Guide (2002, with P.S. Rana), Towards pilgrimage Archetypes:
Panchakroshi Yatra of Kashi (2002), Where the Buddha Walked (2003), The
Cultural Landscape and the Lifeworld: The Literary Images of Banaras (2004),
Banaras, the City Revealed (2005, with George Michell), Banaras, the Heritage
City: Geography, History, Bibliography (2009), and the eight books under ‘Planet
Earth & Cultural Understanding Series’: ‒ five from Cambridge Scholars
Publishing UK: Uprooting Geographic Thoughts in India (2009), Geographical
Thoughts in India: Snapshots and Vision for the 21st Century (2009), Cosmic
Order & Cultural Astronomy (2009), Banaras, Making of India’s Heritage City
(2009), Sacred Geography of Goddesses in South Asia (2010), and ‒ three from
Shubhi Publications (New Delhi): Heritagescapes and Cultural Landscapes
(2011), Sacredscapes and Pilgrimage Systems (2011), and Holy Places and
Pilgrimages: Essays on India (2011).