Varanasi: In the middle of Varanasi's Godowlia crossing stands a statue of Nandi, the guardian deity, with his back to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. This is a continuation of a centuries-old custom. A large screen shows a cola commercial, the pictures flashing out into an invitation to purchase advertising space.
Benares, as it was formerly known, is "older than history, older than tradition, even older than legend," as noted by Mark Twain. However, with history and modernity in tow, the legendary city of temples, ghats, and soul seeking is becoming a centrepiece of the government's promotion of religious tourism.
In his recent Mann Ki Baat address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attributed the current increase in tourism visiting Varanasi to a "cultural reawakening." The number of visitors to the city has increased tenfold since before the Covid epidemic, as stated on the official website of the Uttar Pradesh tourism department. There were almost 68 lakh visitors to the city in 2019. In 2022, with approximately 7.2 crore visitors, it attracts as many people in a single month as it did throughout all of 2020. By 2020's Covid, the number had dwindled to below 10,000,000.—Inputs from Agencies
