Naari-Narayani: Women-Led Dharmic Tourism Movement Could Be A Gamechanger

This month, February 2024, women from Mysore’s iconic Raghuleela School of Music performed at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and Kashi. At one of the airports during their journey, the women-led sangkeertan group took some moments for a practice rendition. 

Women weaving pilgrimage, performance and tourism, is an ideal composition in culture and devotion. 

Far away from Cauvery and Sarayu, on the banks of Narmada, in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, women volunteers are setting out for a fairly new practice.

Trained recently under a state government initiative for assisting women pilgrims, they board the boats for 'Narmada Yatra', to ensure that women pilgrims collect their best experiences during Narmada darshan in Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar’s Maheshwar. The aim is to encourage solo women travelling. 

Vikram Samvat 2081. The pran pratishtha of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya Dham has ushered in a 'New India'. The woman devotee is not as politically equipped as Devi Ahilyabai Holkar herself.

She does, however, bear the prowess for pilgrimage potential which can galvanise and reignite a feminine-led dharmic rejuvenation.

Five Elements Of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar’s Eternal Heritage 

This author sees the five elements in the heritage passed on by Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar that should be used as the foundation for a woman-led boost to pilgrimage and related tourism. 

Jal: Rivers as the fountain beds of Holkar’s Dharmic rejuvenation. The proximity of rivers to the devasthans rejuvenated by her have left eternal impressions of rivers being the motherly cradles to dharmic preservation. Rivers themselves are Shakti and symbolic of feminine strengths. They bear a pull for the woman pilgrim. 

Agni: The illuminating and life-nurturing presence of the devotional flame and the ritualistic fires in the abodes of faith preserved by Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar continue to remind us of our dharmic and cultural purpose. The flame will illuminate through those birthed and nurtured by her. 

Vayu: It keeps the dhwaj of Dharma flying. It is transformative and provokes a quick response to the upholding of the flagpole of faith and its upholders. Rejuvenation is the constant rhythm of life. The flag on every shikhara of every devasthan has breathed it. Women uphold it. 

Prithvi: The feminine, she holds life. The actions for Dharma have their imprints on the earth. The footprint of each pilgrimage, each act of preservation, has to be nurtured by women pilgrims. 

Akash: The realm beyond the physical journey, physical efforts and beyond the physical dimensions of the pilgrimage is for eternity. The efforts to preserve Dharma are forever and are indestructible. Woman pilgrim, as herself, as her manifestation in Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, understands this sum of all other elements.  

The Feminine And Her Cultural Shakti 

The spiritual confluence of Ganga and Cauvery bolstered the idea of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam in 2022. Women were the strength of this confluence born out of political will. The women's connection with local devotees and between themselves was at a deeply emotional level. 

Shivkumar Krishnan, political activist from Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, contributed work to the Sangamam. He told this author: “The cultural bonds that women create enrich an intricate layering of emotional connections. The bond is spiritual as well. And such a bond was the entire idea of the Sangamam.”

He points that the worship of the divine feminine and feminine devotion are at the core of the lives of women in Tamil Nadu. The collective energies of their wholehearted dedication to pilgrimage, has roots in their spiritual journeys and devotion to Adi Parashakti. 

He adds, “When they are in Tamil Nadu, their journey to Melmaruvathur in red saris is a sight to behold. Their devotion for Madhurai Meenakshi, Kanchi Kamakshi and Kashi Vishalakshi makes them inspirational and crucial to the dharmic continuity in Tamil Nadu. Women, hence, are natural preservers of devotion as well as pilgrimage.”

The twinning of this aspect was witnessed at the Tamil Saurashtra Sangamam as well. 

Ayushi Vastupal, business woman and chairperson, Young FICCI Ladies Organisation Ahmedabad, is looking forward to her pilgrimage to Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam this year. Why is a pilgrimage undertaken by a woman important?

She adds, “Values begin at home. Women are open minded. Their experiences from a pilgrimage are of value to their family, to the future generations, and to those who are not able to have that experience.”

In 2019, Nandita Thakur, a political activist from Gujarat, travelled to the Kumbh Mela Prayagraj with her sister and a woman friend.

Thakur says: “It was like a challenge for three women travelling to Uttar Pradesh all by themselves for a huge gathering like Kumbh.” Landing in Prayagraj shattered perceptions.

Thakur says, "The image we had for UP shattered the moment we landed at Prayagraj at 10pm. There was no fear, extraordinary arrangement and security by the Yogi Adityanath Government changed the image of Uttar Pradesh in our minds.”

While addressing the Joint Sitting of the Two Houses of Parliament during the budget session, President Droupadi Murmu mentioned the world's growing interest in heritage tourism in India.

She mentioned in her speech that during the five days after the pran pratishtha of the Ram Mandir 13 lakh pilgrims visited Ayodhya Dham, 8.5 crore visited Kashi in the last one year; more than 5 crore people have visited Mahakaal (Mahakaal Jyotirlinga in Ujjain) and more than 19 lakh people have visited Kedar Dham. 

The footfall of pilgrims at the prime devasthans in Ayodhya, Kashi Ujjain and Kedarnath reveals that the Indian pilgrimage story would be making heads turn globally in the coming years, surpassing grandly, the standard comparison with the Vatican that reportedly attracts 9 million annually.

These four pilgrimage sites happen to be those four sites where the PM Narendra Modi-led government has undertaken rejuvenation of temples under different phases of development. Women are its underrated beneficiaries. 

It’s pertinent to note that women, particularly those from the middle class, value their own independence at pilgrimages. 

For them, visiting a devasthan with the spouse, children and other family members is emotionally comforting and provides a sense of spiritual, physical and emotional security.

However, there is a part of the feminine that wants to explore 'darshan' without having to worry about gendered duties to fulfil and related work. 

Establishing the discussion or argument for finding their own right and comfort for a pilgrimage, and to be able to seek its social acceptance in some quarters, could take time for some.

However, once the personal 'breakthrough' takes the shape of a 'norm', women-led pilgrimage will emerge as a breaker of nasty political agendas.

 Women Assisting Women — A Gorgeous Breakthrough 

Madhya Pradesh is gradually and quietly building a pilgrimage tourism renaissance for women by women. The MP Tourism Board with the help of Centre, is creating Mahila Sakhis (women friends of women tourists) under the Responsible Tourism Mission.  

Dr Alok Chaubey, Advisor, Gender, MP Tourism Board told this author: “During the last 23-24 months, Madhya Pradesh has trained 7,000 women — skilling and upskilling them in an upward spiral mode towards developing safe tourism in the state under the 'Safe Tourism Destination for Women' programme. The aim is also to encourage solo woman travel.”  

The programme was scooped from the Nirbhaya Funds and began in 2021. Safety audits were conducted. The women trained under this programme would cover 50 destinations, out of which trained women in Omkareshwar and Maheshwar were already on job. 

According to Vivek Shrotriya, Additional Managing Director, MP Tourism Board, women are 50 per cent of the tourist inflow. Ensuring the safety of women and catering to it through a special programme will not only help make Madhya Pradesh a preferred and empowered tourist destination for women, but also ensure that the entire tourism ecosystem benefits from the concentrated work towards woman tourist safety.

“The resulting aspects of the measures taken under the programme are in place at pilgrimage centres such as Ujjain, Orchha, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Amarkantak, Bhopal, and Panna among others.”

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board aims at training 10,000 women and hopes to extend the programme over three to five years. 

Shrotriya added that efforts towards encouraging the aspect of solo woman tourism in Madhya Pradesh are ongoing, and in some destinations, particularly in the state's wildlife tourism zone, the woman tourism workforce is already at 80 per cent to 90 per cent. 

Efforts are now being made to broaden the skill base for each woman beyond the stipulated ‘one skill’ under the programme. Dr Chaubey adds: “Some want to learn more than one skill. Others want to learn a foreign language." 

Local Economy Boosters Today, Soft Power Ambassadors Tomorrow

The contribution of indigenous women to local economies and the contribution of the woman pilgrim to absorbing the exquisite local offerings at the centres of pilgrimage is the kernel of woman-led pilgrimage.

Women-led boom in local economies under women-centric pilgrimage tourism is a low hanging, but sweet and precious fruit of labour.
When travelling by themselves, women find uninterrupted mind space to delve into local weaves, crafts, ornaments, exquisite trinkets, local food, and flower shops.

Inspiration (to shop) gets localised within women-groups. In Varanasi — the yards of Benarasi and Kanjivaram silks and in Maheshwar — the expenditure on cotton silk, the Chanderi weave and cotton yards runs into several thousands.

At Ayodhya, this author has observed women pilgrims from Malda coming from families of farming labourers spend up to Rs 350 at a shop selling wooden beads and garlands, and up to Rs 400 at shops selling devachitras and brassware used for worship. Their contribution to the local economy would be perceived as feeble owing to general perception on their spending powers, but spending hours at Ramkot would give the reader a glimpse of the woman power story. 

An ETV report from February 2023 mentions that the sale of laddoo-prasad alone went up from 25-30 quintals a day to 60-70 quintals. The jump in donations to the temples doubled. 

If women are nearly 50 per cent of the footfall currently, and a women-led darshan movement makes the feminine surpass men in the footfall, the corresponding jump in the revenues at dharmshalas, hotels, bhojanalayas, restaurants, and shops can be imagined.

Women when travelling by themselves, do and would make a point to buy gifts and local specialities for elders and children at home. Their retelling of pilgrimage will go home and be told to the world. No better ambassadors for Indian soft power. 

Make Pilgrimage Easier Without Guilt

The general perception in sections of Sanatanis and devotees is that a pilgrimage is bound to be difficult. Or that it is not a pilgrimage but mere tourism if it is not marked by daunting physical challenges. Many such views are shared on social media every year during the opening of Uttarakhand’s Char Dham Yatra. 

The social validity of this perception has to be discarded if women are expected to galvanise a new India's dharmic movement connecting devasthan, pilgrimage, home and the idea of nation and nationalism. Pilgrimage has to be made easy for women. 

Tourism shaped around pilgrimage — largely her experience outside of the devasthan and extended cultural facets of the temple life, will flourish on its own once the journey to the pilgrimage and back is completed safely.  

Challenges women face during travel have to be minimised. Centre-led concentrated efforts in infrastructural and organisational rejuvenation saw the Char Dham Yatra cross the 50 lakh pilgrim mark in 2023. It was a message of affirmation and assertion from the pilgrims — including women.

There are broadly 10 difficult or challenging areas that make a woman hesitant to travel by herself. An organised de-clogging exercise is a must.
One: The lack of clean toilets and the lack of toilets (despite the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan). 

Two: The commute from the airport or railway station or the bus stop to the place of pilgrimage. 

Three: Women friendly accommodation/guesthouses and dharmashalas. 

Four: The fear of having to deal with alcoholics and alcoholism during commute or at the place of stay. With this fear is connected the fear of eve-teasing and crimes against women.

Five: Security concerns, law and order in the state or city of visit. Ground visits reveal that states where the fear of police and law and order is more, are getting directly appreciated by women. Among them are UP, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Gujarat. 

Six: The availability of locker rooms. While temples provide lockers that are well equipped, trusted and secure, there seems to be a trust deficit or lack of lockers in the places of stay.

Seven: lack of women-for-women assistance (Madhya Pradesh — an emerging exception).

Eight: expensive air travel; delays, cancellations; affordable but challenge-marked rail travel.

Nine: Absence of well-planned women centric trips for the middle class. While offering solo woman trips and all women trips is a separate industry, it mostly caters to upper middle-class sections of the gender. Thakur suggests, “A good idea would be: IRCTC’s well-planned affordable trips for women who want to travel unaccompanied or in groups.”

Ten: Overall, the lack of programmes and commercial participants to cut the dependence of women on other family members. 

The journey of a woman through the different life stages is a life-long pilgrimage in itself. Naturally, when she departs on pilgrimage, the destination and the devasthan is seen by her as an extension of her own sacred space. Taking a determined spiritual, cultural ownership of the devasthan, is an emotional and political legacy from Devi Ahilyabai Holkar that women pilgrims should now attune themselves to.