From The Latest Issue: The Devotion Dilemma

Mumbai in July is fraught with peril. Dark clouds hovering above, ready to drench you at a moment’s notice. I was out in the city, passing by Prabhadevi one such Tuesday evening in July 2022. I don’t remember what unavoidable reason urged me to brave the weather, but I clearly remember the queue. Snaking around the main road, people sandwiched between barricades to enter the Siddhivinayak temple. My kaali-peeli driver snorted at my appalled expression, informing me helpfully that it takes at least three hours to get a darshan inside. “You would be mad to visit on a Tuesday,” he had remarked. And yet, it seemed madness was a small price to pay for devotion. Devotion propels you to keep one foot after another, take on a pilgrimage, and cross miles to finally earn a glimpse of your gods. Pilgrimage is the original art of travel, the act of journeying outward to feel more aligned inward. But the last two decades have polished the simplicity and penance of pilgrimage in India and birthed a booming trend that we now call spiritual tourism. Where one had to take on an treacherous trek to reach Kedarnath before 2010, now it is a choice that mostly the fit, adventure seekers take, as the rest pile on helicopters to cut through most of the ordeal.

Further down, the Mahakal corridor in Ujjain has made pilgrims travel much easier since 2021. “I had visited with my family, before the corridor was fully developed and we took on a hectic journey through congested back roads,” said Bangalore-based Sonali Roy. Visiting one of the 12 jyotirlingas is not such a Herculean task anymore.

“Over the past 25 years, pilgrimage in India has transformed through large-scale infrastructure, making journeys smoother and more enriching,” said Dr Ilayaraja T, Secretary, Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh & Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. “Projects like the Mahakal Lok Corridor have introduced spacious, well-planned access routes enhanced with art, lighting and modern amenities, easing crowd movement. Developed at an overall cost of approximately INR 856 cr, the corridor stands as one of the most significant spiritual infrastructure projects in the country.”

Immersive Spirituality

The 2025 Mahakumbh, held over 4,000 hectares of land in Prayagraj saw more than 660 crore devotees congregating at the ghats of Sangam, with 25 lakh kalpavasis (pilgrims) camping at the site. Beyond the festival grounds, the city itself underwent a substantial transformation. According to data from the Prayagraj Mela Authority and the tourism department, this included the beautification of 38 roads, the creation of nearly 20,000 sq ft of murals across public walls, and the planting of 2.71 lakh saplings to develop green belts. The push towards sustainability was evident in a plastic-free initiative supported by waste management plants, while more than 65 km of roads were outfitted with thematic lighting, among several other enhancements.

These developments have broken through the sluggish pace of pilgrimage to culminate in a more well-rounded approach to travel. The trips are not merely limited to hasty plans of reaching a temple or a holy festival but have expanded to become generational, immersive family vacations.

“Developments undertaken during the 2025 Mahakumbh—such as improved connectivity, corridor development, and integrated planning—enabled tourists to link their visit with Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Kaushambi circuits, along with key corridors within Prayagraj,” said Saumya Agarwal, Divisional Commissioner and Chairman, Prayagraj Mela Authority.

Peril Vs Perseverance

Ever since humans awoke to spirituality, pilgrims have led the way. Across centuries and continents, they have undertaken gruelling journeys that were as much acts of penance as they were expressions of devotion. Japanese-Buddhist monk Kūkai, who established the 1,200 km Shikoku 88 Temple pilgrimage, envisioned a path where physical endurance mirrored inner discipline, Adi Shankaracharya shaped the sacred geography of the Char Dham, by binding distant shrines into a circuit that demanded both effort and faith, and Mali emperor Mansa Musa transformed his Hajj into a journey so vast and exacting that it became legend. The hardship has always been inseparable from the purpose, the journey a test to be endured before the fleeting reward of divine proximity.

The play between peril and perseverance that once defined pilgrimage, now lie quietly folded as an afterthought, as the ease of reaching sacred sites increasingly multiplies. Yet, there are still the kanwariyas, whose single-minded devotion keeps the older ethos intact. During the Kanwar Yatra, held in the monsoon month of Shravan, devotees clad in saffron walk for miles across northern India, carrying decorated vessels of Ganga water from sites like Gangotri, Haridwar, Rishikesh, or Sultanganj back to Shiva temples in their hometowns. The journey is marked by strict renunciation: no indulgence in comfort, no beds, no alcohol or meat, only an unwavering focus on the act of offering. In its scale and severity, the yatra remains one of the few living pilgrimages where penance is not symbolic but central to the act. Even though spiritual journeys are more accessible and inclusive now, there are some newer pains that devotees have to reckon with.

Ajay Bhatt, owner of Himalayan Abode Homestay in Joshimath who has undertaken the Char Dham yatra multiple times, recalls the stark difference of visiting Kedarnath after the 2013 floods. “The serenity is not the same anymore. By the time you bow your head in prayer at the temple you are being pushed out by 20 people. The intensity of the crowd makes it difficult to let your true reverence come forth, even when you’re facing God.”

The idea of traversing vast stretches of land, sea, and wilderness in pursuit of the abode of one’s deity carries a weight that is both physical and spiritual. It is the pilgrim’s tenacity that renders such a journey bearable. That steady, unyielding resolve sustained by faith. And, of course, there is the promise of reward at the end. Like moving through a long, shadowed tunnel, compelled forward by the certainty of light waiting on the other side. With ease comes excess. The real test of faith lies in keeping the scales of devotion balanced.

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