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EDITORIAL June 2, 2000 VNN5981 Comment on this story Thesis On Brajmandal, An Abstract BY RAJENDRA MISHRA EDITORIAL, Jun 2 (VNN) — All Glory to Sree Guru & Gauranga Revered Vaishnavas, Here is a summary of the thesis -- Pilgrimage Tourism in India-A case Study of Brajamandal, Abstract: Pilgrimage Tourism:A case Study of Brajamandal by Rajendra Mishra Tourism offers tremendous opportunities of generating revenues, earning foreign exchange and providing employment. Today all countries of the world are striving to develop tourism in a big way. It earns over $3.5 trillion worldwide. For India, it is presently the third largest export industry but our share in world tourist inflow is only 0.37 percent. Besides economic, the social and environmental gains of tourism are also significant. It is considered as an ambassador of peace and international brotherhood. It brings better understanding between different nations and civilizations. Likewise it helps in protecting environment, old monuments and cultural heritages. Pilgrimage is one of the significant types of tourism. Every religion of the world advocates the concept of pilgrimage, although there are differences in their approach. The key elements of the pilgrimage are belief and knowledge within a particular cultural context. From the ancient civilizations to the present times, places of pilgrimage have remained as cultural heritage centres. The Sumerians used to ascend the steps of the Ziggurat to reach the gate of Heaven, the Jews and the Christians visit their Holy Land, the Muslims undertake the Hajj to Mecca. The Buddhists visit Lumbini, Sarnath and Bodhgaya. The Hindus have their numerous tirthas ö places of pilgrimage, all over the Indian sub-continent. Pilgrimage is normally a journey to a holy place for a religious reason. It can also be for adventure, recreation, rejuvenation, spiritual enlightenment, or all of these combined together. Our country has a treasure of places of pilgrimage. History of pilgrimage tourism here dates back to time immemorial. All major Indian scriptures ö the Rig Veda, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Upanishadas are filled with the accounts of pilgrimages undertaken by the great sages and kings. It was customary for kings to retire in forests and go on pilgrimages in search of the truth. While tourism may be economically unfeasible, for the majority of people, the pilgrimage is a vital and living experience. These pilgrimages depict unity in diversity of our culture. Pilgrimages to sacred places reinforce religious feelings but also impress the pilgrims with the vastness and diversity of our society. There are different kinds of sacred places of the Hindus ö four dhamas' or kingdoms of God, which are Badrinath, Puri, Rameshwaram, and Dwarka; Saptapuris or seven sacred cities-Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanchipuram, Ujjain and Dwarka; four places of 'Kumbha-Mela' ö Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik; twelve Jyotirlingas', fifty one Shaktiöpeethas, 108 major Vishnu temples, eight self-manifested holy places ö Sri Rangam, Tirupati, Sri Mushanam, Thotadri, Shalgram, Pushkara, Naimisharanya and Badrinath. The Himalayas are considered a sacred mountain range. The seven most sacred rivers are ö the Ganga, the Yamuna, the Godavari, the Saraswati, the Narmada, the Sindhu and the Kaveri. All the three seas surrounding Indian peninsula are considered sacred. The purpose to undertake a pilgrimage may usually involve a commitment or vow to the Deity whose blessing is sought for the solution of a problem. Sometimes it is undertaken to earn religious merit or to quench the spiritual thirst. In the former category of motives the Deity is the focus of pilgrimage, e.g. Sri Jagannathdev, Sri Balaji, SriNath; whereas in the latter category of motives, the event of pilgrimage is more significant for example, Holi in Vrindavan, Kumbha at Haridwar or Prayag. The study area comprises of the area surrounding Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. Also known as Brajabhoomi' or Braja', or Mathuramandal, Mathura is located between latitude 27o 14' and 27o 58' North and longitude 77o 17' and 78o 12' East, it is situated between Delhi and Agra on the right bank of Yamuna and is ranked very high in the cultural history of India. The three branches of Hinduism, viz, Vaishanavism, Buddhism and Jainism flourished simultaneously in this region in the pre and post Christian centuries. A number of shrines, stupas, temples, monasteries and ashrams were built here. The purpose of going to places of pilgrimage is to associate with great saintly persons, for the purpose of knowing higher thoughts of life. A.H. Maslow's theory of the need hierarchy identifies self-actualisation as the highest human need. Pilgrimage in Indian ethos caters to that need. The motives for pilgrimage may broadly be classified into two categories. First there are specific motives concerned with mundane existence. They involve a commitment or a vow to the deity Sukhana whose blessing is sought for the solution of a problem. Mundana and Shradha also fall under this category. The second category of motives consist of earning religious merit. It may include holy bath on a specific occasion Snana, the darshan sight of deity, or visiting holy men for spiritual guidance. In the first category of motives, the Deity is the focus of pilgrimage, in second, the event of pilgrimage is more significant. The institution of pilgrimage to holy places tirtha-yatra, is an ancient and continuing religious tradition of the Hindus. Numerous sacred places distribution in various parts of India attract a large number of pilgrims; some places draw pilgrims from all over the country, other largely from the neighbouring villages. Thus, religion assumes an important role in generating a circulation mechanism in which all the social strata of Hinduism participate. Religion provides the basis of pilgrimage by offering the reward of unification of the soul and the attainment of objects related to the problems of mundane existence. Mathura and Vrindavan are ideally situated for both the serious pilgrims and casual visitors. With the increasing mobility of urban middle class, more and more people are coming for week-end trips. Mathura is one of the Saptapuris. For a pilgrimage tour of India, Brajmandal is one of the highly recommended places to visit. Pilgrimage tourism has vast potential for growth and development of Brajmandal in particular and the state of U.P. and country, in general. Constant inflow of domestic and international pilgrims, their contribution towards income generation, employment creation, savings and capital formation, are the sources to provide the socio-economic edifice. This flow has been blocked by the problems which have been identified by the pilgrims during the course of the micro-study. The main objectives of the present study are: (1.)To study the trends of pilgrims' arrivals; (2.) to know the motivations and expectations of pilgrims; (3.) to analyse the experiences of pilgrims and hosts; (4.) to examine the prospects and problems of pilgrimage tourism in the area; (5.)to suggest a model for the better management of pilgrimage tourism in the study area. The present study was undertaken with the following hypotheses: 1)Pilgrimage tourism constitutes an important component of total tourism in Uttar Pradesh. 2)Brajmandal Pilgrimage has contributed effectively to economic growth in Brajmandal and in Uttar Pradesh. 3)Pilgrimage tourism of Brajmandal has a vast potential of improving the levels of living and social welfare in Brajmamdal in particular and state of Uttar Pradesh in general. 4)The popularity of Brajmandal among the international pilgrims/tourists has been increasing at fast rate which has been harnessed towards growth and development of Brajmandal and U.P. State. The study has been completed with the help of direct and indirect investigation methods. The direct investigation method involved survey of tourists, discussions with government officials and non-governmental organizations, personal observations and interactions with host population. The indirect method included use of published and unpublished material in the form of books, journals, reports, thesis and dissertations completed by the researchers in this University and other Universities of the country. Primary data was collected from both the domestic and international pilgrims visiting Brajmandal. In all on convenient random sampling basis out of the domestic and foreign tourists, a sample of 500 domestic tourists and 300 international tourists was selected. Their responses were recorded in the survey schedule by the investigator by contacting them personally. The data so collected was transferred to working sheets, out of which tables were prepared which provided the basis for drawing conclusions to complete this study. The present study has been divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is introductory and contains concept, significance of tourism as well as tourism in India. It gives a background of pilgrimage tourism including historical perspective. The second chapter of the study is on research design and covers the objectives, hypotheses, research methodology, as well as the survey of literature and the limitations. The third chapter presents the development of pilgrimage tourism in India and highlights important destinations for pilgrimage in the country .The fourth chapter covers the development of pilgrimage tourism in Brajmandal and gives the details of the places of attraction in the area. The fifth chapter studies the economic potential of pilgrimage tourism in Brajmandal analysing economic parameters like income-generation, employment creation, savings and capital formation. The sixth chapter focuses on the problems of pilgrimage tourism in Brajmandal, by analyzing the primary data in the form of the responses of the pilgrims generated on the basis of the survey schedule. The seventh chapter incorporates a bird's eye-view of the study, the conclusion, and suggestions for the improvement of present situation and future development of pilgrimage tourism in the study area. Last three decades of the 20th century have witnessed a continuous upward trend in the inflow of pilgrims in the Brajmandal region. The popularity of the area has grown both for domestic and international pilgrims. With increased mobility of our middle class coupled with post-independence renaissance of Indian culture and tradition, there is a huge rush of pilgrims on weekends and holidays in Brajmandal, specially at Vrindavan, Mathura and Goverdhan. There is an explosion in the number of pilgrims visiting Brajmandal, specially Vrindavan, which is the nucleus or hub of all tourism activity in the area. Tourists/pilgrims visiting Brajmandal face a number of problems. These problems are so overwhelming that pilgrims, more specifically the international pilgrims, will never visit the place merely for vacationing. It is their religious fervour and their thirst for spiritual development that they feel attracted towards Brajmandal. But this does not absolve the government machinery of the responsibility of providing the basic infrastructure and services for making Brajmandal the most attractive pilgrimage destination. One of the basic problems faced by all the pilgrims relates to the inadequate and ill maintained infrastructure in the form of roads, transport facilities, electricity, water supply, public conveniences, hygiene and sanitation. Likewise, roads are so ill-maintained that people only for the sake of tourism devoid of pilgrimage will never like to travel here by any mode of transport. After negotiating the roads when the pilgrims reach the destination it is only their spiritual fervour that encourages them to stay here for sometime. They run from pillar-to-post for getting the necessities of life even in the year 1999. The streets and lanes are strewn with garbage and filth, overflowing drains, stray cattle, dogs, pigs, etc., thus exposing the pilgrim to hazards and accidents. Almost all the pilgrims have complained about lack of proper facilities commensurate to their capacity to pay and their life style. Surprisingly the local administration has done nothing to overcome the menace of the monkeys, stray dogs, pigs and cattle which exposes pilgrims to danger. The intermediaries, touts and cheats have aggravated the intensity of these problems. Strangely, the law and order authorities have not taken such effective steps so as to provide adequate safety to the life and belongings of the pilgrims. But for great spiritual significance of Brajmandal, pilgrims find themselves in a physically and socio-psychologically suffocating environment. Physical environment has been polluted by unhygienic conditions and ill-maintenance of the public services. Owing to the constant rising inflow of pilgrims, problems of congestion, over-crowding, traffic jams, etc., are experienced, which disturbs peace of the area. In addition, with the generation of income through sprawling economic activities, mafia has been attracted from amongst the locals and even from outside. They have established nexus with the law and order authorities and the politicians, which is a source of big nuisance to common pilgrims as well as the locals. Pilgrimage tourism in Brajmandal is also languishing in the hands of some irresponsible, greedy and exploitative elements among the Pandas, who are supposed to be torchbearers to the incoming tourists to the place. Instead of helping, guiding and assisting them, these elements seek to rob them by adopting coercive and harassing methods in the name of religion. The politicians and local mafia has devised a system to loot the incoming pilgrims by way of establishing the network of octroi and toll posts (chungis). These have been established at the entry point of Vrindavan, Goverdhan, and every important place within Brajmandal. The taxes are collected from vehicles without proper procedure and system. Such gagging tactics coerce pilgrims to part with a sizeable amount of money, apart from other forms of harassment that makes the whole experience full of pain and anguish. This problem gets further aggravated when the pilgrims come across inter-state borders in the course of 84-Kose Parikrama. The system comes in the way of smooth traffic-flow in the whole Brajmandal area of 3800 sq km. Brajmandal has vast potential for the development of pilgrimage tourism . The study shows that the inflow of tourists has increased at the rate of 7.60 percent during the period (1995-99)under review. The potential for the growth is further evident from the continuously rising growth rate of the inflow of tourists, both domestic and international. As against the rate of growth of Brajmandal tourism, the corresponding growth of tourists in the U.P, as a whole has been estimated at 5.42 percent , which is much below the corresponding growrth rate of 7.62 percent of Brajmandal. The study further reveals that the growth rate the international pilgrims in Brajmandal is as high as 7.62 percent. The corresponding growth rate for the international tourists in Uttar Pradesh is just 4.70 percent. Brajmandal provides a lot of attraction to the foreign tourists, which is clear from their rising growth rate, which fluctuates between 4.25 percent and 9.14 percent, between the years 1995 and 1999, respectively. On the basis of trend analysis, it is expected to reach the new height of 9.50 per cent, by the end of the current year. Pilgrimage tourism has contributed in economic growth and development in Brajmandal, which is amply proved by an in depth study of economic aspects of tourism in Brajmandal. For this purpose, the important parameters of growth and development have been analysed, they are: (1) Income-generation, (2) Employment creation, (3) Savings and (4) Capital Formation The study reveals that the pilgrimage tourism helps in generating an income of Rs. 961.73 crore per year in Brajmandal. The rate of growth of income has been estimated on an average at 7.59 percent, which is many times higher than the corresponding growth of income generation in whole U.P. Interestingly, the growth of income is not stagnant, the rate of growth of has reached the level of 8.80 percent in 1999 from the level of 5.0 percent in 1996. It is expected to go further to each the highest level of 9.16 percent by 2000. The analysis of domestic and international pilgrims reveals that the yearly contribution of domestic pilgrims to total income from pilgrimage tourism in Brajmandal comes to an average of Rs. 780.08 crore per annum. Income from international pilgrims on the other hand, though much lower at Rs. 180.13 crore per annum on an average, has two important aspects: 1) It is instrumental in generating precious foreign exchange, which is badly needed by the country. 2) The rate of growth of income from international tourists has been a little higher than the domestic tourists. Employment creation is another important component of growth and development. The study reveals that the pilgrimage tourism in Brajmandal creates employment for 2,780 persons per annum, on an average. This may be considered as a significant contribution in a country like ours, which has staggering unemployment. It becomes, therefore, necessary that pilgrimage tourism ought to be developed at a faster rate so that the country in general and Brajmandal in particular may be benefited. Savings is yet another component of growth and development. The incremental savings in Brajmandal from pilgrimage tourism has been estimated at Rs. 16.68 crore per annum, on an average. The actual savings may be much higher at Rs. 192 crores during the period under review. This may be a conservative estimate as the actual savings computed through the bank deposits may be much higher than the average yearly incremental savings. Capital formation is another component of the economic aspects of the tourism. The incremental capital formation has been estimated at Rs. 27.80 crore per annum during the period under review. It is also a conservative estimate; in actual practice the level of capital formation may be much higher. Capital formation in Brajmandal has registered an average growth rate of 3.36 percent during the period under the review. The actual growth rates have varied between 3.75 percent and 7.0 percent, during the period. Income generation has also been estimated after the application of tourism multiplier effect which has been accepted at 3. The average income from tourism in Brajmandal after multiplier effect has been estimated at Rs. 961.74 crore per annum. The level of income in reality is expected to go up to Rs. 1172.20 crore in the year 2000.The growth rate accordingly comes to 7.59 percent per annum on an average. With the inflow of larger number of pilgrims in Brajmandal, the income generation after multiplier effect will increase at a very fast rate. It enjoins, therefore, on the Government to make concerted efforts to encourage inflow of tourists so that it contributes significantly towards growth and development of Brajmandal in particular, and the state of U.P. and the country in general. The study has also computed employment creation after the application of employment multiplier of 2.36 pertaining to tourism. On this basis, more than 6,560 jobs are being created every year in Brajmandal. SUGGESTIONS Pilgrimage tourism has vast potential for growth and development of Brajmandal in particular and the state of U.P. and country, in general. Constant inflow of domestic and international pilgrims, their contribution towards income generation, employment creation, savings and capital formation, are the sources to provide the socio-economic edifice. This flow has been blocked by the problems which have been identified by the pilgrims during the course of the micro-study. To synergise the tempo of pilgrimage tourism development in Brajmandal, two set of measures are suggested - operational measures and operative measures. A) Operational Measures The operational measures revolve around the problems, which have been identified earlier in this chapter. Among them the foremost is the dilapidated condition of the infrastructure. It is, therefore, suggested that the Government, the private sector, the local bodies, the NGO'S and the local people should make concerted efforts to create the required infrastructure keeping in view the projections for the future inflow of the pilgrims in Brajmandal. According to the product life cycle, the destination (Brajmandal) is stirring out of the embryonic stage. To sustain this march towards the growth stage of the product life cycle, there is a need for the creation of infrastructure in the form of roads, public conveniences, transport, accommodation, etc. Since, both domestic and international pilgrims have the potential for growth, efforts ought to be made to create such infrastructure which is in conformity with the capacity to pay and the level of living standards of the tourists/pilgrims coming from different parts of the world. Simultaneously, while designing the infrastructure, the environment of Brajmandal should not be disturbed. In other words, the whole of Brajmandal should not look like a concrete jungle. It is also suggested that a railway system may be established to connect different places in Brajmandal. It will effectively deal with all the inconveniences and discomfort which the pilgrims have to bear during the course of the pilgrimage owing to the uncivilized behaviour of the 'Chungi' people and other functionaries connected with the octroi and road transport system. The present metre gauge railway-line from Mathura to Vrindavan can be extended to Goverdhan, Barsana, Kaman, Nandgaon, Kosi, Gokul-Mahavan and Baldeo. Equally important is the creation of services in the form of uninterrupted electricity, streetlights, safe drinking water, proper sanitation etc. The condition of these essential services is deplorable at present in whole of Brajmandal. It becomes, therefore, imperative that sufficient provision in budget ought to be made so that the level of these services could be improved on war footing. Unless these steps are taken, the country may be deprived of the growing inflow of international pilgrims visiting Brajmandal. The rush of pilgrims has encouraged irresponsible and greedy businessmen to create disorganized and shabby structures to accommodate the pilgrims, especially during the peak seasons. This has created the problems of congestion, insanitation and other problems of typical urban environment. These problems have taken away the very essence and spirit of the places like Vrindavan, Mathura and Goverdhan town. The Government, the local bodies, the private sector, the NGOs and the local people should make a united effort to improve the ecology and environment of Brajmandal. They should start with the afforestation programme which ought to be followed by other efforts to ensure that the sacred Yamuna does not get polluted by the filth and the garbage which is coming from the drains of the Brajmandal which are throwing tons of garbage into the Yamuna every day. For this purpose, the Government should draw and implement 'Yamuna Action Plan'. It is suggested that a study of the environmental impact of the pilgrimage tourism in the Brajmandal may be undertaken to know the carrying capacity of the place in terms of the capacity of the public amenities and utilities, the ecology of the locus, or the capacity of the people to live a life of comfort and dignity in their own cultural and social milieu. Since tourism has been declared as an industry by the state, it becomes necessary to take the requisite steps to regulate the functioning of this industry. For this purpose, the following steps are suggested : 1)Restructuring of tourism related laws in the light of the present day needs so that the tourists could be provided with the required safety and other forms of protection during the course of their stay in Brajmandal. This will ensure dispensing with the activities of touts, middlemen and the irresponsible element among Pandas who fleece pilgrims. 2)In the operational stage of tourism development, there is a need for a systems approach in managing tourism development. For this purpose, it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that any tourist who lands in Brajmandal does not face any problem during the course of his stay in this region. At present, as soon as the pilgrims land at any place within Brajmandal, they are immediately gheraoed by the Pandas, rickshawalas, and others associated persons in this trade. 3) It is suggested that some exposure, if not the training be provided to different groups of local pandas on selective basis regarding inter personal behaviour so that they could interact with the tourists in a healthy manner. The services of the NGOs may be obtained to provide this exposure. The selective group so exposed will provide the spread effect among their colleagues. 4) The paying guest accommodations should be encouraged. The local pandas may be provided finance to create better facilities of accommodation at their places for the pilgrims. 5)The important component of the systems model is the law and order machinery of which police is the most important component. Apart from the deployment of police for maintaining law and order, there is need for creation of a separate force, viz 'tourist police', to help the tourists in overcoming the problems faced by them and to curb tourism related crimes. The duties of the tourist police will include guiding pilgrims politely and taking care of their security. B) Operative Measures The operative measures include three important components: - 1)Strategy for Tourism Development. 2)Creation of Brajmandal Development Board 3)Creation of Brajmandal Pilgrimage region on the lines of Vatican City. 1) Strategy for Tourism development The strategy indicates the long-term goals and objectives, adoption of alternative course of action and the deployment of resources to achieve the desired objective. The long-term goals and objectives of the strategy are to develop the whole of the Brajmandal into a self-contained region on the pattern of the Vatican city (Italy). Creation of a 'Brajmandal Development Board' will be the first step in that direction. The work of restructuring the whole of Brajmandal should be entrusted to this board which would be a qualified body of town planners, architects and consultants. The Board will incorporate within its purview all areas of Brajmandal falling in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan under one administrative control through a proper legislation. The Board should not only confine itself to managing tourism in Brajmandal, but also try to make the whole region as a spiritually vibrant model entity. For this purpose, it is suggested that we may benefit from the experience of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Committee. The final state will ultimately be in the form of whole of the Brajmandal on the pattern of the holy city of Vatican. It is suggested that the entire Brajmandal region falling in the states of U.P. and Rajasthan should be formed as one unified region under one administrative authority. It may be developed as a state or a Union-territory within the constitution. Though it may a state or a union-territory but the entire administration of the region will be a little different because of the difference in its prime objective. Brajmandal finally may exert a spread-effect to influence other pilgrimage placess of the country. No research study can claim to be totally exhaustive and the present study is no exception. It is therefore, suggested that the future researchers who propose to undertake research study in this area may concentrate primarily on designing a management model which may be compatible with the overall development of pilgrimage tourism in the area, while not forgetting the basic objective of providing spiritual bliss to the pilgrim. It should not be forgotten that, "Brajmandal manifests its true form only to those who look upon it with the eyes of love", in the words of the great Gaudiya poet sage, Shri Krishandas Kaviraj Goswami. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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