Places of religious and pilgrimage importance also have their own economics and their contribution to society and the country can’t be taken for granted
Sam Pitroda, a technocrat who had been very close to the government during the Congress rule, and who currently accompanied Rahul Gandhi on his US trip, has said that temples do not generate employment. Naturally, his comment must have been in the context of the attention being given to temples by the present central government. No matter what Sam Pitroda says, there is a great need to understand the economics of the temples and places of pilgrimage. It is true that agriculture, industry and services have their own economics, on the basis of which governments make policies for the development of the country. But we have to understand that temples, places of religious and pilgrimage importance also have their own economics and their contribution to the society and the country is no less. Employment is created through temples also. Innumerable people make their living around temples and through modernization and development of infrastructure at the places of pilgrimage and temple cities, not only the standard of services can be improved, but their contribution to GDP can also be increased. That's why it is necessary to think seriously and sincerely about the temple economy like other sectors of the economy.
We see that a large population in many cities and towns in India depends only on temples and places of pilgrimage for their livelihood. Varanasi, Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh; Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, Yamunotri in Uttarakhand are not only places of pilgrimage since ancient days, but their importance has also been increasing day by day. If we look around we see one or more religious centres in almost all the states. In Tamilnadu, we have Madurai, Rameshwaram and many more temples. In Odisha, we have Jagannath Temple in Puri; Somnath and Dwarka in Gujrat, In Punjab Golden Temple is a major centre of faith representing Sikhism; in Jharkhand, we have Baidyanath Temple at Deoghar and Jagannath Temple in Ranchi, which is of world fame; in Madhya Pradesh Ujjain’s Mahakal Temple and many more temple cities are found on every nook and corner of India.
Tourism potential
The cities where such temples are located, attract a large number of tourists. There are many places where lakhs of devotees gather in a single day. In the year 2022 alone, 36.4 lakh devotees visited the Vaishno Devi shrine located in Katra near Jammu. In 2022, 3 crore devotees visited the Tirupati temple located in Andhra Pradesh near Tamil Nadu. Similarly, crores of people visit different temples every year. This natural religious tourism is a major part of our total tourism business, thereby creating a huge demand in the country apart from other economic benefits. It is estimated that the share of total religious tourism in India is 60 per cent of total domestic tourism, while 11 per cent of foreign tourists in India, come for religious and pilgrimage purposes. Significantly, the share of tourism in India's GDP is about 7 percent and its share in the total employment is 8 percent. That is, this sector gives employment to 39 million people. In such a situation, there can be no doubt about the contribution of temples to the Indian economy due to the contribution of religious and pilgrimage tourism, as a huge chunk of tourism is coming from this segment.
Development of Pilgrimage Boosts Economy
Although it is believed that there is a lot of room for improvement in the maintenance of temples and places of pilgrimage in India. Similarly, it is necessary to improve the infrastructure of religious tourist places. In that case, it is expected that more devotees will come to these places with the development taking place at the grand Shri Ram temple, Kashi Vishwanath temple complex and its surrounding areas and Ujjain's Mahakal temple. In the past due to improvement in the Vaishno Devi shrine by the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Jagmohan, the number of devotees visiting there has gone manifold. Temples are beneficial not only for themselves but also for the surrounding areas.
Due to these religious centres, a lot of economic activities are conducted in all these cities. Most of the trade, transport, religious rituals and related activities are conducted at these centres because of these temples. Not only for the priests who offer prayers in the temples but a large quantum of employment is generated in trade, transport and industries associated with places of religious importance. Most of the markets in these cities are the center of tourist attraction. Similarly, most of the transport of that city is now around these temples. Due to religious rituals in these temples, a large number of employment and business opportunities are created. In many cases, these religious cities are marriage destinations as well, which is another source of employment and income for residents of these cities.
Religious Tourism’s Contribution to the Economy
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, where in the last year 2022, 14.33 crore Indian people visited temples and pilgrimages, and 64.4 lakh foreign tourists visited these places. In the year 2022, an income of 1.35 lakh crore was generated at these pilgrimage places, while the total contribution of religious and pilgrimage tourism, which constitutes 60 per cent of total domestic tourism, was nearly Rs 11 lakh crores, given a total contribution of more than Rs19 lakh crores in 2022-23 (That is, 7 per cent of GDP at current prices in 2022-23) by tourism. It can be understood that those who say that temples do not create employment or that temples do not contribute to the Indian economy are ignorant of these facts.
Contribution to the Society
We have several examples showing that many temples, places of pilgrimage and religious and spiritual leaders are doing exemplary work in the establishment of educational institutions and health centres. The Hindu Mission Hospital in Vellore, Tamil Nadu was founded by the Hindu Mission Society in 1894. It is one of the oldest and most well-known hospitals in the country. The Ramakrishna Mission runs a number of educational institutions and health centers across India. The Arya Samaj also runs a number of educational institutions and health centres across India. These include schools, colleges, and hospitals.
The Jain temples in India have traditionally been centres of learning. Many Jain temples have libraries, schools, and even universities.
The Sikh Gurudwaras in India also provides free education and healthcare to the country.
These are just a few examples of the many educational institutions and health centres that have been developed by temples and religious leaders in India. These institutions play an important role in providing education and healthcare to the people of India.
Today, it is imperative that by developing these areas of religious and pilgrimage tourism, their contribution to the development of the country be further increased. For this, apart from the renovation of old temples, construction of all types of economy and luxury hotels, expansion of infrastructure and civic amenities and establishment of tourist information centres in these religious and pilgrimage places; and their connectivity with different parts of the country to reach these places, are some of the initiatives through which their (pilgrimage places and temples) contribution to the national economy can be strengthened.
(The author is Professor, PGDAV College, University of Delhi)
