The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is transforming religious pilgrim sites and important temples, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, through a mega visual narrative that provides a sense of bhavyata (grandness) and divyata (a sense of divine). Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the grand Kashi-Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, which also happens to be the PM’s constituency.
The opening of the Kashi-Vishwanath Corridor, which was accompanied by various Hindu rituals, left a deep impact in the hearts and minds of those who witnessed the event in Kashi or on their television sets at home.
The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is also working to transform Buddhist sites. The inauguration of the Kushinagar International Airport in October—Kushinagar is an important Buddhist pilgrim site and is believed to be the place where Gautam Buddha delivered his last sermon and attained salvation—was attended by a Sri Lankan delegation besides diplomats from 11 other countries.
Devotion and faith transcend boundaries and grand images of places of worship/pilgrim sites can create a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of the believers, who could be miles away from the site of action.
In the last few weeks, I have come across multiple readings over the BJP government’s efforts to accord importance to places of pilgrimage in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
I would like to look at these recent events in three ways.
First, pilgrim sites or places of worship have a life of their own and are also places that offer livelihood to many. From the shops selling sweets, local artifacts to lodges and hotels mushrooming nearby, temples can be a major contributor to a state’s economy. While it is true that pilgrim sites attract people due to their religious significance but with improved and better facilities, these places will get more footfall. An increase in pilgrims as well as tourists (who want to witness a grand piece of architecture) will further help the local economy grow.
The BJP, in that sense, has taken the temple narrative a step further by linking tradition and culture with development. Among the key features of the party’s development politics, giving a boost to religious tourism is certainly on top.
India has immense potential in religious tourism. We have temples and pilgrim sites that are centuries-old—these are not just religious sites, they are places of historical significance. Like the West, India too can develop and then market these places well as major tourist spots and can attract domestic and international travellers.
Second, these religious sites are also inherently attached with the identity of communities. Providing bhavyata to these identity markers also provides a sense of pride to these communities. Identities may have positive and negative resonance in everyday life—but a grand public event celebrating a place of worship closely linked to a community provides confidence to the community, and can also transform it as an active participant in the development of the nation.
Third, if such acts provide a sense of satisfaction to the identity aspirations of a community, then a section of them may move politically and electorally towards the parties that are working towards realizing these aspirations. One can argue that this is a byproduct and not the central impact of such acts.
The opening of the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor does overlap with the campaigning for Uttar Pradesh elections. Therefore, it will invite a political reading. And, it will certainly give political and electoral advantage to the BJP. But to what extent?
We need to see how people respond to the mega visual narratives that the BJP is creating for places of worship.
In the long run, the effort to transform Indian pilgrim sites will give a push to cultural and religious tourism, and that is good news for the country.
Badri Narayan is Professor and Director of GB Pant Social Science Institute, Prayagraj, and the author of ‘Republic of Hindutva’. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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