Amongst the news of landslides on yatra routes, traffic jams and highway rowdyism that we have been hearing in the recent past, came the shocking revelation that only three, yes three, tourists visited the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve this summer season.
No surprises that none of them were indigenous visitors. Compare this statistic to the more than 1.5 crore Kanwad pilgrims that visited Haridwar during the past one month, who also brought with them 20,000 odd metric tonnes of garbage. Where this garbage will go, directly or indirectly, is anybody’s guess – into the Ganga!
The State of Uttarakhand is today caught in the conundrum of pilgrimage and tourism. While we want to promote our State as a destination where one can commune with nature and embark on adventures of a lifetime, most of the time we end up disguising pilgrimage numbers as the figures of tourist arrivals.
Our State invests large amounts in developing infrastructure for all forms of tourism while we generally end up getting more and more pilgrims. Pilgrimage travel is often less dependent on all-weather roads as it is prone to economic ups and downs in the market place. Because faith-based travelers are committed travelers, they tend to save for these religious experiences and travel despite the state of the economy.
Faith travelers tend to have different motives for travel. For example, the faith-based traveler often travels as part of a religious obligation or to fulfill a spiritual mission. Faith-based travel can provide a steady flow of income to our local tourism economy.
In 2014, while on a study tour of the flood ravaged region of Kedarnath, where it was predicted that the pilgrimage would not revive, and indeed given the extensive damage to the site, could not be conducted for the next decade, I was pleasantly surprised to see some pilgrims walking through the filth and the remains of the dead. For them, visiting Shiva’s abode was an article of faith, something they had to do even in the face of all-pervading death and disaster.
On the other hand, many of us have also witnessed with consternation on the Yatra routes, the sad sight of pilgrims alighting from a bus with all their kitchen equipment and provisions, spreading a sheet by the roadside, cooking and eating, leaving only their trash behind. Such visits, needless to say, contribute nothing to local economies, barring garbage and a carbon footprint. The broader and more equipped the highway, the less the dependence of village economies for food and shelter. No wonder all villages on our Yatra routes lie in ruin, even as all dhabhas wear a forlorn look, even during peak season.
Whether we like it or not, our state is home to some of the most revered pilgrimage sites. In earlier times, people would embark on pilgrimages on foot, essaying their final goodbyes to friends and family, considering the ardor of the task at hand.
All pilgrimage was based on one basic principle – the greater the rigour, the more the merit of the journey. Today, with better infrastructure, we have shortened the duration of such visits, while tourism always thrives on lengthening the number days a visitor stays in the place visited.
In its very definition, pilgrimage is a meaningful journey to a sacred place, giving opportunities for quiet and reflection. It was the transformation from a state of always doing to a state of simply being. Today our tour operators offer a week long package for visiting the Char Dham, not even giving hapless pilgrims - often not used to mountain travel – any breathing time. Pilgrimage would inevitably end up energising those who undertook them – mentally, physically and spiritually. Today, in Uttarakhand, it is tiring and devoid of spirituality.
Often people embark on pilgrimage when they are at a crossroads in their lives, when undergoing a change in their life’s direction or relationships. Others may be in search of a deeper spirituality, healing and forgiveness. Or sometimes pilgrimage marks a special day, coming of age or other occasion for giving thanks. Our policies must be oriented towards rendering such journeys meaningful, developing just the right mix of comfort and natural rejuvenation.
While all pilgrimage is faith-based travel, not all faith-based tourism is pilgrimage. Sometimes one may just go out to meet the elements irrespective of religious belief. The Brazilian author, Paulo Coelho, in his fascinating parable on pilgrimage (with the same name) has explored the need to find one's own path. According to him, in the end, we discover that the extraordinary is always found in the ordinary and simple ways of everyday people.
Pilgrimage, to him is a“perfect combination of enchantment and insight”. Our policy makers need to discover that insight to bring back the enchantment of travelling through the mountains. It is estimated that globally, 25 per cent of the traveling public is interested in some form of pilgrimage or faith-based tourism. When one adds to this the number of people who travel for faith-based conventions, and faith-based activities such as weddings, barring funerals, the number becomes extraordinarily large. World religious travel is one of the fastest growing segments in travel today. Religious travel is estimated at a value of US$18 billion and 300 million travelers strong. Major faith-based destinations such as Israel, Italy and Saudi Arabia have developed large industries that provide services for people on pilgrimage.
Uttarakhand can capitalise on the growing demand for faith-based travel. However, the manner in which we conduct our Kanwad and Char-Dham Yatras, or even the Nanda Devi Raj Jat, needs a complete rethink. The need is not for more and more infrastructure, but the involvement of communities.
The need, therefore, is to trace out and imbibe, even in leisure travel, the values of pilgrimage. Understanding these values is simple. For instance, one must travel to seek and learn, not eat and drink and wallowing in luxury. Or we must challenge ourselves, embracing physical difficulty, gaining more merit in the ardor of the journey, or even being mindful of the cleanliness and purity of the place visited. Today, travelling through our fragile mountain State, travelers need to be reminded and even forced to adhere to the values of faith-based travel. Our rivers and mountains just cannot afford another orgy of truck-borne-DJ-blaring hooligans on trucks, waving the national flag as a license for drug, traffic and alcohol abuse.
By its very nature pilgrimage is low budget and this is conducive to what our villagers can offer in terms of food and homestays. The Government must act as a facilitator and do everything possible to connect the two, rather than pleading before global investors, who are profit-oriented and usually exploitative of the environment.
Let us, as concerned citizens, draw up a code of conduct to be followed by all pilgrims to our holy towns and sites. Let us point out to travelers, if they dispose of their trash on the roads. Most importantly, let us ourselves display these values when we travel to other destinations.
(The writer is an anthropologist, author, traveler & activist who also runs a public walking group called Been There, Doon That?)