Pilgrimage expansion through tourism in contemporary India: the development and promotion of a Hindu pilgrimage circuit

Abstract

This article investigates the development and promotion of the Char Dham Yatra (or Char Dham), a Hindu pilgrimage route in the Himalayas, to challenge some prevalent assumptions and models in current scholarship concerning pilgrimage and tourism. I argue that the current prominence of the Char Dham is closely tied to the efforts of public tourism agencies and the coming together of a popular religious concept (Char Dham) with a unit of tourism development (circuit). Turning to promotional literature, I find that, while the Char Dham is increasingly framed to incorporate tourist interests, it continues to retain a religious profile. Contemporary Char Dham guidebooks combine and sometimes merge tourist and religious selling points. The Char Dham is promoted as a picturesque pilgrimage that allows for both homage and holiday. Contrary to popular opinion, the findings of my research suggest that the interplay between pilgrimage and tourism produces changes in, rather than the removal of, pilgrimage religiosity and associated religious communication.

Keywords:

• Hindu pilgrimage
• pilgrimage and tourism
• Hinduism
• tourism
• guidebooks

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my thanks to Håkon Tandberg, Istvan Keul, Jane Skjoldli, Michael Stausberg, and Moumita Sen for their support and comments on earlier drafts of this article. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Contemporary Religion who helped me push my arguments forward. I am especially indebted to Michael Stausberg for his perceptive comments and clever suggestions.

Notes

1. Fieldwork was conducted over the course of six months between 2012 and 2014.

2. Since 2014, however, the state of Uttarakhand has been trying to sell and promote winter packages for the Char Dham.

3. It is only after the catastrophic flood of 2013 that the tourism authorities have begun to require the registration of all pilgrims that travel on the Char Dham, introducing biometric measurements in 2014. For two surveys, see http://www.badarikedar.org/management/Number-Of-Pilgrims, accessed 27 July 2015, and http://tourism.gov.in/CMSPagePicture/file/marketresearch/statisticalsurveys/07%20uttaranchal.pdf, accessed 9 August 2015. Luke Whitmore reports that most visitors in Kedarnath come as part of the Char Dham pilgrimage (2010, 184).

4. For an ethnographic account of a Char Dham organized by GMVN in 1990, see Lochtefeld 2010, 195, 202.

5. Kundu Special was established as early as 1933 in Calcutta (see http://kunduspecial.co.in; http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070211/asp/calcutta/story_7376052.asp, accessed 28 July 2015).

6. The company presents itself as a pioneer of the Char Dham pilgrimage (see http://www.apnabharatholidays.com/TermsNConditions.aspx?action=About, accessed 28 July 2015).

7. A vast number of visitors do not arrive as part of package tours, but rather rent vehicles and find accommodation as they go along. Such visitors nevertheless follow the itineraries established by the travel agencies and package tours.

8. Copy received from the Department of Tourism in Dehradun.

9. See http://www.servicetax.gov.in/notifications/notfns-2013/adhoc-exemptn-odr01-2013.htm, accessed 4 August 2015; “Locals Demand Tax Relief to Revive Tourism in Uttarakhand”, Hindustan Times, 16 June 2014, http://www.hindustantimes.com/northindiarainfury2013/locals-demand-tax-relief-to-revive-tourism-in-uttarakhand/article1-1229885.aspx, accessed 18 May 2015.

10. See “Uttarakhand Well–prepared for Upcoming Char Dham Yatra: CM”, TravelBiz Monitor, 7 February 2015, http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/Ministry/uttarakhand-wellprepared-for-upcoming-char-dham-yatra-cm-26567, accessed 4 August 2015.

11. “Rs 289 Crore Grant to Boost Char Dham Infrastructure”, The Tribune, 6 April 2015, http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/uttarakhand/rs-286-crore-grant-to-boost-char-dham-infrastructure/63293.html, accessed 4 August 2015.

12. Besides the four departmental guides, I have analyzed: Uttarakhand Char Dham Yatra (2008, India Map Service, 54 pages), Badrinathji Kedarnathji (2008, Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee, 52 pages), and Char Dham Yatra: The Land of Gods (published after 2005?, Anada Sahitya Prakashan for Swaminarayan Akshardham, 25 pages).

13. The guides are Badri Kedar Gangotri Yamunotri: Yatra Guide with Map (late 1980s/early 1990s, Karam & Amar Singh book sellers, Haridwar) and Call of Uttarakhand: Gangotri—Yamunotri, Kedarnath—Badrinath (late 1980s/early1990s, Randhir Prakashan, Haridwar). The māhātmya is Cāro Dhām Yātrā Mahātma (late 1980s/early1990s, Karam & Amar Singh book sellers, Haridwar).

14. The notion of pilgrimage expansion was original suggested by Michael Stausberg (2011).