Modi govt push for temple corridors isn’t just about culture. It’s the economy

For far too long, an influential section of Indian society has regarded culture, tradition and religion as 'opium of the people'. Modi govt is changing the view.

'Mahakal Lok', seen from Vikram Tila located in the ancient Rudrasagar Lake which has been rejuvenated as part of the mega project, in Ujjain | PTI

The Mahakal Lok Corridor, part of the Rs 856 crore Mahakaleshwar Temple redevelopment project of the grand edifice of the Mahakal Temple at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. Speaking at the event the Prime Minister hinted at increased foot fall at the ancient temple which now has a modern outlook and more facilities for the devotees. The temple no doubt was attracting a huge number of devotees and with increased facilities it is bound to see a greater number of visitors, domestic as well as foreign.

Very soon, the Sri Krishna Temple at Mathura will get a similar corridor as part of the redevelopment of the temple and the area adjacent to the temple. This is in continuation of the Ram Mandir construction work and the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2021.

For too long an influential section of the society has been viewing culture, tradition and religion as nothing more than the “opium of the people”. Referring to widespread news coverage of the Prime Minister’s event at Ujjain one veteran journalist sarcastically commented that some TV channels sold a lot of opium today (Kuchh TV channelon ne aaj dher saari afeem bechi). Unfortunately, the ruling elites never understood the relevance of culture and traditions in the socio-economic empowerment of the society; or they chose to ignore, lest it lead to “Hindu revivalism”.

If one were to assess the economic impact of what is considered a purely religious activity, the figures could be stunning. Religious tourism market was estimated to be worth about $44 billion in 2020 and is expected to go up after the Covid related restrictions are totally withdrawn. The Modi government has launched several initiatives such as the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY). These projects are designed to improve infrastructure around temples and heritage sites and devise programmes to attract pilgrims.

The economic aspect

On average, large and popular temples attract about a few million visitors every year from all over the country. This involves spending on travel, lodging and boarding, sight-seeing, and a number of other related activities. The religious visit thus has an interesting economic aspect attached to it. Now with greater and better facilities, the number of visitors will increase contributing to more spending and bringing more money into circulation.

This is the story of just a few religious sites. India being the land of spirituality has innumerable small and big religious destinations, each with a legend, history and antiquity behind it. If only these places are made more accessible, travel and accommodation facilities increased and included in the tourist map of the country, the economic impact could be as huge as the revenue generation of several smaller states put together.

According to a National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report, India’s religious economy is worth Rs 3.02 lakh crore amounting to nearly 2.32 per cent of India’s GDP. According to the NSSO report, the cash donation to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was Rs 5,450 crore. Muslim and Christian places of worship don’t lag behind and more than 36 per cent Muslims, 35 per cent Christians, and 72 per cent Sikhs are likely to undertake religious tourism from 2022 to 2027.

While some Hindu temples, mainly in the South, are under the control of the state and central governments, the Muslim, Christian and Sikh places of worship are free to use their revenue as per the rules and regulations of the trustees and institutions owning them. The demand from Hindu organisations to free these Hindu temples of government control assumes importance in this context. To some extent, the callous attitude of the central and state governments has resulted in the huge smuggling of idols, artefacts, and relics from temples. Stricter laws and enforcement are needed to stop this theft. In fact, tilll 2012 Italy recovered 3,78,000 pieces of artwork compared to mere 27 pieces in India. India’s recovery rate has improved since 2014 but much more hard work is needed.

What govts have missed

Religious pilgrimage is not an unknown factor in the Indian lifestyle. It has been going on for ages. Undertaking arduous journeys to far-off places of spiritual significance was almost mandatory after a certain age. There are social groups and organisations that have been organising rail-road tours at an affordable cost. While the trend continues, there is a sharp increase in the numbers which includes the ‘new-age’ millennial travellers. Over a period and with cheaper air travel, better rail-road facilities the number will increase further. Additionally, the spending capacity of these new-age travellers has increased manifold.

The emphasis of the central and state governments has been on industrialisation and adding extra infrastructure to urban settlements. In the past 75 years, the number of Tier-1 cities have gone up to eight and Tier-2 cities to 104. Many of them are overcrowded with woefully bad roads and commuting facilities. Besides, these cities are home to large slums. Since these cities are categorised on the basis of population density, they usually have higher number of seats for political representation and hence favoured by the political class.

While cities are being developed, scant attention is paid to the architectural past and the beauty of these places, resulting in the loss of heritage sites. More importantly, in the last seven decades, we have not added even one place which can boast of being anywhere close to “a hill station”. People still flock to the same old destinations that the British developed and left in 1947.

The central and state governments can stop adding to cities and develop more Tier-3 and 4 cities with state-of-the-art infrastructure. As a follow-up, recreational centres can be designed outside such places which can be tourist attractions. And meanwhile, more religious corridors can be added, ‘selling opium’ jibe notwithstanding.

The author is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prashant)

A previous version of this article said religious tourism was worth Rs 2.03 crore, it has been corrected to Rs 2.03 lakh crore. The error is regretted.