Gujarat the new centre of spiritual tourism

Gujarat the new centre of spiritual tourism - With an inflow of 1 crore and around 10-15 lakh pilgrims to Gujarat every year, 15 lakh devotees visit Ambaji everyday during the Bhadarva Purnima festival. Similarly, Dakor and Dwarka get around 5 lakh pilgrims everyday during Janmashtami, and Somnath has 1 lakh people visiting them every Monday during the month of Shravan in Gujarat. If the above figures are anything to go by, consider all India figures: The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) shows that of the 230 million tourist trips undertaken in India, the largest proportion is made up of religious pilgrimages. And of the estimated 400 million journeys undertaken by Indians every year, close to 100 million journeys are to pilgrimage centres like Tirupati, Shirdi, Golden Temple, Vaishno Devi or even the Char Dham Yatra.

Ghanshyam Joshi, a travel agency owner says, "From April-June we have sent at least 100 Gujaratis everyday for the chardham yatra." Palitana attracts around 4 lakh pilgrims during the kartikeya purnima every year. Shirish Patel, a tour operator says, "A visit to Somnath, Dwarka and Ahmedpur Mandvi includes a stay in some of the popular resorts." Gujarat's religious tourism is divided into 5 cults. A Gujarat Tourism spokesperson says, "The Shiv, Shakti, Jain, Krishna and individual saints' cult. The religious places of Gujarat especially Dwarka - where Lord Krishna, Shankracharya and Meera have become a major attraction." What's more, the tour operators offer luxury camps, multi-cuisine dining facilities, aarti services, guided visits to the shrines, religious discourses, yoga lessons and bonfires on demand.

The big money lies in the religious places which are fast modernising their marketing services to keep pace with the growing demands.

Gujarat the new centre of spiritual tourism

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