Cultural Tourism in India

CULTURAL TOURISM
IN
INDIA

wilsontom.blogspot.com

CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• CULTURAL TOURISM
• FEATURES OF CULTURAL TOURISM
• CULTURAL TOURISM IN INDIA
• CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS IN INDIA
• IMPACT OF CULTURAL TOURISM
• CONCLUSIONS
• SUGGESTIONS

INTRODUCTION
• The name India comes from the word Indus,
which has been derived from the Persian word
for Hindu, from Sanskrit word “Sindhu”.
• Now India is popularly know as “Bharat” and
also “Hindustan”
• Since ancient times, India has been known for
its culture, heritage, and tradition.

• The Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh
are the earliest known traces of human life in
India.
• India has been ruled by numbers of rulers
including Rajputs , Mughals , English, and
Portuguese etc.
• Major dhármic religions which were founded in
India include Hinduism, Buddhism ,Sikhism and
Jainism.
• Because of this there have been a diversity in the
culture of India which has made it a very popular
tourist destination.

CULTURAL TOURISM
• Culture, has been defined as “the whole complex of
distinctive spiritual, intellectual, & emotional features
that characterize a society or social group. It includes
not only the arts and letters, but also modes of life,
the fundamental rights of a human being, value
systems, traditions and beliefs”.
• Tourism is the activities of persons traveling to and
staying in places outside their usual environment for
not more than one consecutive year for leisure,
business and other purposes not related to the exercise
of an activity remunerated from within the place
visited.

• Cultural tourism is the subset of tourism
concerned with a country or region's culture,
specifically the lifestyle of the people in those
geographical areas, the history of those peoples,
their art, architecture, religions, and other
elements that helped shape their way of life.
• Cultural tourism includes tourism in urban areas,
particularly historic or large cities and their
cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.
It can also include tourism in rural areas
showcasing the traditions of indigenous cultural
communities (i.e. festivals, rituals), and their
values and lifestyle.

FEATURES OF CULTURAL TOURISM
• builds on and markets cultural strengths
• emphasizes the quality and authenticity of
the visitor’s experience
• aims not simply to describe, but to convey
meaning and understanding of broad contexts
• meets the visitor’s demand for knowledge
• conveys the richness and diversity of a place
or culture

• It is active and involving for both visitors and host
communities
• It can create new tourism product from people - it does
not depend on high levels of new capital investment
• It recognizes the dynamic and changing nature of
culture
• It develops visitor and site management programs
• It develops interpretation programs designed to
inform, educate and interest visitors
• It can minimize the environmental degradation and
cultural exploitation which accompany some forms of
tourism
• It is carefully targeted to meet the interests of
particular market segments

CULTURAL TOURISM IN INDIA
• Culture Tourism has a special place in India
because of its past civilization as India has
been considered the land of ancient history,
heritage, and culture.
• Historical and archaeological monuments
continue to be the biggest draw in attracting
international tourists. This fact has been
confirmed by a survey undertaken by the
pacific area travel association (PATA).

• The government of India has set up the Ministry
of Tourism and Culture to boost cultural tourism
in India. The ministry in recent years has
launched the ‘Incredible India!’ campaign and
this has led to the growth of culture tourism in
India.
• The most popular states in India for cultural
tourism are:
• Kerala
• Rajasthan
• Tamil Nadu
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttaranchal

CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS IN INDIA
• HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY:
Our historical and archaeological monuments continue to be the biggest draw in
attracting international tourists.
• MUSIC:
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and
R&B. Indian music covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Classical
music largely encompasses the two genres – North Indian Hindustani, South
Indian Carnatic traditions and their various forms of regional folk music.
• FESTIVALS:
Many festivals are religious in origin, although several are celebrated irrespective of
caste and creed. Some popular festivals are Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi, Thai
Pongal, Holi, Onam, Vijayadashami, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas,
Buddha Jayanti, Moharram and Vaisakhi.
• DANCE:
Dance in India covers a wide range of dance and dance theatre forms. From the
ancient classical or temple dance to folk and modern styles. There are hundreds of
Indian folk dances such as Bhangra, Bihu, Ghumura Dance, Sambalpuri, Chhau and
Garba and special dances observed in regional festivals.

• ART AND CRAFT :
Indian art and craft can be classified into specific periods each reflecting particular
religious, political and cultural developments.
1. Ancient period (3500 BCE-1200 CE)
2. Islamic ascendancy (1192-1757)
3. Colonial period (1757–1947)
4. Independence and the postcolonial period (Post-1947)

• PILGRIMAGE:
India is a place of diverse pilgrimage centers directed towards various religions such
as Buddhism ,Muslim, Hindu, Christianity, Sikhism etc.
• CUISINES:
The cuisine in India is classified into three major categories. Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.
Satva which stand for balance, Rajas stands for passion, and Thamas stands for
indulgence. Food is consumed according to the lifestyle of the person. For
example:When a person tries to lead his life in want of self realisaiton, he would
prefer a Satvic food or known as Sattvic diet, which would help to keep his mind in
balance.
• CLOTHING:
Traditional clothing in India greatly varies across different parts of the country and is
influenced immensely by local culture, geography and climate. Popular styles of
dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men;
in addition, stitched clothes such as churidar for women and kurta-pyjama.

IMPACT OF CULTURAL TOURISM
– Environmental Effects:
• Preservation of National Heritage and Environment: Tourism helps preserve several places which are of historical
importance by declaring them as heritage sites. For instance, the Taj Mahal, the Qutab Minar, Ajanta and Ellora temples, etc,
would have been decayed and destroyed had it not been for the efforts taken by Tourism Department to preserve them.

• Depletion of Local resources: Tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw
materials that may already be in short supply.

– Cultural Effects:
• Source of Foreign Exchange Earnings: Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange earnings in India.

• Undesirable Social and Cultural Change: Tourism sometimes led to the destruction of the social fabric of a community. The
more tourists coming into a place, the more the perceived risk of that place losing its identity. A good example is Goa. From
the late 60's to the early 80's when the Hippy culture was at its height, Goa was a haven for such hippies. Here they came in
thousands and changed the whole culture of the state leading to a rise in the use of drugs, prostitution and human
trafficking. This had a ripple effect on the country

– Social Effects:
• Contributions to Government Revenues :The Indian government through the tourism department
also collect money in more far-reaching and indirect ways that are not linked to specific parks or
conservation areas. User fees, income taxes, renting recreation equipment, and license fees for
activities such as rafting and fishing can provide governments with the funds needed to manage
natural resources.

• Increase Tension and Hostility: Tourism can increase tension, hostility, and suspicion between the
tourists and the local communities when there is no respect and understanding for each other’s
culture and way of life.

– Economic Effects:
• Generating Income and Employment: Tourism in India has emerged as an instrument of income
and employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development. It
contributes 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% of the total employment in India. Almost 20
million people are now working in the India’s tourism industry.

• Developing Infrastructure: Tourism tends to encourage the development of multiple-use
infrastructure that benefits the host community, including various means of transports, health care
facilities, and sports centers, in addition to the hotels and high-end restaurants that cater to foreign
visitors.

CONCLUSION
• For all foreign tourists, any visit to India is a form
of cultural tourism. There are however those with
more explicit interests in the monumental
heritage, the religious heritage, the natural
heritage, traditional arts and crafts, music and
dance and those help in formulation its scope.
• Tourism industry in India is growing and it has
vast potential for generating employment and
earning large amount of foreign exchange besides
giving a fillip to the country’s overall economic
and social development.

SUGGESTIONS
• AS THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN
GROWING..INDIA HOULD FOCUS MORE AND
MORE ON THE PROMOTION SUSTAINABLE
TOURISM.
• Many of our old monuments are like our lost
primary resources. These can be restored to
revive our rich art and culture to become sites
of tourist attractions.

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Cultural Tourism in India

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