Pilgrimage Tourism: A Study on Palani Temple, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

India is a large country with great traditions, culture, and civilization. India has 4000 years of fertile civilized life with planned cities, monumental temples, mosques and churches,  palaces,  sculptures,  paintings  and  various artistic creations. These scenic beauties have made India one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world. The Tourism potential of any country mainly depends on its climate, scenery, historical monuments, arts, tradition, festivals  and  the  society.  If  any  place  or  area  or  spot possesses all these characters and potentials, we may call it  as  a  tourist  centre  or  pilgrim  centre.  Tamil  Nadu,  a southern State of India, is a land of charm with ancient traditions;  the  picturesque  land  of  Tamil  Nadu  has towering temples  with  magnificent  architecture  and sculptures,  art  galleries  and  heterogeneous  natural beauty, existing on the hills and mountains. Tamil Nadu is flooded with different cultural, spiritual and religious centres  like  Madurai,  Rameswaram,  Kanyakumari, Tanjavur,  Kumbakonam,  Trichy,  Kancheepuram, Chidambaram,  Tiruvannamalai  and  Palani.  Religious institutions like temples in Tamil Nadu have been playing a  multifaceted  role in  religious,  social,  economic  and cultural life of the Tamil community. Moreover, temples are  considered  as producers,  land  owners,  trustees,employers,  pilgrim  centres  and  institutions.    There  are studies  conducted  in  cultural  and  spiritual tourism centres, which focus on heritage, culture and the historical aspects.  But  studies  that  focus  on  economic  aspects  of such  centres  are  scanty.  With  this  background,  the authors have made an attempt to study the memories and reminiscence  of  150  Pilgrimage  tourists,  who  visited Palani Temple; one of the Six abodes  of Lord Muruga located in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, with an objective  of  examining  the  social and  economic characteristics  of the pilgrimage  tourists;  and  identify their major problems and suggest ways and means for promoting  pilgrimage  tourism  in  Palani.  The  Primary data has been collected through interview schedules. The interview  schedule  was  pre-tested,  modified and  well- structured, and was used for obtaining information and data from the cultural-spiritual tourists, who are visiting the Palani temple. Secondary data in connection with the Palani temple were also gathered from the office of the Commissioner, Palani temple. Further, the authors have collected  data  and  information  from  150  tourists  who visited  the  Palani  temple  during  June-July  2011.  The tourists  were purposively selected in different spots in and  around the Palani  temple.  For  the  purpose  of analyzing the data, simple tools like ratio, percentage and average were used