Not very long ago, only some 6-7years back when there was a lot of debate on social media, print, and electronic media and on the ground among common people on the street as to what should be done at Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi when the dispute was simmering and there were a significant number of people who were of the opinion that the best way to put the dispute to rest was to build a hospital or an educational institution there! In hindsight, those opinions albeit well-meaning then, sound hollow and apologist today – it was not just a historical wrong that was corrected on that fateful day in November 2019, but a much bigger era dawned upon India that is in fact Bharat – an era of Sanatan Economics.
Let me get into explaining it right away – it has been well over eventful 4 years of the second term of Modi Sarkar. Whilst there has been a lot of action on the ground with infrastructure building (roads, expressways, airports, ports, metro rail, dedicated freight corridors, rail electrification, semi-highspeed Vande Bharat and the upcoming Bullet Train and the train to Kashmir valley and Leh, all the traditional areas of the economy have seen multi-fold growth over the last 9 years); technology leapfrogging (indigenous 5G network and now plan for leading development in 6G, space and defence production and booming exports); domestic defence industry growth and export; digital infrastructure and digitalization of economy; et al – the list is very long. All of these will help grow India as an economy with solid infrastructure and booming manufacturing and exports that will feed into the global supply chain as a reliable partner. All of this is evident now to all and we can see it unfold before our eyes – but these are the traditional economic engines the world has come to see over the last 200 years, country after country – from Europe to America to Asia and now in India. This model of economic progress is time tested and we are seeing its results already in India and they will become pronounced more and more in the coming decades.
However, this isn’t the focus of my piece – it’s what’s happening in the hinterland as well as the cultural renaissance that is silently sweeping the nation across its length and breadth. Bharat as we have known this nation as for many a millennium is slowly rising and will be unleashing its potential for the world to see and embrace in the coming millennia. We have all known that Bharat lives in her villages – over 60% of her people live there. The cultural renaissance is slowly not just sweeping Bharat but India today – you know what I mean, right? Apart from all the known metrics of economic developments as mentioned above, there is a new economic metric taking shape and deepening its roots again in Bharat – it’s her cultural heritage that’s centered around her Sanatan past, her temples that have been her centers of faith, spirituality, education, culture, festivals, and livelihood –in other words, the entire human lifecycle in all its manifestations – this new economic metric is Bharat’s culture & heritage infrastructure, her raison d'être. In the last 9 years, Modi Sarkar has invested nearly Rs 13,000 crores in this new economic metric. Places such as the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Mahakaal Corridor, upcoming Ayodhya Sri Ram Mandir, Sri Krishn Janmasthali and Vrindavan, Pandharpur Corridor, development of Char Dham circuit, Hemkunt Sahib, Kushinagar and Sarnath, the Ramayan circuit, just to name a few and the infrastructure around these places are some of the examples of this new economic metric. Do remember, these are the infrastructure around the temples and not the investment in the temples that have been made by the community. If you are wondering why I call it the new economic metric, then, I will say we are on the cusp of something spectacular that we will witness in the coming decade and far-far beyond which will put the economic growth model as we know it to flip on its head. We are already seeing some green shoots which I will talk about – in 2022, Varanasi witnessed 70 million visitors, Mathura saw 60 million visitors and Ayodhya 26 million of them – in comparison, the very popular tourist destination Goa saw only 8.5 million visitors! To give an idea about the boom we are witnessing consider these figures: Varanasi saw a mere 6.4 million visitors in 2019 and Goa saw 8 million in the same year. In 4 years and a global pandemic in between, we are seeing an 11+ fold growth in visitors to Varanasi but Goa’s tourism growth remains flat. Also, to put these figures in perspective – it will be interesting to see the statistics in some of the globally popular religious places: in 2019, the Vatican saw 6.9 million visitors and Mecca saw 2.5 million visitors – these figures have remained flat post-pandemic in 2022.
The scale of the tourism boom we are witnessing in and around the temple towns of Bharat is phenomenal, to say the least. And do note that it is just the beginning – for instance, the Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi temple is yet to open to the public – expected in early 2024 – but booking for the hotels in Ayodhya are running full for the foreseeable future and these are not just budget hotels but even luxury ones! There are over 700 districts in Bharat and around 650,000 villages i.e., almost 1,000 villages to a district – a temple town will have the power to impact the economy of 5-10districts around it or 5000-10,000 villages as people living here would get a source of livelihood from the tourists that will throng these temples. Now for some numbers: there are over 6,50,000 temples across Bharat of which 800+ are major temples across the length and breadth of Bharat i.e., more than one major temple per district – for an idea of scale, there are 33,000 ancient temples in Tamil Nadu alone – yes, you heard right 33,000 ancient temples!
As is evident from visitor figures in Varanasi, Mathura, and Ayodhya in 2022 – if on average a tourist spends Rs5,000 per visit, between these three cities, they earned Rs 80,000 crores which is only going to grow – that’s an addition of Rs 150,000 per capita p.a. for these three districts or Rs 30,000 per capita p.a. if we consider the economic impact to be to 5 surrounding districts too – this is just the direct impact and not considering the multiplier effect this will have on the local economy. Further, this growth in just three temple towns alone will add nearly 4% points to Uttar Pradesh’s GDP this year! Now, imagine Bharat’s culture & heritage infrastructure getting unleashed at all the 800+ major temple towns across the length and breadth of Bharat. This will have a huge impact on the local economy at the district level and especially the village economy making villages sustainable, thereby arresting migration to urban centres. And then there are things like the Kumbh Melas – four in all – all of them can be huge tourism drivers. So, the success of Uttar Pradesh in developing the temple towns along with its culture& heritage infrastructure will spur other states to act in doing the same and thus ushering in a sustainable economic model that will not just be dependent on an economic model that the world has seen over the last 200 years, but one that complements it and, in many ways, exceeds it.
To facilitate this new growth engine, the Modi government is launching its latest program, PM Vishwakarma Yojana aimed at supporting the traditional artisans and craftsmen while encouraging more people to take up traditional vocations in rural and semi-urban areas with an outlay of Rs 13-15,000 crores. This will encourage learning skills in the Guru-Shishya Parampara and perhaps usher in the setting up of gurukuls across Bharat further bolstering Bharat’s culture & heritage infrastructure. Not to mention, the previous programs of Modi Sarkar will help act as catalysts for this new economic model – these include the programs such as the Swachh Bharat program which ensured the setting up of millions of toilets in rural areas; Har Ghar Bijli program which ensured every village was connected with the electric grid; Ayushman Yojana program which has ensured providing health cover to over 500 million people with most beneficiaries from the rural and semi-urban areas; Ujjwala Yojana program which has ensured providing cooking gas connection to 50 million women of below poverty line families; Har Ghar Jal program which is on the way to provide potable water to all village households – this has already reached 67% of the 190 million+ rural households. All these programs are going to empower the rural and semi-urban population of Bharat to contribute economically because they will be freed from the daily struggles of existence – all these programs along with the support of Viswakarma Yojana to be launched in September 2023 will empower the rural and semi-urban population to take advantage of the Bharat’s culture & heritage infrastructure being built around her temple towns.
Just a millennia ago, Bharat accounted for almost a third of the global economy and it appears that the journey to reclaim that position has well and truly begun, that too with a new, yet old, and time-tested model of sustainable growth!
