Rejuevnating India's Cultural Economy: Special focus on Temples: Important piece in Atmanirbhar Bharat

The majestic Bhadrachalam temple.credits: Hindu post.in

 Introduction:

An economy is a system where people earn livelihood which they spend/save for their upliftment in all forms. This is the most simplified definition of an economy. Cultural economy more specifically temple economy is very important in this regard.Cultural economy means when economic system originates using the economy of a country.

Recent happenings:

On 13 December 2021 Prime Minister Modi in the majestic city of Varanasi inaugrated the grand Kashi Vishwanath corridor. The Kashi Vishwanath corridor,some of the salient features of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor is that the gateways were built using stones by traditional craftsmanship.Temple complex will host 27 structures including prayer halls, museum, rest areas, guest house, food court, security, and information zones. The kashi vishwanath coridor is expected to boost the religious & spiritual tourism,local economy  in Varanasi.Many Indians believe firmly that temples are places of economic development which will help in creating a strong Atmanirbhar Bharat. This is in line with Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modiji's vision to reinnovate the temple economy of India, the Prime Minister has taken active steps to reinnovate the temple economy like creation of Ujjain Mahakal Corridor, return of grandeur to Kedarnath dham & making visiting temples & matthams as a social event.

This has created an innumerable impact on the minds of people, who also know about the history of such places & start visiting these places, which in turns helps in the growth of local economy around the region, as the prime minister of the nation is undoubtedly the biggest influencer for people.

Nature of temple economy in India:

For the record, in 2019, before lockdown a record of 17.91 million tourists visited India according to statista. At least a small fraction of tourists would have visited the public art structures in India some of which may be statues,religious structures etc. which are traditionally the main crowd pullers for the tourism sector.Given such kind of tremendous influence that this segment has over the economy it becomes very obvious to discuss some specific aspects of cultural economy like idol sculpting. Even in 2022, a temple city in TN attracted more tourists than Goa & Ayodhya had more than 1 million people visiting before the Ayodhya Deepostav, where almost 17, 00, 000 diyas to welcome the homecoming of Maryada Purshottam Prabhu Sri Rama Chandra on ocaasion of deepawali.

According to a WION Gravitas report by Smt. Palki Sharma Uphadyay.The report highlighted how every country wishes India during the deepawali festival. The SENSEX-NSE also recorded a record high of almost 200 points during the deepwali festive time.

Also temples since time immeorial have always been hubs of economic development. According to a report in TOI+, temples are places where the local handicrafts get a ready made market, the hotels around the region also earn a lot of money from the tourists along with having its own realistic significance which any economics student cannot undermine.

The cultural economy of India is also making a strong presence in digital landscape where we have multiple Youtubers recreating Bhakti Songs in the remembrance of the greatness of deities like Shri ram, ammavaru(shakti spirit), Shri krishna among many more. The digital landscape of cultural economy is also transcending where people are promoting facets of Indian culture, apps, podcasts are also being launched by international organisations along with spirited individuals to promote the gifts of India given to humanity. Many places & cities owe their existence to the ancient temples, shrines found in these regions, this phenomenon is very unique to India, some prominent examples can be of the Kedarnath, Dwaraka, Katra, Mahabalipuram to name a few among a list of at least 100 cities.

The real strength of temple economy:

NSSO report says that the temple economy in India is worth of 2.32% of GDP. Since this temple economy is mainly run by the people of the nation, Bharat which means that the majority of the domestic demand is being run by the citizens of India implying that the temple economy is a place which has less risk but at the same creates employment for lakhs of people from various backgrounds. The report further states that the temple economy is equivalent to 3.02 lakh crore which is equivalent to the recapitalization given by the Government of India to the public sector banks. The NSSO data also points out that Indians do more pilgrimage than any other event, the spending on expenses of religious travel is 2217 per person/day, the cumulative expenditure on the religious trip is slated to be almost Rs.1316 crore per day & annual expenditure on traveling itself is close to 4.74 lakh crore which means one of the most important revenue sources for tourism sector is from the pilgrimage carried out by Indians. The annual expenditure by Indians on pilgrimage travel is almost greater than GDP of many Asian countries combined.

Given our strengths in this segment, it is also important to utilizes these strengths to its fullest potential so that the in built & natural economic system of India is further strengthened.

Benefits & Opportunities:

As discussed above the temple economy of India has an innumerable strength, it will benefit the nation not only in the short run but also in the long run, it will benefit nation in all aspects starting from economy to even the smallest segment of the society to even the digital landscape of the country for that matter. Some positive effects will be that tourism (including domestic & international tourism) will contribute more to the Indian economy and it will come out from the tag of a sector that is very risky to invest, when that tag is removed then it will automatically improve the FDI, Domestic Investment,Portfolio Investments in the tourism sector which will further strengthen the competitiveness of Indian tourism firms in the international arena and will generate employment to lakhs of people. The strength of tourism industry should never be underestimated, remember that tourism industry in the UAE is one of their top contributors to GDP, so when India already has so much tourism potential through its temples it gives an incentive to develop the sector overally. The youTube video attached in the hyperlink is very informative to understand how UAE transformed its economy from oil dependent to a diversified set of sectors which has made their country's economy resilient.

The second opportunity is of the infrastructure development that will take place if proper startegies related to business, management coupled with political will is applied by all governments,public policy thinkers, economics students & private firms to develop it. Many famous temples like the Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir, Shri. Kapleshwari Temple, Shri. Vajreshwari Temple, Namgyal Monastery are located in the hills where infrastructure development is the primary requirement of the people. Infrastructure here refers to both social & physical infrastructure, as any pilgrim in India would like to have their pilgrimage be worth the money that he/she wants, hence infrastructure development can also occur which will satisfy the Big push theory of development given by Rosenstien Rodan.

The third opportunity that will present itself will be of that of wiping out the regional economic imbalances that exist between states or between intra-states(for example, people consider southern Tamil Nadu to be less developed that Northern Tamil Nadu & Rayalaseema is considered to under developed than that of Coastal Andhra) such examples exist in almost every state. This regional economic imbalances should never be underestimated as it can plant fruits to demands of separate states which is disastrous for both states in the long run in a purely economic sense as it would lead to fiscal imbalances in their states, increasing debt to GSDP ratios & not contributing to national output. Though there can be multiple regions of statehood demands ranging from cultural to economic inequality to even issues which play with local sentiment, India's history has shown that state reorganization has been successful in some aspects & not so successful in some aspects.If the regional economic imbalances are not addressed properly then it can sow the seeds of hatred between people of a nation which will further act as a blockade for development.This issue can be sorted if proper development of temples also takes place. Local artisans will also earn a better livelihood &  their disposable income will improve, savings will rise & Applying the Harrod-Domar model where savings= investment which will boost the national output & generate labour run employment opportunities in short run.

The fourth opportunity is of improving India's soft power through diplomacy which has been attached in the beggining of this research article.

The fifth opportunity is of improving national unity-integration-cohesion which will make every Indian proud of their roots.Many articles on this issue has been written by many cultural scholars spanning across web portals.

The development of temples will also ensure that those raw materials which are required for the manufacturing of such idols or products required in the temples which will create employment even in those sectors & will also reduce India's BoP.

The sixth opportunity will be of boosting international tourism which will bring lot of NRI remittances, FDI & will strengthen India's forex reserves which will bring the price stability to the nation which will again help in nation's development.

Now to convert these opportunities, there has to be adequate roadmap for which a few steps in this regard can be taken. Some can be:

Suggestions: Roadmap

1. Indian Institute of Languages, AFLU, Amrita University can commission translation of Indian texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahapuranas like Vayu Puran/Skand Puran into all regional scheduled languages according to the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution which can be kept in specialized Gita Stores in the major temples of India.

2. Every state government or the central government should identify, 7 temples in every state that can be developed keeping the temple as a centrestage, social welfare schemes like Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Jal Jeevan Mission,PM-Ayushman Bharat Yojana, PM-Jan Dhan Yojana,PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, PM-Kaushal Vikas Yojana, PM-Kisan Fasal Bima Yojana(if in  a rural place), AMRUT(If in a urban/semi urban areas), Startup india scheme, PM-Mudra Yojana, PM-SvaNidhi should be implemented at a breakneck pace first, followed by which facilities like road widening, increasing number of construction of flyovers/bypasses(how it has been in done in Kashi for example)(if possible),proper electrification of the roads leading to the temple,opening of 3/5 star dhabas on the roads leading to temple, administrative blocks of District Magistrate, mini secretariat, defense manufacturing units can also be opened in nearby villages/places to temple ,if possible building of greenfield expressways around those regions(if required), opening of Vedic schools where students according to their age can be given degrees like BA in Vedic studies from state universities & in state government jobs they can be preferred like with 2% reservation etc..heli services from a government owned hotel to somewhere near the 1 km radius of the temple,ropeways can also be started, along with erecting statues/building museums/antique shops where ODOP products or local products can be displayed for people as people especially the youth demography of India, prefers economy+pilgrimage. This scheme can be called as Temple Places Development Scheme. Preferably the temples identified should be in the most backward areas. This will help providing lakhs of employment opportunities to the local populace. Defense manufacturing units can also be opened in such earmarked places.

3. Temples are places where local artisans thrive, the government of India can take a special initiative where under skill mapping, the local products manufactured by the people in the area can be marketed by bringing them under one brand name which can be renamed, opening godowns where cold storage can be done(private firms can be of great help here), opening of places where barcodes are also issued, connecting them using ONDC platform so that they can get their best price & then marketing it in the Gita Bhavans/antique muesums of not only that temple but also in the temples of other states, this will help the local artisans immensely  & Will boost their income sources.This will also boost inter state trade.

4. Temple management can also take help of IIM students to improve the quality of services & basics like crowd management etc. IIM & management, economics courses students can be taken to temples to make them understand about nuances of management.

Benefits of suggestions:

• Infrastructure Development
• Wiping out of regional imbalances
• Benefit to artisans
• Improving exports
• Rise in soft power
• Improving defense manufacturing ecosystem

Conclusion: 

From the article it can be seen that the temples of India have immense developmental capabilities & if harnessed properly it will lead to the fulfillment of Atmanirbhar Bharat vision seen by many Indians.

 Sources referred to: 

1. Daily Pioneer

2. NSSO

3. WION Gravitas

4. PIB 

5. Jstor

6. Invest India

7. Economic Times 

8. ETBFSI 

9. Times of India+

10. VK Ohri 

11. Google scholar