This issue of Outlook looks at the phenomenon of religious tourism in the country in the wake of the Maha Kumbh and the various concerns it raises in an atmosphere charged with Hindu nationalism.
The obvious global rise in pilgrimage and religious tourism is driven not just the growing religiosity across societies, but also choices made by governments on the kind of infrastructure to develop. This trend has the backing of a market-driven push for commodification of faith and the Right-wing strategy of religion-based mass mobilisation
Religious tourism has moved from the spiritual to the transactional
The advent of social media changed life in the sleepy town of Gadha, where a 28-year-old Dhirendra Krishna Garg aka Bageshwar Baba, has amassed an unbelievable following who believe he has supernatural powers
Modern intellectuals are yet to appreciate the specialness of melas
From a backwater town to a religious tourism hotspot, Ayodhya’s transformation story has positives as well as negatives
As the underwater search continues for relics from the mythical Dwarka of Lord Krishna submerged under the Arabian Sea, are ecological threats to the still-inhabited city on the Gujarat shore getting less attention than they deserve?
Pilgrims are being fast-tracked into ‘spiritual tourists’. This places impossible demands on the vulnerable Himalayan region
With Sitamarhi in Bihar included in the central government’s Ramayan Circuit list, Sita’s birthplace may finally get the same stature as Ram’s in Ayodhya
What is lost through the glitz that Mecca has acquired is the subtlety of the spiritual experience
The obvious global rise in pilgrimage and religious tourism is driven not just the growing religiosity across societies, but also choices made by governments on the kind of infrastructure to develop. This trend has the backing of a market-driven push for commodification of faith and the Right-wing strategy of religion-based mass mobilisation
Religious tourism has moved from the spiritual to the transactional
The advent of social media changed life in the sleepy town of Gadha, where a 28-year-old Dhirendra Krishna Garg aka Bageshwar Baba, has amassed an unbelievable following who believe he has supernatural powers
Modern intellectuals are yet to appreciate the specialness of melas
From a backwater town to a religious tourism hotspot, Ayodhya’s transformation story has positives as well as negatives
As the underwater search continues for relics from the mythical Dwarka of Lord Krishna submerged under the Arabian Sea, are ecological threats to the still-inhabited city on the Gujarat shore getting less attention than they deserve?
Pilgrims are being fast-tracked into ‘spiritual tourists’. This places impossible demands on the vulnerable Himalayan region
With Sitamarhi in Bihar included in the central government’s Ramayan Circuit list, Sita’s birthplace may finally get the same stature as Ram’s in Ayodhya
What is lost through the glitz that Mecca has acquired is the subtlety of the spiritual experience
The new shubh-laabh suits those seeking power as well as profit
India’s foreign policy initiatives in recent years have shown signs of giving in to pressure from the United States
Unconditional love for the sport and systemic support have resulted in Jharkhand turning into a nursery of hockey players, especially for tribal girls
'Heart Lamp' by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi from Kannada, has won the 2025 International Booker Prize, becoming the first short story collection to be awarded the prize. Mushtaq spoke to Vineetha Mokkil when 'Heart Lamp' was longlisted for the prestigious prize in March.
All across West Bengal are countless tea stalls where people sit, weaving dreams and fairy tales.
