Rise of the religious amusement park
Priyanka P. Narain, Hindustan Times
January 3, 2008

Introduction: Rising affluence, growing religiosity and a real estate boom are creating a lucrative new business

When twilight descends, the voice of Bollywood actor Amrish Puri rises over the waves from the nearby sea, and the show begins. Tracing back several millenia, Puri narrates the story of Somnath, the temple that houses the oldest Shiva lingam in India.

Hundreds gather for this light-and-sound show everyday, some traveling days, others just a bus ride from nearby villages in search of an evening out on wooden benches in an open amphitheater. When it all ends, the audience makes a beeline for another darshan, or viewing of Somnath.

The temple's trust hopes that as the devotees go through the mix of ancient and modern, they will leave behind a donation in the boxes scattered about the temple grounds.

India's rising affluence and real estate boom is transforming this sleepy town in southern Gujarat into a religious amusement park. And it is by no means an isolated example. From the veteran Tirumala Tirupathi Devsthanams in Andhra Pradesh to the spanking new temples such as New Delhi's Ak shardham, temples across India, flush with donations and growing real estate assets, are expanding their influence and reasserting their traditional role in society as places of social interaction, learning, cultural assimilation, and, increasingly entertain ment seeped in religion. Consider the Somnath temple. Within five years, the temple's revenue has grown from Rs 2 crores to Rs 10 crores, and the number of visitors from 100,000 to 500,000. And so is growing Somnath's sphere and reach, expanding steadily into the likes of a city revolving around a religious economy.

The trust has hired artists to carve intricate sculptures on the temple pillars and then gild the art in gold. It has added new roads, a Sanskrit university, Vedic library, entertainment centers, hotels, bus stations, gardens, fountains, covered stone walkways. Its goal: to create a "Divine India," a recreation of miniatures of every spiritual place in India.

"So that when you come here to Somnath, you can also simultaneously visit every other spiritual place in India," says Ashok Sharma, the secretary to Somnath Trust, in charge of the expansion projects for the temple. "You will not recognise this place in 10 years time."

Already, in a shorter period, the temple and town have been made over. Significantly, tem ples, traditionally landowners, have gained from the real estate explosion. They also have benefited from Indians at once becoming more rich and religious, and expressing their faith and gratitude through temple donations.

Somnath Trust's land assets have increased from Rs 468.42 crores to Rs 1,639.14 crores in six years. Its fixed deposits have in creased from Rs 780 crores to Rs 1,218 crores.

Perhaps, in the ultimate testament to the new role of temple as economic stimuli, versus the spiritual, consider that more than half of this town is Muslim – and most depend on the temple for a living. They work as coconut-sellers, flower-salesmen, and auto-rickshaw drivers. Yunus Kasam, 28, has been ferrying pilgrims from one holy spot to another in the area since he was eight.

"I know the entire history of Somnath," says Kasam. "I know the place where Krishna died and how he died. I have been telling that story to tourists for the last 20 years. I hope more people come. I like telling stories."

While Tirupathi has drawn throngs for decades, the more modern trend of manufacturing religious entertainment began at Akshardham, founded by the Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sansthan (BAPS), which began construction in 2000.

The temple, on 30 acres on the banks of the Yamuna River, boasts India's tallest IMAX screen showing only one movie - about the sect's founder; a boat ride through India's history; an evening light and sound show and a special walk-through show that uses sets and statues to tell the history of the BAPS sect, which is a socio-spiritual Hindu organisation with roots in the Vedas.

It was founded by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) in the late 18th century and established in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951).

In December, Akshardham became India's first mega temple, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, recognised under two categories: most Hindu temples consecrated by a single person and secondly, the world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple.

Seeing its success, besides Somnath, temples such as Ambaji, Jagannath Puri and Dwarikadhesh have followed Akshardham's lead in undertaking similar renovation and beautification plans to lure more tourists.

At Ambaji, in remote Gujarat, the Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devsthanam Trust is constructing hotels and hospitals and has undertaken civil works such as building flyovers, streetlighting and fountains. According to Girish Patel, the chief engineer of Ambaji's expansion, "We are widening and improving the state highway approaching Ambaji temple. There will be covered passages, service roads and fountains as the devotees come to the temple. Recently we completed a Rs 5 crore water pipeline project that has improved water supply to the town of Ambaji."

Over in Tirupathi, the Tirumala Tirupathi Devsthanams, one of world's richest temples, already runs 20 schools and colleges, one forest conservation project, hospitals, hotels in the area and sustains the local economy for the city. While it has already undertaken beautification and expansion plans long before other Indian temples - indeed the hill town where the temple is located has long been a family vacation resort as well - it employs local artisans by renovating and upgrading architecture of the temple and inside the temple complex.

Similarly, church sizes have been increasing in the US, South America, South Asia and Africa. The world's largest church, the Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea, boasts 830,000 members. And just the temples of India are now beginning to offer, these religious centers boast something for everyone.

At Somnath, Sharma says he believes that expanding the temple will bring in more tourists and more wealth into the town of Prabhas Patan and lift the standard of living. "People here deserve better lives and this is the way to do both," he says. "Spread faith and improve lives."
- priyanka.p@livemint.com