Author: Namrata Joshi
Publication: Outlook
Date: May 29, 2006
URL: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060529&fname=Travel&sid=1
Introduction: Penance on a bed of nails is
being replaced by comfort 'n leisure
It's an old family story. Years ago, when a grand-uncle decided to go on a
pilgrimage to Gangotri-Yamunotri, he was given a tearful farewell by the entire
community, as though he might never return home.
The climb to the mouths of the two rivers
was a treacherous trek; no proper roads, no electricity, a few odd places
to brave the harsh weather and stay the night, frugal, rationed meals and
every likelihood of the trip turning out to be the very last journey of your
life.
Now, fast forward to the present. As the holy
glaciers become accessible to the crowds after a long winter hibernation,
there's a totally different spin to a pilgrim's progress. The hike is still
arduous, but there are Char Dham (Gangotri-Yamunotri-Badrinath-Kedarnath)
excursion packages to deliver your piece of salvation in comfort and leisure.
Air-conditioned cars and jeeps to whiz you closer to your destination on the
motorable parts of the route. Luxury camps with spacious, weather-proof tents,
attached baths and hot and cold water, multi-cuisine dining facilities, special
aarti services, guided visits to the shrines and even religious discourses,
yoga lessons and bonfires on demand.
What's more, the Union ministry of tourism
is in aggressive promotion mode.
As part of its Incredible India campaign,
it has roped in spiritual guru Deepak Chopra to pitch India in the West as
a route to God, peace and tranquility. The catchphrase is-India: Holy, Whole,
Healing. "Our aim is to present spirituality in a contemporary manner
to include aspects of wellness of the mind and soul," says Amitabh Kant,
joint secretary, ministry of tourism.
Spiritual tourism in India has largely been
a spartan activity, the domain of the old and retired, and of devout middle-class
families. It has also been favoured by backpacking foreigners seeking moksha
and some hash-on a budget-in places like Pushkar, Rishikesh and Varanasi.
But slowly and subtly, spiritual tourism is shedding its shabby image to reveal
a snazzy and glamorous face.
It's a chicken-and-egg situation. This segment
of tourism is getting classier because of growing patronage by an upscale
clientele, among them yuppie executives, rich nris and well-heeled foreigners.
However, it's also happening the other way around: the improvement in facilities
and infrastructure is drawing the young and the affluent. "It's not about
cheap stay in some small-time ashram but about luxury camps and resorts,"
says Sanjay Basu of the travel company Far Horizon Tours Pvt Ltd.
"At one time, Sai Baba's home, Shirdi,
had nothing. Now there are five-star hotels. As the affluent class is drawn
in greater numbers, better hotels will come up," says Vishwas Dhonde,
publicity and PR manager for the Maharastra Tourism Development Corporation.
"Big players are getting into the market, a certain sophistication is
being introduced into the experience," says Kant.
Take a place like Haridwar, the quintessential
temple town with dusty narrow lanes, colourful ghats, temples in every nook
and cranny and all the chaos of small-town India. Opposite the Dudhadhari
temple stands a cream, orange and yellow building that doesn't quite fit in.
It could be a swanky TV channel office in suburban Mumbai. But it's actually
part of a chain called Ginger-new, value-for-money, 'smart basics' hotels
belonging to the Tata group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd, of a kind never seen
before in Haridwar.
Simple, clean-cut, stylish, modern, with designer
looks, hip signage, wi-fi connectivity, gym facilities, cyber cafe and ATM,
Ginger is obviously targeted at the young and the restless. No wonder they
are calling it a GenNext product.
When Ginger opened its first property in Whitefield,
Bangalore, the big draw was the IT business located there, but the Sai Baba
ashram proved to be a good source of additional revenue. Now, religious tourism
has become an important segment in the company's business plan. "We are
looking to open these hotels at several religious destinations. There is an
absence of branded facilities in these locations. With good hotels, we will
witness new tourism in these areas," says Prabhat Pani, CEO, Indian Hotels.
Coming up next: a Ginger in Bhubaneshwar, the gateway to Jagannath Puri.
Similarly, Leisure Hotels first set up luxury
camps for pilgrims in association with Cox and Kings during the Mahakumbh
in Allahabad in 2001.
At that time, they attracted some negative
reactions, particularly among the Naga sadhus, for being too luxurious to
befit a holy occasion. But things have changed. The company's tented accommodation
on the Char Dham circuit, offered for the past three years, has been snapped
up. Its heritage
hotel, Haveli Hari Ganga, near Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar, with its own private
bathing ghat and in-house pandit, has been so successful that another haveli
is being restored to become a fully functional 45-room spa hotel in 18 months'
time.
"Earlier, Haridwar was not a must stay,
it used to be more a day visit place en route to Rishikesh. Now people are
staying because of better facilities. People are lapping up the new products,"
says Vibash Prasad, director, Leisure Hotels. About 25 per cent of Leisure's
business, concentrated in Uttaranchal, is focused on spiritual tourism, 40
per cent of its clients are from abroad, of which half are NRIs. The group
expects earnings from its Char Dham circuit to grow by 20 per cent this year.
Other interesting tour packages are being
worked out to lure more customers. According to Sahara Global, a new travel
company launched by the Sahara Group, pilgrim tourism accounts for 13.8 per
cent of the total domestic tourism pie. However, only 6.8 per cent of spiritual
tourists opt for packaged tours. "We feel there is a huge potential in
this segment which can be tapped by offering customised and well-organised
tours," says Romi Datta, ceo, Sahara Global. The company is offering
more than 50 such packages and aims to garner 10 per cent of its domestic
revenues from religious tourism.
It's a secular business in which every religion
finds representation. There are packages to Ajmer Sharif, Buddhist monasteries,
and gurudwaras in Punjab. The Buddha trail, for instance, is aimed at attracting
Southeast Asian tourists. Last heard, Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar
was planning to bolster the state's tourism industry by tapping into the rich
Buddhist heritage. There is a proposal for two state-of-the-art tourist parks
at Nalanda and Rajgir and plans to build a replica of the ancient Pataliputra.
However, spirituality is not just about bhajan
and aarti, holy rivers and temple towns. It is being pitched as a lifestyle
and culture thing. For instance, a package offering a visit to mosques in
Delhi includes a commentary on Sufi music traditions. Far Horizon has gone
even further in creating innovative itineraries centred on spiritual festivals.
It has identified 270 such festivals in Kerala alone, 32 in Rajasthan and
about 11 in Ladakh. "It's living spirituality, history and culture in
its pure form," says Basu of Far Horizon. "A festival is the most
dynamic aspect of religion, the show window of fervour and devotion."
A majority of his clients come from abroad and the most recent arrivals are
from the Metropolitan Museum, New York. "They (westerners) are able to
come face-to-face with philosophical aspects not found in their own culture,"
says Basu.For the NRI community, such visits are not just religious experiences.
"It is yet another effort to stay connected to their roots," says
Datta.
"For young Indians going on treks like
the Yamunotri is like a rediscovery of India," says Kant. And they are
also taking in other experiences on the pilgrimage route. Haridwar, for instance,
is combined with a spa visit to Ananda or white water rafting in Rishikesh.
Hotels have been quick to spot the opportunities. Haveli in Haridwar offers
a holistic experience with meditation, yoga and spa facilities. Viraj Mohan,
a 27-year-old who works in event management and the export and retail trade,
looks on such spiritual tourism as an "opportunity to beat the stress".
No one's complaining about this new trend-except
perhaps God himself. Would he like to be so easy to reach? And with so many
frills thrown in?
with Payal Kapadia in Mumbai
============================
The Flesh And Spirit Cocktail
* Char Dham: Soft beds in weather-proof tents,
choice of cuisine, guided visits to the shrines, yoga and meditation on demand
(12 days)
* Amarnath Yatra: A helicopter ride to the
cave-shrine (3 days)
* Festival Camps: Deluxe tented camps to take
in exotic chariot festivals in Kerala, Puskhar in Rajasthan or Navratri in
Gujarat
* Buddhist Tours: Follow Buddha's enlightenment
trail in four-star comfort through Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Kushinagar and Lumbini
(15 days)
* Jewish Tour: Synagogue-hopping while jet-setting
through Mumbai, Cochin and Calcutta (12 days)
* Sacred Sikh Shrines: Fast-track ride through
Sikh history and culture, from Delhi to Punjab to Patna, customised for expat
Sikhs (14 days)
* 'Dargahon ki Tizarat': Guide to steer you
past the crowds and straight into the sanctum sanctorum at the Dargah Sharif
in Ajmer. Side-trips to other historic mosques and shrines thrown in (6 days)
* Land of Lord Krishna: Air-conditioned romp
through Krishnabhoomi-Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Mahavan, Govardhan, Barsana,
Nand Gaon-in the company of an English-speaking guide who has his mythology
pat (7 days)
