pilgrimage and the environment: challenges in a pilgrimage centre

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Pilgrimage and the Environment:Challenges in a Pilgrimage CentreKira n. Shinde aa School of Geography and Environmental Science, MonashTourism Research Unit, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria,AustraliaPublished online: 22 Dec 2008.

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Pilgrimage and the Environment:Challenges in a Pilgrimage Centre

Kiran ShindeSchool of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash TourismResearch Unit, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Large scale movement of visitors during pilgrimages has a high potential to influencethe environment in sacred sites. In traditional pilgrimage, environmental effects aregoverned by seasonality and are limited over time and space. This paper arguesthat significant changes in scale, frequency and character of such visitation over thepast few decades reflect new pressures on the environment of sacred sites. Using acase study of the sacred complex of Tirumala-Tirupati, a popular pilgrimage centrein south India, this paper explores causal linkages between different factors thatshape the environment in a pilgrimage centre.

doi: 10.2167/cit259.0

Keywords: pilgrimage, environment, Tirupati, India

IntroductionPilgrimage as a form of travel provides opportunities for people to visit

sacred places and is a feature common to almost all societies. The key elementsof pilgrimage are motivation, destination and journey. In a traditional religiouspilgrimage, the pilgrim, driven by a strong religious or spiritual motivationaccomplishes on foot, a long journey that is reinforced by a sense of renuncia-tion of worldly matters. Once at the sacred site (temples or sacred objects),the pilgrim generally performs rituals in fulfilling the purpose for which suchtravel is taken, ‘seeing and being seen’ by the God (or the sacred) being oneof the important acts. Though pilgrimage is primarily an individually motiv-ated journey informed by personal faith, it also is a mass movement whenviewed in terms of magnitude and frequency of such travel (Stoddard, 1997).

Pilgrimage travel to pilgrimage centres is reported to have phenomenallyincreased in the past few decades due to increased accessibility andimprovement in transport infrastructure. A large proportion of such jour-neys are motivated by ‘religious needs’ but exhibit touristic aspects(Gladstone, 2005; Rinschede, 1992) whereas many tourist journeys have anexplicit spiritual component (Sharpley & Sundaram, 2005). The scholarlydiscussion on discerning similarities and differences between the twoforms of travel, pilgrimage and tourism, that has dominated the literature(Cohen, 1992; Graburn, 2001; Smith, 1992; Smith & Brent, 2001), seem tobe inadequate in explaining the nature of such travel. The recent interestin describing such contemporary travel to sacred sites (Nolan & Nolan,1989; Vokunic, 1996) has led to proliferation of composite terms such as reli-gious tourism, pilgrimage tourism, etc. (Rinschede, 1992; Santos, 2003;

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Singh, 2001; Tyrakwoski, 1994). However, comparative studies andanthropological studies that have dominated the pilgrimage (and tourism)literature have limited explanation on the implications of increase in con-temporary pilgrimage travel on the sacred sites, environmental concernbeing one of them. Some discussion on the environment in sacred siteshas only recently begun to surface (Shackley, 2001; Sofield, 2001; Tanner& Mitchell, 2002). The environmental issues are more significant in theIndian context, where more than 100 million Indians embark onpilgrimages each year (Times of India, 2001), thereby contributing largelyto domestic tourism (Aramberri, 2004; Gladstone, 2005; Richter, 1989).

The link between pilgrimage travel and the environment of pilgrimagecentres has received little, if any, attention in the literature on either pilgrimageor the environment. Especially in the Indian context, a large body of literatureon pilgrimage is primarily anthropological and discusses its religious, cultural,social and economic dimensions. A comprehensive review of much of thisliterature is provided by Morinis (1984) by presenting it in broad categoriessuch as ethnographic, fragmentary or typological. While the functioning ofpilgrimage as an industry is well documented (Caplan, 1997; Fuller, 1992;Parry, 1994; Van Der Veer, 1988), very few studies actually situate pilgrimagewithin the modern context and allude to the changes in pilgrimage and the pil-grims in India (Singh, 2004; Singh & Singh, 1999). Geographical studies havetended to focus on the distribution of pilgrimage centres (Bhardwaj, 1973),their historic role (Champakalakshmi, 1986) and the movement pattern of pil-grims (Rinschede, 1995), but offer little in understanding the impact on theenvironment. A few studies present compelling emotional accounts of environ-mental degradation in pilgrimage centres (Alley, 1994; Haberman, 2000; Kaur,1985; Prime, 1992; Sullivan, 1998), but are limited by their focus on contrastingit with the mythological or historical image of the sacred site.

Even in environmental studies, the implications of pilgrimage for sacred siteshave not received the critical analysis that they merit. This, in part may be dueto the late emergence of the field of environmental studies in India (Chapple,1998, Gadgil & Guha, 1995) and the preoccupation of environmental studieswith concerns of deforestation, rural environment and burgeoning urban pro-blems and increasing pollution (Agarwal, 2000; Dwivedi & Khator, 1995;Gadgil & Guha, 1995). A low priority for environmental concerns in sacredsites may also be due to the belief that the deities will take care of all the pro-blems in these sites (Shackley, 2001). While much environmental concern inIndia is rooted in religious and ethical values, it has not been systematicallyanalysed in relation to sacred sites that are repositories of such knowledge.The discussion on the linkages between the environment and religion and reli-gious practices is illuminating (Chapple & Tucker, 2000; Dwivedi, 2000; Nelson,1998, 2000) but remains theoretical. Constructions of nature and environmentthrough religious discourses have been another area of focus in many studies(Alley, 1998, 2002; Gold, 2000) that largely bring in the political dimension.Recent interest in monitoring and measurement of certain indicators of environ-mental degradation in pilgrimage centres is laudable (Nair, 2004; Trivedi &Agarwal, 2003), but the need to analyse the relation between pilgrimage andthe environmental effects in pilgrimage centres seems to have been neglected.

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This paper aims to investigate what factors influence the environment in apilgrimage centre, how they interact and are responded to by variousinstitutions. The ‘environment’ here refers to the definition of physical environ-ment and follows the definition given in the Indian Environmental ProtectionAct of 1986 as including ‘water, air, and land and the interrelationship whichexists among and between water, air and land, and human beings, other livingcreatures, plants, micro-organism and property’ (cited from Dwivedi &Khator, 1995: 56). The paper derives its findings from observations and fieldworkconducted in January 2002 during a pilgrimage to one of the most popular pil-grimage centre, the sacred complex of Tirumala-Tirupati in South India. Morethan 14 million people visited the pilgrimage centre of Tirumala in 2001.

Pilgrimage and the Environment: The Indian ContextPilgrimage in its Indian expression, ‘tirtha yatra’, means ‘undertaking a

journey to river fords’, and in common parlance refers to visitation to sacredplaces known as tirthas (Bhardwaj, 1973) that symbolise four connotations: aroute, riverbank, sacred site and religious territory related to divine activities(Singh, 2006). A majority of pilgrim centres in India are closely associatedwith nature, their locations being near flowing water, mountaintops andforests (Bhardwaj, 1973; Morinis, 1992). People visit pilgrimage centres fortwo broad categories of reasons: spiritual pursuits and reasons of mundaneexistence. It is argued that pilgrimage is born of desire for solution to diverseproblems arising from human engagement with the world, and the beliefthat such problems can be solved by superhuman or supernatural powers(Morinis, 1984; Tomasi, 2002). Darshana, the act of seeing and being seen bythe god (or a religious authority), however, remains the key motivation in pil-grimage (Eck, 1982; Stanley, 1992). In line with such motives, pilgrims engage incertain rituals such as pradakshina or circumambulation (the clockwise circu-mambulation of a holy place or of several tirthas is believed to bestow religiousmerits), snana or the holy bath (an essential purificatory rite for all kinds ofsacred performances), sacrifice, pinda-dan (offering of pindas, propitiatory ritesto the manes at holy place as an obligatory ritual) and mahotsava (annualfestivals and processions) (Saraswati, 1985: 21–23). Many scholars provideinsightful accounts of such rituals that are generally performed with the helpof ritual specialists (Caplan, 1997; Fuller, 1992; Gurumurthy, 1995; Parry,1994; Van Der Veer, 1988; Vidyarthi, 1961). However, these rituals are alsosubject to changes along with changes in modern pilgrimage travel and itscommodification and commercialisation (Mohanty, 1995; Singh, 2002).

Contemporary Indian pilgrimages, however, seem to have evolved in a formthat is very distinct from the traditional one. Along with a substantial increasein the volume of visitors to sacred sites, qualitative changes are visible in thevery essence of pilgrimage (Malik, 2001; Mohanty, 1995). The modern versiondisplays more ‘tourism like’ characteristics including changing patterns ofvisits, limited engagement of visitors with rituals, commercial organisationtypical to package tours, a particular way of marketing the destinations, andthe consumerist behaviour of visitors (Gladstone, 2005; Guha & Gandhi,1995; Singh, 2002). A large proportion of visitors to sacred sites have an

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additional motive of getting away on holidays (Gladstone, 2005) and now visitsacred sites on holidays irrespective of the religious importance of time in per-forming pilgrimage (Shinde, 2003; Singh, 1997). This contextualisation helps infocusing on visitors as physical entities that have a great potential to impactthe physical environment of pilgrimage centres in ways different from thetraditional pilgrimages. It needs to be seen what happens to pilgrimage centreswhen they experience regular convergence of large numbers of such visitors.

The environment in pilgrimage centres is influenced by the influx of visitorsin many ways. These impacts typically include short-term peak demands exert-ing stress on basic services, accumulation of huge quantities of residuals(wastes), high levels of pollution and clearing of land (and forests in manyplaces) for creating temporary accommodation facilities and amenities for pil-grims.1 Owing to the periodic and occasional nature of traditional pilgrimage,such environmental impacts are most likely to peak and then dissipate overtime in and around the pilgrimage centres. This is illustrated in the exampleof Hemkunt Sahib, a Sikh pilgrimage centre situated in the mountainousregion of Himalayas in north India that attracts more than 150,000 pilgrimsduring a period of four months in a year. During this time, problems such asaccumulation of huge amount of non-biodegradable waste (plastic and glasscups, polythene etc.), water pollution (due to inadequate sewerage facilities),deforestation due to harvesting of firewood, and destruction of flora andfauna are reported (SHSST, 1999). Another problem relates to overcrowding,congestion and stampedes which usually get a lot of media attention.2

In the contemporary context, however, many of the short term problemsaccumulate and intensify with a constant influx of visitors. The complex reper-cussions that this has on the environment are determined by two factors. First,the magnitude and pattern of visitation and the nature of activities undertakenby the visitors (which may include both the religious and touristic aspects) arebound to have certain direct impacts. Many such environmental impacts aresimilar to those experienced by mass tourism destinations (Kaur, 1985; Singh,2002). Second, frequent visitation generates a lot of economic opportunitiesin establishment of services such as hotels, restaurants, religious paraphernaliaand souvenir shops, travel agencies and other businesses that cater primarily tovisitors. Such demand for services leads to rapid urbanisation of the place(Mohanty, 1995; Rinschede, 1997). Since many pilgrimage centres have tra-ditionally been small towns (Turner, 1973), rapid urbanisation brings in itsown environmental pressures such as high stress on infrastructure by burgeon-ing population, loss of forests to real estate development, depletion of watersupply, increasing traffic congestion and so on. This complex interaction ispursued in this paper through the case study of Tirumala-Tirupati sacredcomplex, a popular pilgrimage centre in south India.

Study Area: Tirumala-TirupatiThe sacred complex of Tirumala-Tirupati comprises of the twin cities of

Tirumala and Tirupati. Tirupati is located about 130 kms from Chennai, inChittoor District of Andhra Pradesh in south India (Map 1). Tirumala hasseven sacred hills, and one of the hills houses the shrine of Sri Venkateswara


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or Balaji (as the presiding deity Vishnu is known) whose darshana is the mostimportant attraction for pilgrims. Apart from its mythological and religiousimportance for Hindus, the deity is popular for its ‘wish fulfilling power’and therefore attracts millions of visitors every year. The hill town ofTirumala functions as an exclusive pilgrimage centre while Tirupati at the foot-hills resembles an urban centre, though it retains its religious importance as apilgrimage centre and has a number of Hindu shrines. As such they presenttwo distinct environmental conditions; Tirumala situated atop the Tirumalahills primarily consists of forests, lakes, parks and small water reservoirswhile Tirupati shows typical characteristics of an urban environment. Thus, itprovides an interesting case study for articulating the pilgrimage–environmentinteraction because the near exclusiveness of Tirumala for pilgrimage impliesthat the environment in Tirumala may be directly influenced by a magnitudeof visitation whereas in Tirupati, a multitude of activities may contribute toenvironmental issues. In 2001 about 14 million pilgrims visited Tirumala.

Methodology

This research uses an exploratory case study approach. Field visits were con-ducted in January 2002 and involved face-to-face interviews with local commu-nity and agencies that in some way engage with management of pilgrimageand included 13 government officials; 20 religious leaders; five representatives

Map 1 Location of study area: Tirumala-Tirupati


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from NGOs; eight experts on environment in the study area and five local com-munity leaders. The environmental issues were discussed with the help ofstructured questionnaires and informal meetings. Observations were alsomade by participating in pilgrimage and its rituals and looking at towns’infrastructure, temples, facilities and surroundings. The analytical approachtaken here centres around three questions: (1) what kinds of factors shapethe environment in a pilgrimage centre; (2) what is the effect of interactionbetween these factors on the environment and (3) what is being done toaddress the environmental outcomes. An introduction of some of the insti-tutions that play a key role in pilgrimage and managing environment inTirumala-Tirupati seems appropriate because much of the discussion thatfollows is based on interviews with officials/representatives from theseinstitutions.

Institutions in Tirumala-Tirupati

Tirupati Municipal Office is the local administrative authority comprisingof an elected body and an executive that looks after provision of the basic ser-vices in Tirupati town. Much of the land use and physical development inTirupati is regulated by Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA), aplanning body established by the state government in 1981. The other relevantgovernment agencies include the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board(APPCB) and the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation(APSRTC).

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) is a special purpose religious insti-tution responsible for overall administration in Tirumala. It was first estab-lished in 1933 through the TTD Act to administer shrines at Tirumala andlater reconstituted in 1951 as a charitable trust sponsored by the state govern-ment (TTD, 2002). It has an advisory board and an elaborate executive of morethan 14,000 employees. Its primary purpose is to ensure facilities for darshana –the main purpose of visiting the temple – and provide accommodation andbasic services for pilgrims and maintain shrines in the Tirumala Hills. It alsoregulates all the residential and commercial activities within the territory ofTirumala. Other activities of TTD include dissemination of knowledge aboutreligion (Sanatana Dharma) and philosophy, traditional sciences (vedic vignana)and preservation of sacred texts by publishing journals and books, and organ-ising religious discourses and cultural programmes. The main administrativeoffices of TTD sit in Tirupati. TTD also manages three shrines in Tirupati andprovides a number of accommodation facilities for the pilgrims in its pilgrimlodges (choultaries) in Tirupati. More importantly it has been a key institutionin developing most of the social infrastructure in the town such as hospitals,schools and community centres, and supporting the local population byproviding direct and indirect income earning opportunities.

As is the case with pilgrimage centres, many religious institutions are presentin Tirumala-Tirupati too. In the Hindu religious system, two principal types ofinstitutions exist; temples for religious worship and ashrams or mutts forimparting spiritual instructions and spreading religious knowledge (Shah,1982). Tirumala has more than 30 ashrams and mutts but Tirupati has fewerashrams.


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Factors affecting the environment

Two kinds of factors that are most likely to affect the environment in apilgrimage centre include visitor flows and the urban growth of the place.

Visitor flowsMagnitude A constant increase in the number of pilgrims coming to Tirumala

is clearly seen in Figure 1. The total numbers of pilgrims in Tirumala increasedfrom about 700,000 to more than 15 million from 1951 to 2001; an increase oftwenty times. This dramatic increase has been sustained since 1971.

The data available for the past 15 years for visitors in Tirumala is representedin Figure 2 and clearly shows a distinct pattern of visitation. There seems to be alimited seasonality with significant peaks (þ20% to 30% average) in May(annual vacation of children) and October (Brahmotsavam festival), and signifi-cant troughs (214% to 220% below average) during February and December.A regular influx of visitors is clearly visible throughout the year; on an averagethere are about 1.2 million pilgrims every month; more than 40,000 every day.

Figure 1 Number of pilgrims in Tirumala

Figure 2 Monthly distribution of pilgrims in Tirumala (Based on data collectedfrom TTD)


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This number swells to more than 75,000–80,000 during the annualBrahmotsavam festival and during religiously important days in May.3

Since pilgrims pass through Tirupati town, many of them visit shrines inTirupati also, though in fewer numbers. Roughly 4000–6000 visitors are seenin the temples in Tirupati daily and the volume increases to more than 10,000on peak occasions (estimates made by the author from records maintained atone of the temples). Figure 3 shows the relation between local populationand the magnitude of visitation. A large number of visitors are seen persistentlypresent in both the towns. Visitors in Tirumala regularly outnumber the resi-dent local population by more than double. In Tirupati, more than a fifth ofthe people are visitors. It is this average daily visitor population that is ofconcern for the environment because of the demands that it puts on servicesand the waste and pollution that it is likely to generate.

Duration of stay A survey conducted by TUDA in 1997 shows that averageduration of stay of visitors in Tirumala is about two days and almost 90% ofthe accommodation in Tirumala is regularly occupied (TUDA, 1998).4 Inrecent times, a computerised queuing system has been introduced by TTD,in which pilgrims are given a computerised wristband (with a bar code)that displays the time of arrival of pilgrim and the time that the pilgrim isallotted for darshana. This facility has freed the visitors from waiting in longqueues (in which a pilgrim had to wait for anywhere between 18–30hours). With this free time, a visitor can now go site-seeing and thereforeimplicit is the potential for an increase in consumption of resources and anextra demand for services.

Urban growthUrban growth in Tirumala-Tirupati presents an interesting case as charted

in Figure 3. It shows that Tirumala rapidly grew from a small town of 3500people in 1951 to 21,000 in 1981, with the annual rate of growth rate ofabout 16%. After 1981, the population growth seems to have stabilised, butthis is due to forceful relocation and rehabilitation of residents from theTirumala hills to Tirupati so the place could be exclusively developed for pil-grimage activity. As a result, the population declined to 17,000 in 1991 andonly a marginal increase (0.4% growth rate which seems to be just the

Figure 3 Population growth in Tirumala-Tirupati (Based on data from theCensus of India, 2001)


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natural birth rate) is seen in 2001 in Tirumala. However, this did not stopexpansion of the habitable area in Tirumala, which increased from 2.2 km2

in 1961 to 4.2 km2 in 1971 and then to about 10 km2 with the implementationof the Master Plan (between 1976 and 1981). The later expansion was primar-ily due to construction of accommodation facilities for pilgrims by TTD.Though detailed information on land use development is not available, thetrend of providing more accommodation and amenities for the increasingnumber of pilgrims is continued by TTD and is followed by some of theashrams (Nagabhushanam, 1997a).

Tirupati has been growing at a phenomenal pace; from a small town of 25,000people in 1951 to a bustling urban centre with a population of 230,000 in 2001;almost a ten-fold increase. The dramatic increase is seen after 1981, when itstarted receiving residents from Tirumala as a part of the relocation drive.Since then, Tirupati has become the target for migration instead of Tirumala;more than 42% of the net increase in 1981–1991 was due to migration. This isalso in part due to the setting up of a social infrastructure (schools, hospitals,university) by the TTD, and in recent times to the opening of a new industrialestate in the vicinity of Tirupati (Nagabhushanam, 1999). However, economicopportunities provided by the increase in visitation to Tirumala-Tirupati, byfar, seem to be the most important driver of migration. The town of Tirupatihas expanded spatially from 3.82 km2 in 1951 to 32.1 km2 in 1991 with irregularurban extensions in all directions (Nagabhushanam, 1997b). A recent impetusto urbanisation comes from the designation of Tirupati as an urban complex forthe surrounding region covering 89 fringe villages over an area of 500 km2

(TUDA, 1998).Influence of visitor flows is clearly reflected in the high proportion of local

occupation in the tertiary sector (Nagabhushanam, 1999). It increased from70% of the workforce in 1971 to more than 80% in 1991. TTD directlyemploys more than 14,000 people in its institutions and indirectly providesemployment to about 23,000 people through its social institutions andinvestment in development of facilities and amenities for pilgrims(Nagabhushanam, 1997b). More than twice this number is engaged in trade,commerce and personnel services in pilgrim based activities. In some way orthe other, it is the visitation that drives the economy and seems be doingquite well, generating a good amount of affluence. Inevitably, this contributesto a change in consumption patterns of local residents. The numbers of shopsselling automobiles, consumer durables and electrical appliances such asrefrigerators, televisions and computers, among other things, have substan-tially increased in recent times.

Increase in the magnitude and frequency of visitation, rapid urban growthdriven largely by such visitation and a new consumerist orientation are theinterrelated factors most likely to shape the environment in Tirumala-Tirupati. Even a short term but high volume influx of visitors can easily berelated to environmental problems, such as stress on basic services (watersupply and drainage) due to the increased demand, and generation of hugevolumes of waste. These problems become more critical when such visitationoccurs on a regular basis (other than the occasional peaks) and tends to interactwith the pressures of unplanned urban growth.


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Effects on the environment

The complex interaction between the above-mentioned factors seem to effectthe environment through three interrelated processes: (1) stress on basicservices, (2) increase in pollution and (3) degradation of natural resources.

Stress on basic servicesWater supply Though water supply seems to be generally adequate in

Tirumala, a severe water crisis is often reported in summer months and onpeak occasions (The Hindu, 2001). In Tirupati, scarcity of drinking water ismore acutely felt; water supply is grossly inadequate and is less than half ofthe suggested national standard (140 L per capita per day).

Sewerage A well developed sewerage system helps in maintaining satisfac-tory sanitary conditions in Tirumala. However, disposal of wastewater is anissue because it finds its way into the natural ecosystem of the hills, especiallyduring peak visitation due to malfunctioning of the sewage treatment plants. InTirupati, owing to the inadequacy of the sewerage system in many area, opendrains and soak pits are heavily used. This causes severe contamination ofground water; more than 60–80% of the ground water is subjected to such con-tamination (Kotaiah et al., 1994). The infrastructure of public toilets and publicconveniences is grossly insufficient in Tirupati and poses a major threat forpublic health. Foul smell and overflowing gutters around public conveniencesare not uncommon during peak visitation. As such, in order to avert any epi-demics of diseases, the local municipality resorts to spraying of pesticidesand insecticides.

Solid waste It can be estimated from the available data that about 0.6 kg percapita waste is generated in both the towns. This is much higher than theaverage daily waste generation of 0.36 kg per capita reported by Karthikeyan(1996) and this provides support for the observation regarding new consumer-ist attitudes with both the local residents and visitors. While the total wastegenerated in Tirumala (about 35 tons per day) is collected by TTD, its disposalis a challenge. Currently, it is dumped openly at a nearby landfill site whichposes a high risk of contamination of the surface and underground in thefragile ecosystem of the hills. The relation between magnitude of visitationand waste generation is illustrated by a simple observation: everyday morethan 20,000 coconuts are carried as waste; coconuts have a religious importancein certain rituals to be performed by the pilgrims at the temple. Usually theitems required in worship of the deity are organic (and biodegradable) innature and are able to decompose when dumped. However, with recent intro-duction of polythene bags in packaging many of these items and its readyacceptance by pilgrims (for the convenience), a large quantity of plasticwaste is now going into landfill sites and this has serious environmentalconcerns for the hill ecosystem.

Solid waste is a serious issue for Tirupati due to the local authority’s lack ofresources for managing such waste. But more importantly, it is also because ofthe difficulty in distinguishing between the waste generated by visitors and theresident population. A large number of visitors stay in the town, eat andconsume and add to the waste that is only periodically collected. No data ismaintained by the local municipality except that in total about 145 tons of


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waste is collected. The magnitude of the problem can only be guessed byobserving public places, bus stations and in the vicinity of temples where,invariably, heaps of uncollected waste is always visible. However, theseheaps are cleared just before the occasions of peak visitation. The fringe areashave the problem of waste being collected only sporadically; this indicatesthat the typical problems faced by any urban centre are evident in Tirupati too.

Increase in pollutionA major environmental problem evident in both Tirumala and Tirupati is

severe air pollution that is largely due to increase in traffic density, directlyrelated to visitation patterns (Srikrishna, 1994). Air pollution monitoringconducted by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), inTirumala-Tirupati in 2001 shows the average values of the total suspended par-ticulate matter (TSPM), an indicator of air quality (pollution) to be far higherthan the acceptable standards.5 In Tirumala, it mainly results from a high con-centration of tourist vehicles. Andhra Pradesh State Road TransportCorporation (APSRTC), the state run bus service, claims that during peakseason, more than 1000 jeeps (the most common mode of travel) run roundthe clock and there is ‘one bus every minute’ to cater for pilgrims. An additionalcause of congestion is regular movement of trucks that carry constructionmaterials for building new facilities for visitors.

In Tirupati, the traffic congestion is caused by mixing of tourist vehicles andvehicles owned by local residents. Vehicle ownership (mainly two-wheelers)has phenomenally increased in Tirupati in last few years (from about 3500 tomore than 5000 in five years) and is comparable to any other urban agglomera-tion in India (for example in Delhi, the ratio of vehicle ownership is twovehicles per nine persons, in Tirupati it is one two-wheeler for every sixpersons). Other factors that contribute significantly to the congestion oftraffic and therefore to air pollution in Tirupati include narrow roads,absence of pavements and parking areas and encroachments on roads bycommercial and residential users (Nagabhushanam, 1997a; Srikrishna, 1994).

Exploitation of natural resourcesProvision of facilities and amenities for pilgrims in Tirumala has come at the

cost of exploitation of natural resources. Deforestation has been blatant in thepast and building of dams in the hills for water supply has led to drying ofwater springs, canals and streams and also to a substantial loss of irrigationwater for the rural areas downstream (Nagabhushanam, 1997b). A result isan increased rate of soil erosion and other problems typical to ecosystem imbal-ance as well as near extinction of the indigenous flora and fauna (Rao, J.,personal communication, 2002). Apart from these indirect effects, increasedvisitation is also directly responsible for wildlife extinction in two mainways. First, provision of extensive lighting in the hills to improve visibility ofaccess to the shrine has taken away the darkness that was otherwise criticalfor many animals for finding food. Second, the noise that is associated withperiodic movement of pilgrims walking up to the shrine and frequentmovement of vehicles drives away wildlife. TTD has attempted to amelioratesome of these environmental conditions through its massive forestationefforts, discussed in the next section.


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Tirupati as it is does not show abundance of natural resources, for much of ithas given way to the urban landscape. Whatever is remaining, especially thegroundwater, is severely stressed. This is due to unauthorised occupationand encroachment of water bodies in and around Tirupati and impoundingof waterways in the Tirumala hills. Groundwater levels in the 1970s werenoted at 12–20 m below the surface; it lowered to about 40–55 m in the mid-1990s and as a result increased failures of bore drillings have been reportedin last five years (Nagabhushanam, 1997a).

Environmental problems that are directly associated with the magnitude ofvisitor numbers are clearly visible in Tirumala. However, as the visitors mixwith the resident population, as in the case of Tirupati, so do their environ-mental impacts and therefore it becomes extremely difficult to differentiatebetween causes of environmental problems. These are further complicatedwhen, on the one hand the proportion of visitors steadily increases on aregular basis and on the other, the pressures of rapid urbanisation keep mount-ing, at least in part driven by the economic opportunities provided by regularvisitation. The problem of overcrowding needs no special mention, it inevitablyaccompanies such magnitude of visitation.

Response to the environmental effects

The ways in which institutions respond to different pressures either exacer-bate or ameliorate the environmental problems and further shape the environ-ment. This section outlines responses by various institutions to environmentalproblems in Tirumala-Tirupati.

One way to reduce the negative impact on the environment is by provid-ing adequate infrastructure. This responsibility lies with Tirupati MunicipalOffice (TMO), as the local authority in Tirupati and with TTD in Tirumala.As is typical of authorities in growing urban centres in India, the TMO,with its limited resources struggles hard to cope with the mounting press-ures of urbanisation in Tirupati. Even the primary need for basic servicesis wanting in many areas for numerous people. The municipalitysomehow is able to fulfil its obligatory duties of maintaining publichygiene by addressing problem of solid waste, which it is mandated to doaccording to the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment applicable tothe local authorities.

Basic services are not so strained in Tirumala for two reasons. First, acontrolled population, especially of visitors needs to be catered for. Second,TTD is resourceful enough to provide adequately for all the basic servicesand is conscious of its responsibility to maintain the physical cleanliness ofthe place which is closely related to the sanctity of the place.6 Apart from motiv-ating pilgrims not to drop litter, TTD diligently imposes and administers ‘onthe spot fines’ for littering. TTD also makes arrangement for pilgrims duringpeak occasions by providing temporary accommodation (camping sites of asemi-permanent nature for about 15,000–20,000 pilgrims) and sanitation(it constructed more than 150 public toilets in 2001).

Issues of degradation of natural resources in Tirumala hills are consciouslydealt with by TTD in recognition of its responsibility to rectify some of thedamage that it caused in expanding the facilities for pilgrims. It has a dedicated


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forest department that engages in many environmental initiatives includingvarious programmes of afforestation. A ‘bio-aesthetic’ plan has beenimplemented to restore vegetation on Tirumala hills since 1981, results ofwhich are now seen; more than 4.4 million trees planted under the programmehave helped to bring down the average temperature by 1.58C in last 15 years(NAEB, 1999).7 It launched the ‘Haritha’ (greenery) project in 2000 for afforesta-tion, soil and water conservation covering an area of 2.95 km2 in Tirumala hills(TTD, 2002).

In an effort to increase plantation on Tirumala hills, TTD administers manydonation schemes for pilgrims. The principle can be illustrated from onesuch scheme, Vriksha Pravardhini that involves a donation of INR 100,000(US$2250) by a single donor to sponsor the planting of 1000 trees in thesacred hills of Tirumala maintained by TTD for five years. In return thedonor gets 100% tax exemption for the donation and their name to the planta-tion. More importantly, the donor plus five people are allowed free darshana ofthe deity through the special chambers of the temple once in a year for threedays in a calendar year for five years (TTD, 2002). This incentive has a greatvalue in terms of certainty of obtaining darshana, especially when the waitingtime can be anywhere between a full day and two days. This innovativeapproach brings together both the religious and utilitarian aspects of pilgrim-age in addressing environmental concerns. The religious dimension is morepronounced in the direct plantation by pilgrims; every year TTD plantsabout 50,000 saplings with the help of pilgrims and distributes plants (Tulsi:Ocimum sanctum) as sacred gifts to devotees in religious rituals (such as theKalyanotsavam, a special ritual in worship of the deity).

Environmental improvement is also achieved by TTD’s active support forsome of the environmental programmes sponsored by the State Governmentsuch as the ‘Janambhoomi’ (Land of Birth) programme for distribution ofplants to various institutions and the ‘Water Conservation Program’ in whichsmall check-dams are built to help recharge the aquifer in the hills. TTDplays a major role in environmental awareness, especially by sponsoring estab-lishment of eco-clubs in its educational institutions and the display of bill-boards at strategic locations that explain the importance of forests,environment, pollution and nature in the local language.

Pollution is a relatively new area of concern that is not yet readily acknowl-edged and understood in Tirumala-Tirupati. Recently, TTD has initiated colla-borative activities with the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board fordeveloping air and wastewater pollution monitoring mechanisms inTirumala-Tirupati (personal communication, APPCB, 2002).

Institutions, other than the ones mentioned above, have a limited activeengagement with environmental concerns due to their narrowly focusedoutlook and authority. Ashrams portray themselves as religious institutionsbut it is not inappropriate to say that they seem to have expanded only oneof their traditional functions of being ‘spiritual retreats’ (Sharpley &Sundaram, 2005). A majority of ashrams resemble accommodation centresthat provide services to pilgrims almost similar to hotels and are not farbehind in consumption practices. Yet, they are too focused on their ‘religious’role and therefore the environment is a low priority for them. A few ashrams


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in Tirumala have begun to take interest in managing solid waste. They havejoined with hotels in paying a contractor to collect and transport their wasteto the landfill site. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have a limited pre-sence in Tirumala-Tirupati. As such, the few NGOs working in the region focuson watershed management and rural development. Environmental problemsof the sacred complex have not yet attracted their attention, but an initial inter-est is visible in the formation of a joint forum of these NGOs called the ‘SaveTirupati Campaign’. However, now local people have begun to realise theenvironmental problems associated with rapid urban growth in Tirupatithat is devoid of basic infrastructure. A large section of the local population,generally, appears to be indifferent to the environmental degradation for atleast two main reasons: it sees the government (and TTD) as the authorityresponsible for addressing such issues and second, it is more concerned withincome opportunities from the visitors.

Some of the environmental problems in Tirumala are ameliorated, thanks toTTD’s proactive efforts. However, the same problems are exacerbated inTirupati due to a limited response by the local authority. The initiatives ofTTD (though limited) in providing physical and social infrastructure inTirupati reduces the financial burden on the municipality. But this also pro-vides opportunities for it to dominate most of the decision-making inTirupati, even in environmental matters. As such, focus on providing facilitiesfor pilgrims is repeatedly reinforced rather than the issues faced by the localpopulation. Another issue in Tirupati is the fact that there is no specific insti-tution, apart from the local municipality, that engages in any meaningfulenvironmental improvement. Sector specific government agencies such as theAPPCB have limited authority over activities such as pilgrimage that appearsto be contributing heavily to the pollution.

Summary

The case study shows that a complex interaction between the key factors ofvisitor flows and the urbanisation driven by regular visitor flows shape theenvironment in a pilgrimage centre. In Tirumala-Tirupati, a regular influx ofvisitors is visible throughout the year. As a result, the increasing demand formore accommodation facilities and amenities provides substantial economicopportunities that drive urbanisation in a major way. Thus, the environmentin Tirumala-Tirupati is subjected to two interrelated pressures: direct pressuresrelated to increasing visitor flows and indirect pressures of rapid urbanisationinduced by economic opportunities from regular visitation. These pressuresaffect the environment in three interrelated ways: (1) stress on basic services(water supply, sewerage, and solid waste), (2) pollution (mainly air pollution)and (3) degradation of natural resources (forests, groundwater). The formertwo are almost directly related to the magnitude of visitation and thereforemitigated to a large extent in Tirumala by provisions of adequate infrastructureby TTD. The latter one especially related to the ecology of the hills, loss ofbiodiversity and nature conservation has become a priority now. In Tirupati,however, environmental issues are essentially urban in nature and includescarcity of drinking water, lack of sewerage facilities, solid waste, high contami-nation of groundwater and air pollution due to traffic congestion. These


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problems are further exacerbated due to the competing demands of visitors andlocal residents.

In line with the goal of promoting Tirumala-Tirupati as a Vatican city(Srikrishna, 1994; Tourism Futures, 1998), the focus of TTD has been to createmore amenities and facilities on the Tirumala hills to attract and assemblemore pilgrim tourists, though without much consideration to the carryingcapacity of the town (Nagabhushanam, 1997b). Nonetheless, TTD as a dedicatedinstitution has prevented any more environmental degradation in Tirumalaand in many ways has ensured a good environment for the pilgrimage centre.

DiscussionThe scenario of pilgrimage as an occasional mass movement and large

congregations at pilgrimage centres on certain religiously importantoccasions is changing fast to more frequent visits by a large number ofpeople. Though the infrequency and short duration of most festivals andspecial events creates temporary crowding problems, it has minimal poten-tial for directly causing lasting negative effects (Getz, 1991). The sameappears to be typical of traditional pilgrimages. The environment has acapacity and resilience to absorb occasional shocks of mega events by diffus-ing the impacts over time and space. However, regular and frequent visita-tion is more likely to cause a cumulative and recurrent effect that issustained over the long term. This makes it difficult for the environmentto recover its own capability and renders it vulnerable to degradation.Such a process, when coupled with increasing pressures of rapid urbanis-ation, forms a recipe for the inevitable environmental crisis. An increase inthe volume of visitors causes the most visible transformations of the physicalenvironment in pilgrimage places that are associated with natural features(Kaur, 1985; Singh, 2002; Singh & Singh, 1999). In order to avert such acrisis, then, it is important that measures are taken to diffuse impacts ofpilgrims in some way.

Pilgrimage centres that continually experience frequent and large magni-tude of visitation show a constant population growth, even if they arelocated in places far from urban centres (Rinschede, 1997). The process ofurbanisation that accompanies such visitation (in which secularisation andcommercialisation is evident) occurs in two ways. First is the squatting ofmigrants that come to explore livelihood opportunities. This generallyoccurs in the peripheral areas and is largely blamed for contributingtowards environmental degradation, encroachments and erosion of religiousambience (Dube, 1994; Nagabhushanam, 1997a). Second is the building ofhotels and other tourism related facilities and establishments in directresponse to the demands of visitors for accommodation and services, alsoreflecting the characteristics of visitors (Mohanty, 1995). This type clearlyshows the degeneracy of the sacred landscape into a profane ‘propertyrelated development’ which means that the ethical values that emphasise‘religious and sacred’ significance of the environment may no longer work.This also implies that the need to protect it is secondary to the urbanneeds. Melwani captures such changes in the nature of the built


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environment: ‘[M]ajor hotel chains are coming into these holy cities andproving that the path to heaven doesn’t have to be uncomfortable ordusty’ (Melwani, 2001; no page). Citing a report in India Today (a monthlymagazine) about investments in real estate development in pilgrimagecentres of Haridwar-Rishikesh, Melwani further notes:

Developers have constructed over 200 upscale apartment blocks, andmany more are under construction . . . . Shivalik Ganga Estates inHaridwar uses the tag line: “Peace Unlimited. Plots Limited.” Prices areupward bound – an apartment on the riverfront, which sold for US$25,500 four years ago, now fetches $53,200. These luxury apartmentsmay cost a bundle, but certainly the path to finding God was nevereasier! (Melwani, 2001, no page).

In essence, with urbanisation, comes a range of environmental problems thatdirectly or indirectly aggravate with an ever increasing number of visitors(Dube, 1994; Srikrishna, 1994).

Another factor that determines the environmental outcomes in sacredplaces in an indirect but a strong way, is the pressure of rising consumerismamong the visitors and local residents. In spite of their ‘religious and sacred’value, the pilgrimage centres are not untouched by consumerism. Today, alarge proportion of visitors prefer to travel in private or hired cars, stay inhotels, eat in restaurants and in essence consume the landscape. For many,such a visit is ‘getting away’ and invariably such visitors carry their urbanconsumptive orientation to these places. This hedonistic movement is verydifferent from the traditional pilgrimages in which the hardships and renun-ciation of material comforts were the hallmark of a sacred journey. The likelyimpacts of such a movement may resemble the impacts of mass tourism(Kaur, 1982; Singh, 2001, 2002). A typical case in point is the travel of aparticular category of visitors that has emerged in Tirumala-Tirupati.Builders and developers from different parts of India travel to the shrineof Tirumala (irrespective of the religion or place that they belong to),because they believe that offering a partnership to the deity in their realestate development projects will lead to success of their venture. Theirdemand for better services is not surprising considering their material well-being and background. In a similar vein, the environmental impact that theincreasing travel of the emerging middle and elite classes in India may haveon sacred sites can only be speculated on if one goes by Melwani’sobservation, ‘[D]evotion, introspection, family bonding and vacation fun areall part of the modern Hindu’s travels to the holy sites in India’ (Melwani,2001, emphasis added). For the local residents, easy income from pilgrimbased services, at least in part, changes the consumption pattern (moreincome means more consumption), as is clearly illustrated in the increasingvehicular ownership. The negative impacts of increase in consumption onthe environment are already well known (Gadgil & Guha, 1995).

The way environmental problems are responded to is not different in a pil-grimage centre from an urban centre, unless there is an institution/authoritysuch as the TTD dedicated to the cause of pilgrimage. It is only then thata proactive approach to environmental management seems possible.


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Otherwise, when the pilgrimage centre also happens to be an urban centre(as is the case with a large proportion of sacred sites in India), the focusof local authority is divided amongst demands of visitors and needs oflocals. Generally, the local authorities see pilgrimage as an occasionalevent and manage it accordingly by providing temporary accommodationand sanitation facilities for pilgrims, with almost no thought towardsimproving environmental conditions (Shinde, 2004). They fail to recognisethe regularity of the modern pilgrimage movement and the seriousness ofthe environmental impacts that it is likely to cause. Even when theyacknowledge this, their limited capacity and authority restricts them fromutilising their resources in coping with burgeoning urbanisation problems.Pilgrimage means an additional burden administratively, because the localauthority has to provide services for the visitors even if it does not receiveany benefits from them. The National Tourism Policy, in recognising suchissues of added responsibility towards visitors, places a special focus onthe engagement of stakeholders in the management and promotion oftourist destinations (DST-FICCI, 2002). This position can be extended toinclude pilgrimage centres, as is argued in some states in India suchsacred sites also act as tourist attractions (especially Gujarat andRajasthan). For a meaningful environmental improvement in pilgrimagecentres, then, it is necessary to augment the resources of local authoritiesor install additional institutional mechanisms.

The nature of environmental problems associated with pilgrimage calls forinvolvement of stakeholders such as religious institutions in environmentalmanagement on at least two premises. First, functionally, they engage insome way in the management of pilgrimage. Second, on the ethical and reli-gious basis that has always solicited reverence for nature and its protection(Chapple & Tucker, 2000; Nelson, 1998; Prime, 1992). Even though TTD’swork in environmental protection and conservation seems only remotelyinspired by religious values (and more driven by financial resources, facilitiesand the available infrastructure), it does pave way for a meaningful realisationof the links between religious values and ecology through some of its activitiessuch as tree planting schemes that are infused with religious meanings(Mohanty, 1999; Shinde, 2004). Similar approaches can be seen in the initiativesof institutions established by pilgrims, such as the Sri Hemkunt Sahib SevaTrust that manages waste in the Himalayan shrine of Hemkunt Sahib(SHSST, 1999), religious gurus such as the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF)in cleaning up the Ganga River (Alley, 2002; Gardner, 2002), and individualreligious leaders (Agarwal, 2000; Haberman, 1994).

ConclusionsTravel to pilgrimage centres has become more frequent due to increased

accessibility and availability of transport (Bhardwaj, 1973; Gladstone, 2005;Richter, 1989; Singh, 2004). As a result, pilgrimage as an institution at theinterface of religion, travel and tourism has changed in its traditional form inIndia. Such movement in pilgrimage centres seem to be evenly distributedover time rather than the peaks that were observed during annual religious


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events in traditional pilgrimages. The heightened visitation and the resultingeconomic opportunities seem to drive the inevitable rapid urbanisation ofpilgrimage centres (Mohanty, 1995; Rinschede, 1997). These two interlinkedfactors related to pilgrimage activity shape the environment through directimpacts of the magnitude of visitors, and indirect pressures of pilgrimageinduced urbanisation. Environmental impacts in traditional pilgrimages aremost likely to dissipate over time and space, but tend to recur, intensify andaccumulate from frequent visitation.

It is easy to discern the two environmental outcomes in the case study of theTirumala-Tirupati sacred complex. Tirumala, as an almost exclusive pilgrimagecentre, exhibits typical environmental problems related to magnitude of visita-tion such as the increased problems of disposal of solid waste and waste water,constrained water supply, overcrowding, rampant deforestation and highlevels of pollution (Nagabhushanam, 1997a; Prime, 1992; Sullivan, 1998). Inplaces where it is difficult to distinguish between types of visitors (pilgrimsor tourists) and the locals (Bhardwaj, 1997), such as Tirupati, the interactionbetween the environmental impact of visitors, locals and pressures of urbanis-ation is closely interlinked and difficult to isolate (Srikrishna, 1994; Trivedi &Agarwal, 2003).

The institutional response in mitigating some of the environmental pro-blems, especially by TTD, points toward two related aspects. The first is theneed to acknowledge pilgrimage as a regular feature and respond to theenvironmental problems associated with it by establishing institutional mech-anisms. Second, religious institutions which are directly engaged in pilgrimageactivity also need to shoulder some environmental responsibility to reduce theburden on government authorities, which struggles to provide basic services totheir own constituency. Such complexities of environmental issues are likely toincrease where the pilgrimage centre and the staging point are the same, as isthe case with hundreds of pilgrimage centres in India.

Using visitor flows and urbanisation as major determinants of environmentalimpacts seems to be useful in analysing and exploring the environmentaldimensions in pilgrimage centres. Environmental issues are, however, influ-enced by many other aspects such as visitor behaviour, performance ofrituals and awareness of visitors in understanding the link between religiousdiscourses and the environment, and the local population itself; these aspectsneed a detailed attention. It is also important to note that there is a lot of differ-ence between responses by different agencies working for environmentalimprovement (Alley, 2002). Environmental value or concern does not seem toaffect the spiritual magnetism of pilgrimage centres and as such there is noevidence of decline in the popularity of pilgrimage centres due to environ-mental problems (Alley, 1998; Haberman, 2000; Sullivan, 1998). However, it ishighly likely that for a majority of visitors, especially those whose visits topilgrimage centres are multifunctional, the physical environment mayinfluence mental, emotional and spiritual experiences.

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the support and guidance of Dr WilliZimmermann, Dr Walter Jamieson and Dr Edsel Sajor in this research.


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Thanks are also due to all the institutions and persons that have helpedin accomplishing the fieldwork, particularly officials at TTD, TUDA andTirupati municipality and many intellectuals including Mr Mynaswami,Dr Jagdishwara Rao, Professor G. Ramprasad, Professor N. Nagabhushanamand Mr B. G. Naidu. The generous grant for the research was providedunder a RUDO-USAID scholarship.

Correspondence

Any correspondence should be directed to Kiran Shinde, PhD Candidate,School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University,Building 11, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800,Australia ([email protected]).

Notes1. In one instance, Pamba River running close to the pilgrimage centre of Sabrimala in

south India has shown levels of E. coli at 95,000 per 100 mL as against permissiblelimit of 500 which is largely due to the presence of human excreta that clogs theriver along with plastic bags and bottles and coconut husks (E. coli is the measureused to indicate pollution; more than 5 million pilgrims visit Sabrimala every year)(Nair, 2004).

2. For example, more than 40 people died and 250 were injured in a stampede due to firein Tanjore in 1997 (Kashinatha, 1997), 53 people died in a stampede at Sabrimala in1999 (Krishnakumar, 1999).

3. Tirumala is also a venue for celebrating important sociocultural occasions such asmarriages; more than 300 marriages take place every month in May (peak season).

4. TTD is the main provider of accommodation with facilities of more than 49,000 bedsin Tirumala.

5. The average TSPM values recorded were 215 mg/m3 and 210 mg/m3 in Tirupati andTirumala respectively. These values are more than twice and thrice of the permissiblelimits set as state standard (100 mg/m3) and the national standard (70 mg/m3) for reli-gious and sensitive places.

6. TTD receives a majority of its income from offerings made by the pilgrims at theshrine. Its budget in 2000–2001 was INR 3424 million (US$ 85.6 million). In 2001,TTD was spending about INR 10 million (US$ 250,000) per month on solid wastemanagement in Tirumala, whereas TMO spent only about INR 2.3 million permonth in Tirupati on solid waste management, about one fifth.

7. The Bio-Aesthetic Plan has received many awards such as the ‘VrikshaMitra’ (Friendof Tree) award from the Indian Government in 1990, and the Merit of Excellencyaward from the University of Colombo in 1997.

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pilgrimage and the environment: challenges in a pilgrimage centre

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