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Varanasi: An Overview
Welcome at "THE HOLY CITY VARANASI " or Banaras, (also
known as Kashi) is one of the oldest living cities in the world`s
Prominence in Hindu mythology is virtually unrivalled. Mark Twain,
the English author and litterateur, who was enthralled by the
legend and sanctity of Banaras, once wrote: "Banaras is older
than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and
looks twice as old as all of them put together". According to the
VamanaPurana, the Varuna and Assi rivers originated from the
body of the primordial Person at the beginning of time itself. The
tract of land lying between them is believed to be , the holiest of
all pilgrimages
Kashi is older than traditions. itpresents a unique combination of
physical, metaphysical and supernatural elements. According to
the Hindu mythology, liberates soul from human body to the
ultimate. It is the Ganga Ghats of that complement the concept of
3
divinity. Ghats of Ganga are perhaps the holiest spots. The Ganga
Ghats at are full of pilgrims who flock to the place to take a dip in
the holy Ganges, which is believed to absolve one from all sins.
There are number of temples on the bank of the Ganga River in .
It is believed that people are cleansed physically, mentally and
spiritually at Ganga Ghats. It is at the Ganga Ghats where we see
life and death together. For thousands of years people have been
thronging these Ghats to offer their morning prayers to the rising
sun. There are more than 100 ghatsalongside Ganga. Some of the
prominent and popular Ghats at are the DashaswamedhGhat,
ManikarnikaGhat, HarischandraGhat, KabirGhat and AssiGhat.
Located in the northern part of India in the state of Uttar Pradesh,
the city of is one of the major tourist places in India. Locally called
Banaras and popularly known as Kashi, is one of the oldest cities
of India. Here you will find a fine blend of tradition and heritage,
and, culture and religion. The city holds a special mention in the
Hindu mythology. Owing to the prominent temples and Ghats, the
Government of Uttar Pradesh has been successful in promoting
Tourism.
Tourism gives you some important facts about the city. The entire
city of coversan area of about 73 square kilometers and is located
at about 80 meters from the sea level. The city enjoys a
subtropical climate. It is too hot in summers with a maximum
temperature of about 43C and a minimum temperature of about
32C. The winters are quite cold and dry with a maximum
temperature of about 15C and a minimum of about 5C.
Every year, a considerable amount of tourists and pilgrims visit
the city. Even many foreigners from abroad throng this mystic city.
Tourism states that in India, there are many travel agencies who
organize tours. Some of the notable tours covering are the Sacred
Ganges Tour, Temple Tour.
One of the twelve Jyortinglingas is situated in this city and so the
city is popularly called the city of light. Tourism indicates that is a
significant seat for arts, culture, learning, music and crafts. The
Banaras Hindu University is one of the most eminent universities
in India.
Tourism has brought for you information on the places of
interests in has many sightseeing places to offer. Some of the
notable ones are the DashaswamedhGhat, Kashi Vishwanath
Temple, Ramnagar Fort, JantarMantar, Chunar Fort and Sarnath
also holds different religious festivals and events. Tourism names
a
few
are
the
Buddha
Purnima,
Mahashivratri,
Hanuman
way
through
and
its
lined
with
places
of
interest .
5
History of Varanasi
The land of Varanasi (Kashi) has been the ultimate pilgrimage
spot for Hindus for ages. Often referred to as Benares, is the
oldest living city in the world. These few lines by Mark Twain say it
all: "Banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even
than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together".
Hindus believe that one who is graced to die on the land of would
attain salvation and freedom from the cycle of birth and re-birth.
Abode of Lord Shiva and Parvati, the origins of are yet unknown.
Ganges in is believed to have the power to wash away the sins of
mortals.
Ganges is said to have its origins in the tresses of Lord Shiva and
in, it expands to the mighty river that we know of. The city is a
center of learning and civilization for over 3000 years. With
Sarnath, the place where Buddha preached his first sermon after
enlightenment, just 10 km away, has been a symbol of Hindu
renaissance. Knowledge, philosophy, culture, devotion to Gods,
Indian arts and crafts has all flourished here for centuries. Also a
pilgrimage place for believed to be the birthplace of Parsvanath,
the twenty-third Tirthankar.
Vaishnavism and Shaivism have co-existed in harmoniously. With
a number of temples, Mrs. Annie Besant chose as the home for
9
and
Calculus
operations.
Maharshi
Patanjali,
the
preceptor of Ayurveda and Yoga, was also affiliated with the holy
city is also famous for its trade and commerce, especially for the
finest silks and gold and silver brocades, since the early days.
It has also been a great center of learning for ages because it is
associated with promotion of spiritualism, mysticism, Sanskrit,
yoga and Hindi language and honored authors such as the everfamous novelist Prem Chand and Tulsi Das, the famous saint-poet
who wrote Ram Charit Manas. Aptly called as the cultural capital
of India, has provided the right platform for all cultural activities
to flourish. Many exponents of dance and music have come from
Ravi Shankar, the internationally renowned Sitar maestro and
Ustad Bismillah Khan, (the famous Shehnai player) are all sons of
the blessed city or have lived here for major part of their lives.
It was in Banaras that Buddhism was first promulgated and in
Banaras that Hinduism has had her home. The city has thus given
vigor and support to the two religions that to this day spiritually
govern half the world. Ancient meditative practices and studies
are still pursued here. From the ceremony of shaving off the hair
of the new-born (tonsure) to the immersion of ashes, the city still
witnesses the rituals and sacraments that existed in the Vedic
period. It is also considered to be a veritable jungle of fairs and
10
of
ancient
Vastushastra(traditional
Indian
sciences
architecture),
teaching
like
astrology,
Sanskrit
and
Making this city the holiest for Hindus that preserved the
cosmic wholeness. This together with the mosaic of ethnic and
social structure further helped in the formation of as the cultural
capital of India. For example, the sites of the four dhams(abode
of gods), the holy centers in the four cardinal directions of the
country, i.e. Badrinath in the north, JagannathPuri in the east,
Dvaraka in the west and Rameshvaram in the south, are reestablished in archetypal form as their representative around the
nuclei of the presiding deities at MathaGhat (Badrinath), Rama
Ghat (Puri), Shankudhara (Dvaraka) and Mir Ghat(Rameshvaram).
Similarly other sacred centres are spatially manifested in where
there are over 3000 Hindu shrines and temples, about 1400
Muslim shrines and mosques (more than any Muslim site), 12
churches, 3 Jain temples, 9 Buddhist temples, 3 Sikh temples
(Gurudvaras) and several other sacred sites and places
Sarnath derives its name from Saranganatha (Lord of the Deer).
After the Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, he came
to Sarnath. Here in the Deer Park, he delivered his first sermon or
set in motion the Wheel of Law (MahaDharmachakraPravartan.).
On the day before his death, the Buddha named Sarnath along
with Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar as the four places that
his followers should consider sacred.
12
13
14
architectural
features
include
carved
balconies,
open
15
an
astronomical
clock
and
hunting
trophies
are
held
during
Dussehra
in
October.
Ramnagar
is
renowned for its Ram Lila. Episodes from the Ramayana are reenacted and the maharaja sponsors a month long elaborate
celebrations. The colorful pageant kicks off with the maharaja
riding
an
elephant.
The
procession
culminates
with
the
Lila
across
the
country.
Ramnagar
follows
the
TulsidasRamcharitramanas narrative.
In terms of stylistic presentation too, Ramnagar stands apart.
Ram Lila is enacted on a single stage across India, but in
Ramnagar the whole town is transformed into a vast Ram Lila
ground. Permanent structures are built and spaces designated to
represent the main locations of the story. Therefore you have
Ashok Vatika and Lanka at different locations in the town. The
audience moves along with the performers with every episode, to
the next location. With the bare minimum use of lights, mikes and
loudspeakers, the character of the event is dignified and
restrained in feel, one that is in keeping with the temperament of
16
2.Sarnath
Sa
rnath, about 10 km from the holy city of, is the place where
Buddha chose to deliver his first sermon. The celebrated Mantra,
'BuddhamSharanamGachhami', owes its origin to Sarnath. On the
day before his death Buddha included Sarnath along with
Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar as the four places he thought
to be sacred to his followers. It makes Sarnath one of the most
venerated Buddhist places. Besides Buddhism, Sarnath is also
connected
with
Jainism.
18
name
Vishwanatha
or
world,
with
3500
years
of
20
in
early
concept
of
PanchaTrirtha
symbolically
identified with the human body it is explicitly equated with the fire
elements (PanchTattva) of witch body is composed interesting
people now defining as all the Ghats are points on the divine
cosmic road (12th Zodiacs X 7cakras of body thus 98) represents
its manifest transcendental dimension. That is how this frame
shows a cosmic order and harmonic relationship between micro
cosmos (divine order) and micro cosmos (human order) through
the interlink of mesocosmos (the physical order of ghats). The
Gahadvala inscriptions (c.12th cent) mention only five ghats.
Some
of
the
prominent
and
popular
Ghats
at
are
the
21
List,
however
has
not
yet
beenproposed
for
the
local
officers,
and
Development
local
experts,
Authority;
comprising
representatives,concerned
and
Specific
by-laws
local
must
be
of
non-occluded/occluded
phosphateratios
of
the
that the residents combined small farming with pastoral life. The
archaeological remains (e.g.pottery, terracotta, iron implements,
art and facts, seals, etc) found in the area are datable to the
9thcentury BC, and include evidence of Black Slipped Ware
Culture. Since at least 8th century CE, the city started growing as
a pilgrimage site and by 12th century, it became the most
popular holy centre for the Hindus. During this period, various
deities and their images were established. Their number at
present reaches over 3000 Hindu shrines and a few Buddhist, Jain
and Sikh shrines. Later Muslim shrines also became prominent
and now their number has reached over 1350.Owes its existence
to the Ganga river (misspelled as Ganges is the West) considered
to be the most holy river for the Hindu people and especially
sacred in where its course towards the Bay of Bengal suddenly
turns north. Symbolically, the flow from south to north refers to
the life cycle from death (south, the realm of death, Yama) to life
(north, the realm of life, Shiva, i.e. Kailas). This unique directional
change of the river course led to the development of the ancient
city, Kashi, on the west banks of the river, facing the rising of the
sun and making thus the Ghats of sacred for all Hindu rituals.
Since it has always been important for religious purposes, kings,
rich merchants and others who could afford built houses in so that
their members could come and stay here in the auspicious city. So
most properties either belong to trusts, or are divided among
many successors, or belong to people who presently live in other
cities. The Development Authority has already drawn out a Master
24
undertaken
the
creditable
and
immense
task
of
fall mainly
into
of cultural
25
Development
from
conservation
the
and
VDA,
is
protection
currently
of
the
responsible
heritage
for
sites
the
with
and
maintenance
of
properties
registered
and
each
year
after
the
monsoon
season
by
the
local
2(dd1)
Cultural
Heritage
as
including
all
art,
natural
environment
and
including
specific
techniques
of
aesthetic,
archaeological,
architectural,
scientific,
29
Promotion of Heritage
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.
Tourism is one of the top priorities for many countries, because of
its contribution to economy in terms of foreign exchange
earnings,
creation
of
employment
opportunities,
promoting
Athithi
Traveller).Several
Devo
Bhava,
shortcomings
etc.)
come
(Conde
in
the
Nast
way
of
their traditions.
32
No
proper
marketing
of
Varanasis
tourism
abroad.
Travel agents are most affected by the taxes that are part of
the industry so at last tourists are the sufferers.
Opportunities
countries like
Objective of Study
The purpose of this Project is to investigate about What are
the opportunities and threats that can prevail in Tourism
Industry .
To identify the specific problems a tourism industry is facing.
To identify the entire major tourist places of Varanasi
36
Research methodology
Primary Data: Primary data was collected by administering
questionnaire. It is systematically collected. The basic
purpose of collecting primary data is to know about the
opportunities and threats that are present in the tourism
industry.
Secondary data: Secondary datas are collected from Tourism
website, Tourism journals Etc
Based on SPSS Tool the interpretations were drawn.
Sampling
Sample size: 100 Tourist Visitor
Area of research: Varanasi City.
Research approach: Survey method.
Research Instrument: Questionnaire.
37
Analysis of Survey
Following Interpretation is drawn from the Help of SPSS
software with the help of t-test
Data Available
Occupation
Student =
40
Business=3
Income
Upto 1 lakh=
20
1lak to 2
No.Of trips
Once in
year=30
Once in 6
Puropose
Leisure=10
Visiting Friends &
Handicrafts
benarsi
Saree=70
Clay
38
0
Service=20
House
wives=10
Companio
ns
Alone=10
collegues=
10
friends=20
family=60
lakh= 30
2lakh
-5lakh=40
5 lakh 10lakh=10
month=20
Once in 3
months=10
Every
month=20
Relatives=10
Products=30
Business=30
Education=40
Pilgrim=20
Accommodation
s
Guest
house=20
Type of
tourist
International
=40
Satisfaction
level
Personal
safety
Safety measure at
destination
Yes=20
yes=30
yes=40
Resort-10
Economy
hotel=50
Expensive
hotel=20
Domestic=60
No=80
no=70
No=60
39
One-Sample Statistics
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
VAR00001
100
20.2000
1.03280
.32660
VAR00002
100
10.4000
.51640
.16330
VAR00003
100
10.6000
1.07497
.33993
VAR00004
100
20.4000
.96609
.30551
VAR00005
100
20.8000
1.61933
.51208
VAR00006
100
20.3000
1.41814
.44845
VAR00007
100
10.3000
.48305
.15275
VAR00008
100
10.7000
1.05935
.33500
VAR00009
100
20.1000
1.28668
.40689
VAR00010
100
10.6000
.51640
.16330
VAR00011
100
10.8000
.42164
.13333
VAR00012
100
10.7000
.48305
.15275
VAR00013
100
10.6000
.51640
.16330
One-Sample Test
Test Value = 0
95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
t
df
Sig. (2-tailed)
Mean Difference
Lower
Upper
VAR00001
6.736
.000
2.20000
1.4612
2.9388
VAR00002
8.573
.000
1.40000
1.0306
1.7694
VAR00003
4.707
.001
1.60000
.8310
2.3690
VAR00004
7.856
.000
2.40000
1.7089
3.0911
VAR00005
5.468
.000
2.80000
1.6416
3.9584
VAR00006
5.129
.001
2.30000
1.2855
3.3145
VAR00007
8.510
.000
1.30000
.9544
1.6456
VAR00008
5.075
.001
1.70000
.9422
2.4578
VAR00009
5.161
.001
2.10000
1.1796
3.0204
VAR00010
9.798
.000
1.60000
1.2306
1.9694
VAR00011
13.500
.000
1.80000
1.4984
2.1016
VAR00012
11.129
.000
1.70000
1.3544
2.0456
VAR00013
9.798
.000
1.60000
1.2306
1.9694
40
Form Tourist
1. Age Group
41
Age Group
Below 20
20-25
20%
25-30
10%
Above 30
30%
40%
The Sample was made of 30% of tourist falls in the age group of
Below 20
40% of tourist falls in the age group of between2025
20%30% of tourist falls in the age group of between
25-30
10% of tourist falls in the age group of above 30.
2. Gender Ratio
42
Gender
Male
Female
40%
60%
3. Occupation
43
Occupation
Student
Service
business
Housewives
10%
20%
40%
30%
4. Income Group
44
Income Group
Up to 1 Lakh
2lac-5lac
1lac-2lac
5lac-10lac
10% 20%
40%
30%
5. Number of trips
45
Trips
6. Purpose
46
Purpose
Leisure
Visiting Friends & Relatives
Business
Education
Pilgrim 10%
20% 40%
10%
20%
Handicrafts
8. Companions
48
companions
Alone; 10%
Colleagues; 10%
Friends; 20%
family; 60%
49
9. Accommodations
50
10.
You are an International tourist or domestic
tourist
51
11.
Are you satisfied with the maintenance of the
monuments and temples?
yes; 20%
no; 80%
52
12.
Personal safety
yes; 30%
No; 70%
53
Yes; 40%
No; 60%
54
No; 30%
Yes; 70%
70% says that the local people are very much cooperated while rest says no
55
Data Available
Type of
tourist
Inbound
tourist=60
Outbound
Fooding=20
Air transport=0
Accomodation=20
Ground transport=60
Travel destination
knowledge
Travel agent=20
Media=10
internet=40
Already known=30
Vehcile
used
Car
Luxury=30
car suv=40
Volvo A/c=10
Volvo Non
a/c=20
Tourism
service
Flight
booking=20
Guided tour
=10
Hotel
reservation=40
Overall
package= 30
Tourism
activities
Adventour
=10
Other=10
Leisure=30
Seight
seeing=50
Kind of
tourist
Group=60
Single=40
Europe=10
Asia=70
America=20
One-Sample Statistics
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
VAR00014
100
10.3000
5.48305
.15275
VAR00015
100
10.4000
5.51640
.16330
VAR00016
100
20.6000
5.84327
.26667
VAR00017
100
20.8000
1.13529
.35901
VAR00018
100
30.0000
1.15470
.36515
VAR00019
100
20.5000
1.17851
.37268
VAR00020
100
10.9000
1.19722
.37859
VAR00021
100
10.6000
5.51640
.16330
VAR00022
100
20.1000
5.56765
.17951
VAR00023
100
10.5000
5.70711
.22361
56
One-Sample Test
Test Value = 0
95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
t
df
Sig. (2-tailed)
Mean Difference
Lower
Upper
VAR00014
8.510
.000
1.30000
.9544
1.6456
VAR00015
8.573
.000
1.40000
1.0306
1.7694
VAR00016
9.750
.000
2.60000
1.9968
3.2032
VAR00017
7.799
.000
2.80000
1.9879
3.6121
VAR00018
8.216
.000
3.00000
2.1740
3.8260
VAR00019
6.708
.000
2.50000
1.6569
3.3431
VAR00020
5.019
.001
1.90000
1.0436
2.7564
VAR00021
9.798
.000
1.60000
1.2306
1.9694
VAR00022
11.699
.000
2.10000
1.6939
2.5061
VAR00023
6.708
.000
1.50000
.9942
2.0058
Interpretation
VAR00014:-In q.14 1 % tour and travels operates inbound tourist
VAR00015:- 1% ground transport facility by the company
VAR00016:- 3% follows for the hotel reservation
VAR00017:- 3% tourist activities for sight seeing
VAR00018:- 3% follows internet for tourist destination
VAR00019:-2-3 % follows cars suv
VAR00020:- 2% are the in the group
VAR00021:- 1-2% are from the Asian countries
VAR00022:- 2% has satisfaction
57
58
ground transport
Accomodations
; 20% facilities; 60%
Fooding ; 20%
Tourism Service
Tourism Activities
adventure tourism ; 10%
Other ;Leisure
10% Resorts ; 30%
Sightseeing Tours; 50%
61
Tourism destination
62
Vehicle used
volvo (Ac bus); 10%
Car (Luxury);
30% A/C Bus); 20%
Volvo (Non
Car (SUV); 40%
63
Kinds of Tourist
64
Attraction of tourist
America; 20%
Europe; 10%
Asia; 70%
65
Satisfaction Level
Yes; 60%
66
Findings
1. Varanasi is the major tourist spot in North India after the
TajMahal.
2. It can be the hub for the exporter of the handicrafts
products.
3. People came here for the search of the salvation during
their end of their life.
4. Thousand of Buddhist came to Sarnath, so it is the major
tourist spot.
5. Hotels and restaurant can be profitable industry in future,
6. Tourist comes in group more often.
7. There is no proper safety for the domestic and
International tourist.
8. There is no proper maintenance and conservation of the
monuments and temples as they are historic in nature.
9. Most of the tourist came here to pursue the educations
like Yoga and Sanskrit.
10. Tourist having middle class they more often to come.
11. The major attractions of the tourist are the Ghats of
Varanasi, Sarnath temple, Kashi Vishwanath temple.
12. Due to the dig roads, andgarbage it is losing its
importance.
67
Recommendation
Set a tourism finance cooperation to extend financial
assistance for tourism project.
Developments of select tourist destination and circuits
diversification of tourism arrival of cultural destination to the
leisure and holiday tourist.
Markets exploration and development of new tourism
generating center.
Increase the hotel accommodation by cent percent by
stimulation investment through appropriate package of
incentives.
Better facilities of the public toiletries for the tourist.
Proper roads and means of transportations.
Promoting the Industrially Sick Business like clay Products,
wooden toys.
Investment in the hotel and Restaurant Industry would
defiantly a Profitable sector
,
68
Conclusion
As I have reached to the conclusion of my dissertation, I have
realized that it is an important part of our curriculum, which gives
a good experience of research study, data collection and thesis
writing.
As for as my topic is concerned A Study of tourism Industry
Opportunity and threats (with special reference to Varanasi
tourism). First of all it was necessary to give a brief introduction
about heritage and its elements followed by the classification of
heritage.
Heritage tourism is one of the new thrust areas of modern tourism
which attracts a lot of tourist. India due to the wide diversity in its
geographical features offers a lot of activities in several places
like its offer land based heritage. Though this Tourism is new to
India there are several places in India which are emerging as
heritage tourism destination .I has carried to mentioned some of
the popular ones in Varanasi. Then I have given a brief
introduction the various emerging destinations of heritage in
Varanasi.
As from my Dissertation I hope now it is clear that heritage differs
from ordinary Tourism and as it exposes tourists to some risks and
generally takes them into a region which offers minimal facilities
and comforts. Further in my Dissertation, I have also collected
69
of
sufficient
back
up
manpower
equipment,
70
71
Bibliography
Websites
www.expresstravelandtourism.com
www.indiainfoline.com
www.tourismindia.com
http://www.indiavisitinformation.com
http://www.expressindia.com
http://www.indian-tourism.us/varanasi
http://www.culturalheritagetourism.org
http://www.heritagebooks.com
http://www.myheritagebook.com
Books
1)Lonely planet-Short escape from Varanasi
2)Tourism in India
72
3) A matter of taste
4) Around Varanasi
5) Spiritual Varanasi
Questionnaire
Form Tourist
Personal Information
Name :
Age :
Gender :
City :
Occupation
1. Age
i) Below 20 year
iii) 31 to 40 year
]
[ ]
ii) 21 to 30 year
2. Gender
73
i) Male
ii) Female
3. Occupation
i ]Student
iii] Service
IV] Housewives
4. Income Group
i ] Up to 5 Lac
i ] Once In a year
5. Number of Trips
v]Every Week
6. Purpose of the trips
i] Educations
iii] Business
i] Benarasi Saree
]
[
8.Companions
i ] Alone
ii] Colleagues
iii] Friends
iv] Family
i ] Guest house
ii] Resort
iv] Expensive h
8. Accommodations
9. Kind of Tourist
i ]International tourist
ii] No
ii] No
75
12. Rate the Safety and Security measures which are available at the destination?
i ] Yes
ii] No
i ] Yes
ii] No
i ] Air Transport
iii] Accommodations
IV] Fooding
[
[
i ] Adventures Tour
IV] other
ii] Internet
[
[
ii] Europe
iii] Asia
IV] Africa
i ] Yes
[
[
ii] No
78