India, with its diverse culture and numerous religions, is a gold mine when it comes to spiritual tourism. The avenue for spiritual tourism in the nation is wide and deep, and the tourism and hospitality sector is putting this diversity to use.

India is widely known for its spiritual and religion-based tourism. A lot of people from both within and outside the country go on many pilgrimages throughout the year. There are tourist schemes and circuits for every religion, one among them being Sikhism.

Sikhism is a religion that emerged in the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and is now the fourth largest religion in the country. Also, Sikhism happens to be one of the youngest of the major world religions & the globe’s fifth-largest organized religion. It is the world’s ninth-largest overall religion as well. The core beliefs of Sikhism, which are outlined in the sacred scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, include faith & meditation on the name of the one creator, engaging in selfless service, striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, divine unity and equality of all humankind, and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder’s life.

The Sikh gurus taught that by constantly remembering the divine name of through selfless service a devotee can overcome egoism. Service in Sikhism comprises of three forms – physical, mental, and material. The religion emphasizes on ‘honest work’ and the concept of sharing – giving to the needy for the benefit of the community.

Sikh tourism is a rapidly growing category under spiritual and religion-based tourism. There are a great number of Gurudwaras in India which attract high footfall throughout the year from across the globe. The most sacred Sikh pilgrim visited sites, called ‘Takhts’, are located in various parts of the country. Sri Harmandir Sahib (Sri Akal Takht Sahib) at Amritsar, Sri Hazoor Sahib at Nanded, Sri Patna Sahib at Patna, Sri Damdama Sahib at Bhatinda and Sri Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur attracts the maximum number of pilgrims.

SERVICES AND FACILITIES

To specifically cater to the Sikh pilgrims, the tourism and hospitality sector has been offering a lot of services and facilities in and around the Sikh temples (Gurudwaras). There are numerous tour packages available, which include facilities like booking tickets for Air/ Rail/ local transport, attendants to accompany aged, 24*7 medical facilities, food (Langar), etc for people from all walks of life and religions.

There are several hotels around all of the famous Sikh places of worship and pilgrim sites, and hospitality industry professionals ensure that the pilgrims are offered the best of the services at a reasonable cost. To further boost this avenue of Sikh tourism, both Central and State governments have taken initiatives such as the development of the airports in or the nearby cities, upgraded the railways and resources. Various schemes and customized packages make things easy as well as comfortable for pilgrims while they go to the State and/or around the country visiting and worshipping different places in single/ multiple trips. This has also helped in bringing new and increased tourist interest resulting in the overall growth of the tourism and hospitality industry.

Overall, Sikh tourism is an extremely engaging and popular category in spiritual and religious tourism. Due to the services and facilities that are being provided with even more innovative ideas and dedicated efforts, a lot of pilgrims are more than likely to be attracted to visit the sites.

With the government and hospitality industry working hand-in-hand to support the pilgrims and travelers, such initiatives are a welcome move and will surely boost Sikh tourism potential immensely.

Published in the monthly bulletin February 2020 issue of The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI)