Cultural Impact Assessment of Tourism on Varanasi City
Siddharth Singh (Research Scholar),
Deptt. of Tourism Administration, B.H.U, Varanasi- 201005 (U.P.)
91-8004126605, s.siddharthvns@gmail.com
Abhishek Maurya (Guest Faculty)
Abstract
Tourism is one of the most prolific industries of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Travelers since time antiquity have traveled here in search of knowledge and peace. Modern tourism here is mostly related to religion, spiritualism and culture. Visitors in numbers visit here in search of peace, knowledge and to look for heritage as well. This form of tourism is also confined to a certain extent to cultural tourism as most of the activity in which tourists participate is a living embodiment of Indian culture. Tourism; having all the prolific portfolio has some impacts as well on host population and environment. Tourism has its direct and indirect effects to all the citizens residing here as well. This research paper is an attempt to know the impact of tourism on Varanasi.
Objectives:
1- To find out the Impacts of Tourism on Varanasi’s Culture.
2- To find out how the negative effects can be mitigated.
3- To find out a sustainable tourism model for Varanasi on cultural front.
Introduction
Varanasi- famously known by its spiritual name Kashi (Luminous Light) is the cultural & religious capital of India. Its supremacy has never been challenged at any point of time in history. From ancient time it is believed that the city is older than history itself, ancient religious texts praise the city in numerous hymns explaining the pious nature of the city. Current ongoing archaeological excavations did in Rajghat Area, Sarnath, Aktha, Ramnagar, Sarswati Fhatak Khairadih etc. take its history to the time of Indus- Sarswati Civilization. Story of King Divodas mentioned in the Kashi Khanda of Skanda Puran reveals the revered sanctity of Kashi that even Gods prefer this city to Heaven. Its unique geography contains the entire universe in Five Koshas.
Each religious place have a unique energy that make the place transcend spiritual feelings to another level but Kashi is the most revered one among them because it is the ultimate place of pious energy. It’s a representation of universe on earth in a form of cosmological city. Religious place scattered around India has its representation in Varanasi. Places like Dwarks, Rameshwaram, Puri, Kedarnath etc are situated within the sacred geography of the city. It is believed that if one visit Kashi just once in lifetime gets the fruits of visiting all other religious places in many lifetimes.
Confluence of three sacred rivers Varuna, Assi & Ganga takes its sanctity to different dimension. Its narrow lanes spanning the city from north to south are like veins of human body. “Ever alive never calm.”
Cremation grounds on other part of India is believed to be a renounced place mostly are situated outside of the city fringes but here in Varanasi death is auspicious, celebration in nature, salvation from the circle of life & death, the two most pious places Harishchandra Ghat & Manikarnika Ghat, two cremation grounds are just situated in the middle of the city.
Once this city was known as Anandavan, filled with numerous ponds of astrological significance all around the city was encircled by the eternal forests. Varanasi was the ultimate place of learning in all parts of Indian History, it was the most revered place for the learned if one is accepted here with his wisdom; he would have been a known learned around India. Varanasi marked its position even among the business cites of India as well when this was the only route crossing from North & South and East to West.
Important Features of the City
Tourism- Tourism has been one of the major businesses activities of the city from ancient time. Earlier religious tourism was the main prevalent phenomenon of the city in past. People from all around India used to throng here in numbers in particularly all seasons year around. The phenomenon is same to this date as well where religious & spiritual tourists now from around the world throng here in numbers in all seasons year around. Other sorts of tourists are Historical, Cultural, Educational, Business, and Researchers etc. they visit the city in numbers in season from August to March.
Education- Varanasi from ancient times is well known for its educational acumen. This has been the place of Sanskrit, Religion, Philosophy, Culture, Music, Arts & Crafts, Medicine, Ayurveda, Yoga learning. People from around the world come here to learn in the luminous light of the city. Here in Varanasi there are four universities & numbers of colleges that provide quality modern education to masses. Apart from modern streams there are numerous independent institutions that provide ancient education to students with ancient Indian technique of education.
Business- Kashi was situated on the ancient silk route, roads that took business from far South-East Asia to Europe & visa-versa. Other business route that gauged the India form North-to-South, Varanasi was the main point of trades. Traders from far places used to throng here in times to either exchange the goods or sell them in this prosperous city of Varanasi. The city is known for its indigenous products as well like Silk Sarees, Wood Works, Carpets, Ornaments, and Musical Instruments etc.
Important Landmarks of the City
Sights wise the whole city falls in the gamut of Important Sights, as it is a matter of historical importance & each corner of the city has something unique to offer. For visitors, its concentration of mass gathering is centred towards the Ghats area or near to River Ganga. Another important geographical feature of the city is so important for the visitors liking is cities narrow lanes bisecting the city itself from North to South direction of the city, starting from River Varuna & ending at the River Assi.
These narrow lanes of the city have the oldest structures of the city constructed interestingly in these narrow lanes. One important sight as mentioned above is Ghats and most of the activities are centred at the River & the Ghats. With the suitability of the visitors & convenience to them they further move towards the Banaras Hindu University in between giving a peep at Sankatmochan Temple, Durga Temple, Manas Mandir & Bharat Mata Temple in Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth. Further suitability of the visitors makes them to visit Sanskrit University. So to say basically visitors all around focus are centred towards the Ghats area only. Secondly they move towards the Sarnath where Lord Buddha gave its first sermon after getting enlightenment in Bodhgaya. Other important sights are in the stage of negligence that can be transformed into major landmarks if developed with proper planning.
Other Important Landmarks of the City
Panchakoshi Trip: — As city defined in many historical Vedic Texts is not just a city of minor boundaries as the whole city itself is a circle of illuminated lights. This half encircled city starting from Rajghat to Assi is the original city mentioned in the Vedic Texts. Circumbulation of the city was as important in history so one of the oldest structures is found in these areas falling in Panchkoshi Road. The architectural features along the Panchakoshi Road show the myriad natures of the city & different life styles of the social city.
Water Bodies (Lakes) of The City: — The city is known by another name Anandavan, as it used to be a place of numerous forests & reservoirs. Basically the city was a place of spirituality where ancient priests used to penance in between forests. They are in numbers as Durgakund, Suryakund, LakshamiKund, Pushkar Talab, Motijheel etc. Poor management by the municipality is the whole sole responsibility of these sights not in the itinerary of the tourists.
Markets of Ancient Antiquity: — Varanasi was not only a place of spirituality as geographically its strategic location gave it an important place in ancient trade route. As river transportation was the main route for the traders to take their goods from one place to another, Varanasi was in the middle of this trade route & place to cross the river Gaga as well. Traders coming from far west used to trade their goods at Varanasi or load or unload their goods here. This unique trade point was Rajghat area where still in the Britishers time made the iron bridge because it’s the most convenient place to cross the river in any season. This market is still the biggest market of goods of different kinds in the city & has the unique charm of ancient and medieval market.
Villages nearby City: — As Varanasi is not just a city of any general importance in sense or comparison of any other places in the world. Its uniqueness lies in the soothing cosmological geography of the city as highlighted in different researches. Here tourists comes in search of peace & rejuvenate their mind & soul for further journey of their life. Nearby villages of the city are not so distant and still has the soothing greenery of the old city. These villages can be developed as centres of Yogic practices & at the same time can be utilized for other relaxation purposes.
Research Method:
The current research paper is a descriptive research where both the techniques of qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. Secondary data is obtained from other researches, journals and books written on this topic. A randomly selected group is observed and primary data is collected on randomly through questionnaires method from the individuals residing in core part of tourism activity in the city. As the impacts were visible on primary case studies done on questions basis the questionnaire was formulated and circulated to collect the primary data.
Review of Literature
What is Culture?
“Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things,” Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London, according to The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition.
The word “culture” derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin “colere,” which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture. “It shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively fostering growth.”
According to Cambridge Dictionary-
“the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time.”
According to Webster Dictionary-
1- a : Culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time
b : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization
c : the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic
d : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations
2- a : enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training
b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills
3: the act or process of cultivating living material (such as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media; also: a product of such cultivation
4: cultivation, tillage
5: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
6: expert care and training
Cultural Impacts of Tourism
As tourists, we are lucky to see and share experiences with people whose cultures, beliefs and world views differ from our own. New cultural experiences, including dress, food and festivities, are an essential ingredient of fulfilling travel for many of us. However, all too often, those very cultures that help to make our holidays so special are being violated and exploited.
A basic lack of cultural awareness about the places we go on holiday can lead us to cause inadvertent offence to local people. Topless sunbathing on beaches and scant clothing when visiting religious sites are examples of such violations of cultural norms.
In other instances, tribal villages become showcases for visiting tourists, with little benefits shared with the communities themselves. Cultural dances and artifacts become little more than commodities for tourists, often bought very cheaply and sold by middlemen and even mass produced in factories overseas. All of this can lead to feelings of frustration and resentment amongst local people towards tourists, undermining the positive experience that should come with equitable cultural exchange.
Society, culture and tourism
Society and culture refers to your way of life, how you live, how you relate to others, your customs and your character. So how is this related to tourism? Society and culture greatly influence how you behave, what you feel comfortable with, how you like to be treated, how you treat others, and what you respect and value.
Societies and cultures are all different, and it is this that makes travel exciting — the opportunity to see how other people live their lives and relate to their environment. Often a community will embrace tourism without realizing the impact it can place on the community’s culture and society.
The social and cultural impacts of tourism can result in changes to patterns of behavior, lifestyle and the quality of life of the inhabitants or local people.
Tourism, like all business ventures can have an impact on communities and may be positive or negative, and sometimes both. The areas tourism can significantly affect a community and its inhabitants include:
- quality of life
- employment and business opportunities
- facilities and amenities
- infrastructure development e.g hotels, resorts
- population growth.
Often tourism development has been encouraged by governments without consideration of the effects on the local people.
Lets’ look at parts of it:
Although tourism brings with it employment and job creation, the employment may be seasonal, attracting an increase in potential employees from outside a region at the peak of the tourist season, with unemployment outside this period.
The attraction of working in tourism may also mean that surrounding rural areas lose necessary workers with traditional skills to enterprises, at the expense of agricultural activities needed to support communities.
Often when an area becomes a popular tourist destination, prices rise and expensive tourist zones develop. This is because foreign tourists usually have a higher expectation of accommodation standards and a higher spending potential which leads to operators raising prices.
Local residents are also faced with higher prices for food, transport, clothing, rents and so on.
As a result of raised prices and general costs of living, and increased use of existing facilities by tourists, tensions may develop between local residents and the visitors. You may have personally experienced having to compete with tourists for space on a beach or access to a local festival or other event. Perhaps you may have felt a more negative attitude to these tourists as ‘invaders’?
In areas where the tourists are obviously more affluent than the local population — seen by their expenditure, the way they dress and places they visit, some resentment towards these tourists may occur.
This is particularly true where visitors may have access to facilities that are beyond the financial ‘reach’ of local residents.
In destinations where tourism has been developed to promote traditional cultures, tourism has often has had the effect of modifying or even destroying the moral and/or cultural characteristics of a society.
This may occur where young people from these cultures seek to ‘copy’ or obtain items the more affluent visitors possess. Some may no longer choose to dress in traditional clothing or behave in the community-acceptable manner, nor observe the customs of their society or practice the skills passed through the generations of elders. The sale of traditional arts and crafts as souvenir items and the presentation of cultural displays such as dance and song for payment may be seen as ‘trivializing’ the culture. These effects are detrimental to the culture and community.
Therefore, it is most essential that the traditions and customs of local communities be respected. Tour operators must endeavor to maintain the integrity of these communities and ensure visitor behavior does not cause offence. It is hoped that the traditions of local communities continue for the purpose of not only earning income, but also as they were intended — for the celebration of the peoples’ culture.
However, it can also be argued that without this demand by tourists for cultural presentations, many traditional art forms may be lost and in fact, tourism may be the reason why younger members of the community are now (re-) learning these skills and traditions.
Tourism also brings benefits to societies, including insight into different cultures and increased understanding of the ways in which people live. Talking to and visiting people from other cultures can also lead to an exchange of ideas.
At a community level, many residents feel a sense of pride in their home, if it is popular with visitors.
Socio-Cultural Impact of Tourism
Tourism may have many different effects on the social and cultural aspects of life in a particular region or area, depending on the cultural and religious strengths of that region. The interaction between tourists and the host community can be one of the factors that may affect a community as tourist may not be sensitive to local customs, traditions and standards. The effect can be positive or negative on the host community.
Methodology
The study uses primary and secondary data for analysis. We have done convenience sampling method for data collection & our sample size is based of 50 respondents. It has used various annual reports published by the Directorate of tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Data has also been collected from central & state tourism offices of Varanasi. The data has been collected from different internet sources related to tourism of Uttar Pradesh. The researcher has also discussed with the scholars, locals & resource person of the city on this topic. Moreover studies aimed at studying and evaluating tourism of Varanasi, India and its pros and cons.
Measurement of Variable
A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure tourist’s satisfaction as follows:
1. Very satisfied 2. Satisfied 3. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
4. Dissatisfied 5. Very dissatisfied
Data analysis & Interpretation Table — 1.
The above table reveals that 64% of male and 36% of female, 88% Residents of Varanasi & 12% non-residents of city. The dominant age group was 21–30 years (36%), followed by 31–40 years (20%), 40 years and above (28%) and least was under 20 years (16%). Most of the respondents has stated that they live in city of Varanasi (88%).In terms of level of education most of the respondents were up to secondary (40%), followed by graduates (14%), postgraduates (24%) and 22% belong to other categories. More no. of private employed (30%), followed by the business person (20%), unemployed (14%), government employed (14%) & others (22%) With regard to level of income, the largest group includes those with a monthly income of INR below 25,000(36%), followed by INR 25, 001–50,000(22%), INR 50001–75000 (08%), INR 75, 001 and above (34%).
Table-2 Cultural Impacts due to tourism
1 — Very satisfied 2 — Satisfied 3 — Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
4 — Dissatisfied 5 — Very dissatisfied
Impacts due to tourism
The researcher has identified among the respondents 41.00% are very satisfied, 39.00% are satisfied, 11.33% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 5.66% dissatisfied and 3.00% very dissatisfied on all the attributes of the culture. However the satisfaction among the existing attributes according to him was based upon 06 different variables. In this way we can say that the impacts of tourism on these attributes are very positive and positive. These are overall satisfaction level of the respondents has been presented in the following chart:
Positive impacts on an area include benefits such as:
Local community can mix with people from diverse backgrounds with different lifestyles which through ‘demonstration effect’ may lead to the development of improved lifestyles and practices from the tourists’ examples.
There can be an improvement in local life through better local facilities and infrastructure (developed to sustain tourism) which could lead to better education, health care, employment opportunities and income.
More cultural and social events available for local people such as entertainment, exhibitions etc.
Conservation of local and cultural heritage of an area and rebirth of its crafts, architectural traditions and ancestral heritage;
Urban areas which may be in decline can be revived and the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas for employment may be reversed as jobs will be available in the tourism industry.
Dubai is an ideal example of a tourist destination which has reaped the benefits of the positive impact of development, on the socio-cultural aspects of in the country. As noticed, considerable financial investment by both public and private sectors has resulted in development of the existing infrastructure and to job creation. Archaeological and heritage sites have been preserved, and local traditions are maintained. The hospitable culture of the Arab world and acceptance of others’ lifestyles implying that tourists are welcomed but do not threaten existing ways of life.
However, tourism may have negative effects on an area, such as,
Existing infrastructure (roads, railways, health care provision) may not be able to cope with the greater stress created by influx of people by tourism.
Local population’s activities and lifestyles may suffer intrusion from tourists leading to resentment towards tourists.
The local population may copy lifestyles of tourists through the ‘demonstration effect’ and the result could be loss to local customs and traditions as well as standards of behavior.
Increased crime could develop through decline in moral values, leading to greed and jealousy of wealthier visitors.
Traditional industries may be lost and local goods substituted by imported and mass-produced goods which lack authenticity but appeal to a mass market.
Tourists may act in an anti-social manner which could cause offence to the local population. Unless sufficient information is provided by the host nation and tourist providers on the standards of behavior expected in that area, local populations come to resent tourists and act aggressively towards them.
Language barriers between the tourist and the host community which may create communication problems.
Findings & Outcomes of the Research
Initially we observed minutely the impacts of tourism on local culture through observation method of research tool taking few points in accordance to the definition of culture. As the core definition itself incorporate the way of living of the community we enlarged the points and observed the ground reality once again through observation method of research. The findings of this are as follows-
1- the impact of tourism is visible on language front on local community due to tourism activity.
2- the impact of tourism is visible on dressing sense on local community due to tourism activity.
3- the impact of tourism is visible on living pattern on local community due to tourism activity.
4- the impact of tourism is visible on hygiene on local community due to tourism activity.
5- the impact of tourism is visible on aesthetic values on local community due to tourism activity.
As these observations highlighted the basic impacts (positive & negative) of tourism visible on local community in city; we formed the questionnaire comprising a set of 25 questions asking individuals to mark you answers on Likert scale. At the same time we did few case studies to formulate the final questionnaire.
Outcomes of Case Studies:
The general outcome of the case studies also proved that tourism has impacts on language, dressing, living pattern, hygiene and aesthetic values in the city. These outcomes were significant in the families’ members who were involved in tourism business directly or indirectly in comparison to others. We did over all 15 case studies randomly on two sets of family one involved with tourism and another independent.