Large scale movement of visitors during pilgrimages has a high potential to influence the environment in sacred sites. In traditional pilgrimage, environmental effects are governed by seasonality and are limited over time and space. This paper argues that significant changes in scale, frequency and character of such visitation over the past few decades reflect new pressures on the environment of sacred sites. Using a case study of the sacred complex of Tirumala-Tirupati, a popular pilgrimage centre in south India, this paper explores causal linkages between different factors that shape the environment in a pilgrimage centre.

Every year, hundreds of millions of people around the world travel to sacred places to worship and to learn. While the practice of pilgrimage has a long tradition and is an important part of many religious traditions and the spiritual development of individuals, some scholars have begun to question the sustainability of modern pilgrimage travel. Not only does pilgrimage, like other forms of mobility, contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases and waste accumulation, it also seems to be exempt from blame when it comes to the current environmental crisis. In addition, while mass religious gatherings have historically been tied to the transmission and spread of disease, the threat of pilgrims becoming infected while on pilgrimage has not historically been an inhibiter to religious mobility. Indeed, the demand for pilgrimage seems to increase during times of hardship and uncertainty. Given these inherent contradictions, the purpose of this conceptual paper is to question the notion of sustainability in the context of pilgrimage and religious tourism and discuss whether modern day pilgrimage and religious tourism can be structured and managed in a more sustainable manner. First, the authors discuss the existing academic literature on the positive and negative economics, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts of pilgrimage and religious tourism. The authors then question the validity of certain tourism-environment models, including the ‘Tourism Area Life Cycle’ and ‘Carrying Capacity’, in the context of pilgrimage and religious tourism, particularly as they apply to pilgrimage and religious tourism destinations that do not typically show a decline in their visitor numbers. The authors then expand upon a conceptual model that can help scholars analyze the impacts of pilgrimage and religious tourism on pilgrim-towns. The authors conclude by contending that future discussions regarding sustainability in the context of pilgrimage and religious tourism should include religious and cultural constructs of what constitutes the tangible and intangible forms of sacredness of a place.

This paper examines the current policy framework under which religious tourism operates in India. It is based on a study of Vrindavan, a pilgrimage site representative of a majority of Hindu religious tourism destinations in India, receiving more than six million pilgrims annually. Using a case study approach, the paper highlights how most religious tourism activity takes place outside the state's framework of policies and institutions. The contemporary religious tourism industry has largely evolved from the tradition of pilgrimages and continues to thrive on the economy of religious devotion. Religious actors drive this industry by providing religious services, accommodation and transport options in pilgrimage sites yielding an explicit ‘religious’ and ‘informal’ orientation. Following the colonial legacy, quasi-religious entrepreneurs continue to enjoy exemptions from the state with regard to revenue generation and abstain from civic responsibilities. While the role of the state is undeniable, at present, this is fairly limited due to the lack of understanding of the informality of the industry, absence of adequate policy, and an ‘institutional vacuum’ in dealing with religious tourism. The fragmentation resulting from the free-market situation and the absence of regulation and lack of infrastructural support lead to a condition where a high influx of religious tourists threatens the cultural and environmental sustainability of religious tourism destinations.