The Akshardham temple, spread over 30 acres on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi, is seen against the site for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, construction for which is in full swing (in the foreground). Real estate and donations have helped the mega temple expand its influence (Picture by:Ramesh Pathania)
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 8.
“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 Tirupati has drawn large crowds for decades, the more modern trend of manufacturing religious entertainment began at Akshardham, founded by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), which began construction in 2000.
The temple, on 30 acres on the banks of the Yamuna river, boasts of India’s tallest Imax screen showing only one movie—about the sect’s founder; a boat ride through India’s history; an evening sound-and-light 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 organization 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, recognized 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 Dwarikadheesh have followed Akshardham’s lead in undertaking similar renovation and beautification plans to attract more tourists.
Chennai-based Shirdi Sai Trust plans to construct a Rs100 crore hotel in Shirdi, Maharashtra. The hotel, built over 14 acres of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust land, will have 1,500 rooms and 200 dormitories capable of housing 14,000 devotees at a time. Private donors, such as K.V. Ramani, managing director of software firm Future Software Ltd, will spend Rs80 crore to help the public trust construct the hotel.
“The two Sai trusts had a memorandum of understanding where one will undertake the actual construction and the other will provide the land,” says Ramani. “The motive is simple. We have been blessed with all this wealth that we don’t need and this is an attempt to give back and share what we have.”
At Ambaji, in remote Gujarat, the Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthanam Trust is also co-nstructing hotels and hospitals and has undertaken civil works such as building flyovers, streetlights and fountains.
According to Girish Patel, 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 Rs5 crore water pipeline project that has improved water supply to the town of Ambaji.”
Over in Tirupati, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, one of the world’s richest temples, already runs 20 schools and colleges, a forest conservation project, hospitals, hotels in the area and sustains the local economy.