Pilgrimage Sites Undergoing ‘Renaissance’ Under Modi’s leadership

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 24th Feb. Bharat’s Pride Initiative, the Bharat Swabhiman Yojana is a large-scale private initiative aimed at restoring Bharat’s lost cultural legacy. America had previously returned 105 antiquities that had been smuggled out of Bharat under this project. America made the offer to return more than 1400 historical sculptures and artifacts three months later, in October 2023. This is the largest payout to date. The items on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met Museum) in New York are also among these antiquities. These were all unlawfully removed from Bharat. As a result, the project is significantly advancing historical preservation, religious significance for the faithful, tourism-related economic growth, international collaboration that fosters goodwill, and cultural restoration.

Return and repair of Nataraja’s priceless idol

The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13, 2021. The return and restoration of the priceless bronze statue of Nataraja, which was stolen from the Tamil Nadu temple town of Sripuranthan, will not only restore the city’s grandeur but also mark a significant change.

Following this, approximately 13 crore pilgrims visited Kashi Vishwanath Temple through December 6, 2023. In a similar vein, after the opening of the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple corridor on November 11, 2022, devotees descended upon Ujjain. One can assess the significance of temples in Bharat’s economic development by looking at what happened to the holy sites of Kashi and Ujjain. The vitality of these temples, as well as the jobs, commerce, and communal assistance they offer, contribute to the Vedic economy’s alignment with Sanatana spiritual practices. In addition to altering the holy cities’ economic environment, the enduring temples have made a significant economic contribution to the local populace. The winds of change are beginning to blow now.

Since the Ram temple was built, there has been an increase in economic activity. On weekdays, there are one lakh devotees, and on weekends and holidays, there are between 1.5 and 2 lakh. These days, more than two lakh devotees from India and overseas travel to Ayodhya every day following the enthronement of Shri Ram Lalla on January 22 of this year in the magnificent temple erected at the birthplace. About 25 lakh devotees saw Ramlala during the next 11 days of Pran-Pratishtha. Ram Temple is expected to bring in Rs 50,000 crore in revenue in January 2024, according to trade association Confederation of All India Traders. Relationships within the region will also be enhanced by the recently built and refurbished “Ayodhya Dham” railway station and the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya. Infrastructure development will raise employment opportunities in addition to stimulating economic activity and tourism.

The BJP’s nationalist approach since 2014 has resulted in a resurgence of spiritual centres, greater economic activity and better infrastructure and connectivity. Vedic economy, centred on Sanatana principles, emphasizes equitable distribution of wealth and ecological sustainability, integrates ESG (Environment, Social Governance) principles and encourages a healthy balance of economic growth, spiritual ethos and environmental concern. In accordance with Sanatan spiritual practices, the Vedic economy has demonstrated a harmonious relationship between spirituality and commerce, which has shaped economies for centuries.

The temple also works to boost the local economy

Vedic economics developed around temples. It involves many economic activities which originate from and center around temples. This fact reflects how temples traditionally served as centers of food, finance and community welfare. Thus, temples are not only centers of spiritual and religious ritual, but also play a multidimensional role in stimulating the local economy. These rituals and pilgrimages, more than expressions of faith, are also economic engines. Temples power the creation and redistribution of wealth and maintain a cycle in which devotion and business are intertwined.

Our ancestors, in their wisdom, devised a system that balanced spiritual and economic needs. The fate of the spiritual pilgrimage sites of Kashi and Ujjain can be evaluated to determine the importance of temples in Bharat’s economic development. The energy of these temples, the employment, trade, and community support they provide help align the Vedic economy with Sanatana spiritual practices. The timeless temples have not only changed the economic landscape of the holy cities but have also contributed immensely to the economic life of the people of the region.

The winds of change have now begun to blow. The symbolic restoration of Ram Rajya, symbolized by the consecration of Shri Ram Lalla in the holy city of Ayodhya, will bring about the resurgence of the Vedic economy in line with spiritual Sanatan practices in the temple city of Ayodhya.

This is Bharat Swabhiman Project

Bharat Swabhiman Project is a group of passionate art lovers who identify idols and artefacts stolen from temples in Bharat through social media and ensure their repatriation. This global organization runs a worldwide campaign called BringOurGodsHome. It was founded in 2014 by Vijay Kumar and Anurag Saxena, two Bharatiya settled in Singapore, who also funded the initiative. As a result of the efforts of this organization, in 2014, the thousands-year-old bronze statue of Lord Shiva worth US$ 5 million could be brought back to Bharat from the National Gallery of Australia.

This organization has detected about 4,900 cultural heritages stolen from Bharat around the world. According to this, 15,000 to 17,000 idols have been stolen from Bharat in the last one year. The Pride India team has found 2,000 of these idols, out of which 5 have been brought to Bharat. In 2006, a valuable bronze idol of Lord Nataraja was stolen from the Chola era Brihadeshwara temple in Sripuranthan village in Tamil Nadu and sold abroad. Later this statue passed through different countries and reached Sotheby’s auction house in London. From there the Australian government bought this statue and handed it over to India after a few days. It has been re-established in Sripuranthan temple.

Anurag Saxena, founder of the project, says, “Blogger and art lover Vijay Kumar was the first to see the stolen Nataraja idol. After this we started looking for evidence so that we could tell that this idol was in Sripuranthan temple before the theft. We went to Canberra and asked some people to take photographs of the statue so that it could be matched with the real statue. “After this, we started searching for the fake documents and receipts presented by the dealer of the auction house, so that we could prove that the idol was stolen.”