India's pilgrimage TOURISM MAGNETS

Religious and pilgrimage tourism is big business. A 2022 NSSO survey says that India's temple economy generates revenue estimated at Rs.3.02 lakh crore per year ($40 billion)

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Down the ages, India, the land of sages and seers has been famous for its grand temples, well-designed mosques and faith-inspiring shrines. In a country where domestic tourism is largely faith driven, Religious and Pilgrimage (R&P) tourism is big business. From the snow-swathed Amarnath shrine in Kashmir, the cavernous Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and the globally famous Tirumala Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh to the remote monasteries in Ladakh, shrines, temples, mosques, monasteries and gurudwaras are the first tourism preference of India’s fast-expanding, 300-million strong middle class.

A 2022 NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) survey says that India’s temple economy generates revenue estimated at Rs.3.02 lakh crore ($40 billion) per year. Not a few pundits believe this is an under-estimate.

India has over 5 lakh temples, 7 lakh mosques and 35,000 churches, according to Central government data. Annual revenue by way of donations, provision of board and lodging, religious services, sales of memorabilia etc of the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh which attracts over 14 million pilgrims per year, tops Rs.1,000 crore, a sum second only to The Vatican in terms of revenue generation.

Likewise, the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu reports an annual revenue of Rs.500 crore.

Following the recent liberalisation of the Indian economy which has significantly increased the purchasing power of India’s middle class, the R&P tourism business is growing by 30 percent per year. The salient features of India’s most popular R&P destinations are detailed below.

CHAR DHAM

This is the collective name of four most revered Hindu pilgrimage destinations —Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath