Queues Are Exhausting, Temples Should Design Better Pilgrim Experiences To Manage Crowds

Just a day after the inauguration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, more than five lakh devotees thronged the temple premises, hoping to have a glimpse of Ramlalla.

The following day, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath expressed his desire to implement comprehensive crowd management methods at the temple. On the third day, the crowd was relatively better managed, if reports are to be believed.

Anyone who has stood in long queues for hours together will probably find it exhausting and slightly intimidating to visit centres of religious importance after looking at the images of thousands of devotees rushing into a temple.

However, many temples in India have integrated the provision of enriching and aesthetically wholesome experiences for devotees into their crowd management strategies.

Here is a brief look at some.

Tirupati Model: Effective Or Not?

The Tirupati Tirumala Sri Venkateshwara Temple is known not only for being the richest temple in India but arguably one of the safest — it has had no major stampede in over three decades.

On a normal day, the temple registers the presence of over 75,000 devotees. During Brahmotsavams, the crowd can go up to 400,000 or more.

The footfall, when compared, is almost the same as expected in Ayodhya.

In Tirupati, there are two queue complexes — Vaikuntam I and II — with 60 plus compartments for pilgrims to wait in queue for a darshan that may take more than a day-and-a-half. Each compartment, equipped with toilet and bathing facilities, can lodge up to 300-500 people. Display boards show the darshan timing and provide timely announcements to the pilgrims with updates. They are served breakfast, lunch and dinner for free.

Special darshan tokens are sold online, and in advance, to ease the pressure on pilgrims. Three rows of pilgrims can simultaneously have darshan at the inner sanctum of the temple.

Such measures have made the temple experience at Tirupati a smoother one.

Kishore Biyani, the founder of Future Group mentions in a podcast that he understood how to effectively manage crowds from the Tirupati temple.

That said, it can also be argued that the Tirupati system is not the ideal one for the devotee.

First, Tirupati is combatting issues with the lack of space in the inner sanctum of the temple.

Second, while queues are being managed, they last for hours at end, and the time that a devotee gets in front of the deity is not more than a few seconds, before the security personnel hush them off. Many of them circle back to the temple, waiting for hours more, just to get another glimpse at the deity.

Third, there are issues with the lack of space within the temple complex for pilgrims to sit and meditate too. 

Remember Kumbh Mela, 2019?

Kumbh Mela, which attracted nearly 250 million people in 2019, was managed by the same UP government that is today overseeing crowd control in the Ram Mandir. In managing Kumbh 2019, the government was provided support by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

These were some of the features of the Kumbh organisation in 2019:

— 14 holding areas were created, to avoid crowding in railway stations.

— An Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) was created to monitor the 1,000 CCTVs in the area, manage hotlines and wireless communications and pass on information using the digital display area boards.

— Crowd density was constantly monitored, and artificial intelligence (AI) was used to send soft and strong alerts to the deployed police personnel if more than three people gathered within a square metre area.

— Criminals were nabbed by recognising them on the pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) surveillance cameras.

The objective record and subjective experiences of Kumbh 2019 act as an assurance regarding the Uttar Pradesh administration’s ability to manage the mammoth crowds at Ram Mandir.

It is important to note at this point that crowd management at temples in India can be a nightmare for the authorities with even minor slip-ups leading to massive disasters.

India's 'Temple Tragedies'

Even in the recent past, India has witnessed temple tragedies where devotees have lost their lives, unfortunately.

Between 2001 and 2014, more than 2,421 people have lost their lives in India because of stampedes. Of this, nearly 79 per cent of the stampedes occur at places of worship. The reasons attributed to this include incompetent planning, lack of coordination and lack of crowd control mechanisms.

Such incidents have taken place across the country — Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, Deogarh in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh's Mathura and Prayagraj, Bihar's Patna, Sabarimala in Kerala.

While this is a blanket problem that almost all big temples and religious centres in India face, timely technological interventions with effective system design practices can avoid such tragedies.

Leveraging Tech For Temple Tourism

As a result of reducing costs of transportation and increasing affordability, many more people are indulging in temple tourism. Experts have recommended a few simple solutions to better manage the influx of devotees:

One, initiate an online queue management system where devotees can create an account on the app or a website, seek a check-in time, and report at the prescribed location to proceed for darshan.

Two, estimate resources required and plan thoroughly. This can be assisted by AI and Machine Learning (ML). Crowd density can be predicted using sets of observational data gathered in the past, and a daily, weekly and monthly estimate can be derived.

Three, redesign physical spaces on days of highest footfalls. Having medical facilities, food, hygiene and safety is of utmost importance on such days.

Even otherwise, temple experiences can be curated in a way that the devotee is eager to spend time not just before the deity but even in the larger temple premise.

In Delhi’s Akshardham Temple, for example, before and after the visit to the temple, there are many other ways a devotee can spend time with their family and friends.

There’s a water show, there are gardens, there are exhibitions in three large halls, and they are presented using a combination of art, science, culture and spirituality.

Templates From Recent Memory

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to make the Statue of Unity and develop it as a tourist attraction, critics downplayed its potential. Once complete, however, it surpassed expectations. Last year, close to 50 lakh people visited the site.

The roads to the statue have been newly laid, and many resorts have come up in the vicinity of Kevadia. There are many other attractions nearby — a butterfly garden, a cactus garden, a nursery, Narmada Ghat, a unity glow garden, valley of flowers. 

There’s also the jungle safari, Ekta cruise, dino trail, river rafting, a mall and a food court with multiple cuisine options. Towards the evening, there’s a screening of the life of India’s ‘Iron Man’ — Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. 

If such templates are adopted across the large temples in India, not only does it effectively manage the crowd of devotees, but also offers a more wholesome experience to them.