Spiritual tourism to rejuvenation of ancient civilization for modern India

Prabin Kumar Padhy

(prabin.padhy@gmail.com)

Since time immemorial, India has been the abode of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. We have also other beliefs like Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, etc. Over the past few centuries with the invasions of Moghuls, Britishers many other faiths like Islam and Christianity got their places in India's religious culture and beliefs. When one visits such places of worship, it is known as spiritual tourism.

Spiritual tourism empowers community development, builds cultural understanding, develops local business, and employability, and more so, raises awareness of humanity´s common heritage and provides resources for preservation for the future.

India boasts of a rich culture, tradition and legacy while celebrating diversity and embracing plurality. While the focus of our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is on building "Brand India" the emphasis falls upon Spiritual Tourism too. Being a visionary, he has exemplary business acumen. He rightly thrusts importance on Spiritual Tourism as a way to develop places of worship, provide facilities to bring in more tourists, and connect them with nature and spirituality while creating ample employment and trade opportunities for the local public beyond any religious belief. It's like the Hindi saying "ek tir se do nishana" methodology, he just finds ways for such things and makes them happen. Rightfully, he has a knack for such ideas and how to turn them around into profitable entities for the people of India. These ideas just didn't come up after he became the Prime Minister, rather he made it possible since his days as the Chief Minister of Gujarat when he took up the complete restoration of Somnath Temple.

The foundation stone-laying ceremony of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya was carried out by PM Modi on 5th August 2020 during the onset of the Covid pandemic. The images of Modi performing the puja of Ram Lalla have ignited the enthusiasm of crores of Hindus across the world, and there they saw in him the person who can revive the lost glory of Hindu temples. All the while PM Modi saw varied opportunities in restoring the protected and heritage sites that can bring much change to the lives of people of the surrounding areas. Over the last eight years, the Narendra Modi Government has spent thousands of crores in the restoration and redesigning of such places as per the Ministry of Culture reports.

Adi Yogi Shiva Statue & YOGA:

On Friday, 24th February 2017, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled the 112-ft tall bust of Adiyogi Shiva at the Isha Foundation at the foothills of Velliangiri, Coimbatore. This is the world's tallest bust made of steel weighing 500 tonnes. It took 2.5 years to design it and 8 months to build it. This huge bust symbolizes liberation, representing the 112 ways in which one can attain one's ultimate through the science of yoga. Nonetheless, here again, one cannot miss the essence of YOGA which has its origin in India and spread across the world, while PM Modi was instrumental in the inception of International Yoga Day at the UN General Assembly in 2014 with 21st June as the Day to celebrate it. Since 21st June 2015, International Yoga Day has been celebrated globally, making India a favoured destination to learn YOGA with foreigners.

Kedarnath Temple & Char Dham Project:

In the year 2013, the holy Kedarnath Shrine got devastated by a massive flood and in recent years the Modi Government has completely restored the entire place while just a couple of days back the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple was covered with 560 sheets of gold. Apart from the complete restoration of the temple, the surrounding areas were also developed with more facilities provided for tourists and devotees. Along with this under the Char Dham Project, the pilgrimage sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath were linked together and facilitated by the Modi Government.

The Kashi Viswanath Corridor:

Kashi, the abode of Mahadev, the holy city was long ignored, and during the inauguration of Benaras Hindu University on Vasant Panchami on 4th February 1916, Mahatma Gandhi described its dirtiness and smelly lanes. A century after that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took it upon himself to redevelop Kashi as one of the oldest cities in the world and bring its lost glory.

With the existing dense buildings surrounding the Kashi Viswanath Temple, redesigning seemed an uphill task while retaining the heritage structures. The plan was to ease the traffic and people's movement and make the Ghats accessible to pilgrims from the temple. PM Modi wanted to facilitate the pilgrims to take bath at the River Ganga and take holy water directly to the temple. The project started with the acquisition of properties without any inconvenience to people, and the demolition of buildings led to the recovery of several other ancient temples. Within two years, the entire Kashi Viswanath Corridor was ready and inaugurated on 13th December 2021.

The Ujjain Mahakal Lok Project:

In the words of Home Minister Amit Shah, "There was a time when people were ashamed to go to temples but all this has changed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Modi government is working fearlessly to renovate and restore 'forgotten' centres with complete devotion and respect."

On 11th October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Rs 850-crore Mahakal Lok project in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. As per the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), this project will help in enriching the experience of pilgrims visiting it in the coming days with world-class amenities. The existing footfall of 1.5 crores per annum at the Ujjain Mahakal shrine is expected to double with the completion of the project.

A total of 108 stambhs (pillars) adorn the Mahakal Path that depicts the Dance form of Mahadev alongside many sculptures that showcase stories related to Lord Shiva. The mural wall of the Mahakal Corridor has been engraved with stories related to the Creation of the Universe, the Birth of Ganesha, stories of Maa Sati and many others from Shiva Purana. Lord Shiva being the Adi Yogi, has seven disciples at the beginning of Creation whom we refer to as Saptarshis. The entire detail is sculpted beautifully with details of each that can be read on one's mobile phone by scanning the bar code beside each statue/sculpture in the entire corridor. The lighting arrangements and ambience are made so wonderfully that one can't simply visit the temple in the daytime only prompting a second visit during the night.

There are so many projects of heritage value being developed by the Modi Government over the years. Be it the Statue of Unity in respect of Sardar Patel at Gujarat or The Statue of Equality, also referred to as the Ramanuja statue, is a statue of the 11th-century Vaishnavaite Ramanuja at Hyderabad, Telangana, the restoration of Raghunath Temple on the banks of River Jhelum in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir or the Bellur Math visit in Kolkata, or his visits to Lord Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar, Odisha making it heritage site for development along with Puri Shri Jagannath Temple, Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha, Deoghar Shiva Temple in Jharkhand, Baba Baidyanath Temple in Bihar, even the redevelopment of Somnath Temple in Gujarat along with Mahakali Temple in central Gujarat that was destroyed by invaders, one thing is evident, which is, Modi's vision to re-establish the lost culture and civilisation of ancient India while the journey of New India is on.

According to Nalin Mehta, author of "The New BJP: Modi and the Making of the World's Largest Political Party," Modi is making New India culturally civilised. The well-thought-out strategy is to rejuvenate the ancient civilization of India. It will combine religiosity, cultural identity and Hinduness with a new unapologetic cultural nationalism deeply rooted in Hindu culture.

This strategic move is deeper and so transformative that religiosity is not only appealing to those who believe in Hindutva but focusing on a larger audience. It seems PM Modi is on a spree to solidify the very foundation of Modern India which has a deep-rooted lineage to ancient culture and revive it to strengthen the future of New India. It is not only building cultural understanding and community development but also generating business, and employability and transforming the mindset of the people of India.