Rajasthan govt to boost religious tourism by enhancing temple towns, infra

Tourism contributes roughly 12-14% to the state economy and employs over 7.5 million to 8 million, the third largest after agriculture and textiles

The Rajasthan government has plans to promote religious tourism by promoting temple towns and improving infrastructure.

“The new BJP government is taking steps for tourism development. Many religious places in the state are world famous and thousands of devotees from across the country and abroad visit them every year,” said an official of the state tourism department.

Sources in the tourism department said that a proposal has been sent to the Union government to have ropeways at 16 religious places in 12 districts. Alongside, work is planned to bring 28 temples in Jaipur on the tourism circuits. It is understood that a plan was prepared after a discussion between Union and state government officials before the Lok Sabha elections. Work may start soon once a decision is taken to include it under a centrally sponsored scheme.

ALSO READ: Spiritual tourism to infra: 17 tier-II/III cities are next realty hotspots

Efforts are being made by the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led government to put Jaipur’s temple on the world tourism map. Of the 28 temples, 26 are overseen by the state’s Devasthan Department. Two temples considered as self-reliant are also proposed to be included on the tourism map. The major temples among these are Anand Bihariji, Ramchandraji, Brijnidhiji, Anandkrishna Bihariji, Baldevji Parshuramdwara, and Madanmohanji.

Around 108.72 million tourists visited Rajasthan in 2022. Of these, 108.32 million were domestic and 396,684 were foreign tourists. In 2023, the number increased to nearly 190.75 million. Of these, 179.05 million were domestic and 1.6 million came from abroad.

According to the industry, tourism contributes roughly 12-14 per cent to the state economy and employs over 7.5 million to 8 million, the third largest after agriculture and textiles.