Idea of Pilgrimage Contributes to the Formation of a Hindu Identity

Nowadays, the government has realised that pilgrimage is a great way to boost the local economy.

- Devdutt Pattanaik

It gets selfie tourists to promote the pilgrim site on social media, generating FOMO (fear of missing out) which attracts more tourists. This new form of pilgrimage is a 21st-century phenomenon, transforming the way Hinduism is experienced. Temples are becoming tourist spots. Festivals are becoming experience centres. Local priests are eager to provide customer delight. Politicians are figuring out ways to make profit by ensuring their people get lucrative contracts for hotels and restaurants.

No one, not even the government, is bothered about garbage and waste management, which is in a way typical of Hinduism that has traditionally seen sanitation work as 'impure' even when it is highly profitable.

In Vedic times, the gods would be invoked, and they would travel to the site of the yagya-shala. They would arrive in their chariots to receive the praise and offerings given by the Vedic priests. This was the norm around 1000 BCE, i.e., 3,000 years ago. There was no concept of pilgrimage then.