What are Charitable Trusts Doing in Religious Tourism? Insights from an Indian Pilgrimage Site

Abstract

This paper examines the role of religious institutions and charitable trusts in the religious tourism industry in India that involves more than 100 million trips to pilgrimage sites every year. It argues that such visitor influx is sustained partly due to the active engagement of charitable trusts in religious tourism. Their contribution is explained using the case study of Vrindavan, a pilgrimage site in north India where charitable trusts are central to the religious tourism economy. By weaving two concepts, the process of decision making in third sector organizations and the formation of religious capital, this paper demonstrates how private and public trusts administer temples, arrange necessary tourism infrastructure (accommodation, food, transport) and mediate religious experience for visitors. The environmental influences, transactional factors, and organizational processes determine their involvement that largely depends on “religious giving” framed through ritual performances and patronage relationships in the pilgrimage economy. In promoting religious capital, trusts help to maintain religion in the public sphere.

Notes

The third sector encompasses all other organizations that are not in the government (public) and business (private) sectors.

Religious trusts were required to be registered under Section 12A (a) of the Income Tax Act to claim tax exemption status. Charitable trusts needed to be registered under Section 80G to claim tax exemption. Donors could only claim income tax deductions on donations to institutions registered under Section 80G (Sundar, 2002).

One charitable foundation of a “new age” guru has 2000 centres in 102 countries (Parthasarthy, 2002, p. 246).

In 1868, the whole estate of the Seths including the Rangji temple in Vrindavan was transferred by the Swami through a deed of transfer bearing a stamp of 2000 rupees to a committee of management which was to appoint a successor after his death (Growse, 1883, p. 261).

The provisions of the Act were primarily applicable to all Hindu religious places having property worth INR 50,000 or an annual income of 1200 Indian rupees (INR) or more (at 1962 prices of the Indian rupee) Under the Act, the district magistrate or commissioner was authorized to assess and approve the transfer of any property or income belonging to temples and religious places to prevent private profit or misuse (Sundar, 2002).

The committee hired sweepers to collect and dispose of garbage along the path and clean up existing dumping sites in the villages. The association also designed environmental campaigns and cooperated with the Hemkunt Sahib Trust (the trust managing the main shrine), local village governing councils along the route, and the Sapat Shring Ban Chetana Society (a local community-based environmental committee) to address environmental problems in the Valley.