Ujjain, a 5000-year-old historical city, is described as the best city in Adi Brahma Puran, and is referred to as moksha and Bhukti-Mukti in Agni Puran and Garuda Puran. There was a time when this city served as the capital of a large empire. The city, which has over 100 temples, has a glorious history and is significant to the Hindu religion.
This city has a Jyotirling (Mahakaleshwar Temple) out of 12 Jyotirlingas, one city out of seven salvation-providing cities and Gadhkalika and Harsiddhi, the two Shakti Peeths. The world’s largest religious gathering, Simhastha (Kumbha Mela), is held on the banks of the Shipra river once every 12 years. The cave of king Bhartari is found here, and it is believed that Ujjain has footprints of the God Vishnu.
Ujjain is undeniably one of Madhya Pradesh’s divine lands where one not only feels peace but also sinks in the divinity that calms the soul from within. According to data released by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Corporation (MPTC), pilgrimage travel accounts for 63 percent of total domestic tourist arrivals in the state. And in the year 2021, Ujjain had 7.17 lakh arrivals for pilgrimage.
Mahakal temple is the centre of attraction among tourists visiting Ujjain which receives over 60 percent of total domestic tourist footfall every year amongst all other religious destinations in the state.
“The government too has been eyeing big on Ujjain’s development towards as a major pilgrim destination. On 11th October 2022, PM, Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Mahakal Corridor project worth INR 600 cr. Mahakaleshwar Temple is also touted to get a ropeway, that will move 10,000 tourists a month.
The Mahakal Corridor is going to be four times bigger than Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Being developed on the banks of ancient Rudrasagar pond, the corridor will have around 200 statues and murals related to lord Shiva, goddess Shakti and other religious figures.
Ujjain is a part of the Sapta Puri Circuit that attracts government intervention in terms of development and investments. Tapping on the demand, hotel chains like Pride Group of Hotels and Suba Groups have already announced their plans to open new hotels in the city.
Religious and spiritual tourism is one of the oldest forms of travel in India, especially amongst the older generation. But, post-pandemic there has been a trend shift. A lot of activity and conversation around religious tourism has been happening among the younger generation. Gen Z and Millennials are taking a special interest in religious and spiritual holidays after realizing the importance of spirituality, meditation, yoga, and self-care. They are also opting to either work out of these places or combine them with leisure activities.
However, barring a few places in the country, there is a dearth of good and luxurious, stay options in most of these pilgrim destinations. To visit a temple, Dham, mosque or church, people have to stay in cities and then make day trips. the category is highly unorganized. This is new or existing operators are now focusing on religious and spiritual places, mostly in tier 3 and 4 cities, where they see a huge demand for a quality stay merging with the idea of wellness and spirituality together.
Overall, passenger interest in travelling to places of religious significance has shown a 35 to 40 percent increase in 2022 compared to the last year. According to travel aggregators like ixigo and ConfirmTkt, there is a month-on-month increase in queries for religious destinations.
The trend is further amplified by the IRCTC launching religious circuit trains like the Ramayana Yatra Train Tours, the Buddhist Circuit trains, the Jyotirlinga Darshan Yatra and the Vande Bharat Express.
Apart from the spiritual experience, pilgrimage tourism has also become more attractive for travellers for its peaceful and rejuvenating vacation offerings including yoga retreats and ayurvedic spas. Search queries for such demand are also witnessing an uptick.
Aiming to develop tourist spots along with religious ones, the Ujjain district administration has sent a proposal to MPTC to develop the area near Gambhir dam for water sports. According to the district administration, there are a couple of places in Ujjain other than religious spots for tourists. The aim is to provide stay options for travellers that are more than just overnight stays.
This year, Ujjain was also bagged with the ‘Swachh Paryatan Sthan (clean tourism place)-Western Region’ in the National Tourism Award by the Ministry of Tourism.
Spectra Hospitality is working on several projects where it is developing concepts for wellness, and religious tourism along with operator search assignments for the Ujjain and Indore regions.