It is not unusual for a place to wait for years before for inscription on the World Heritage List, but Sarnath – the place where Buddha had delivered his first sermon – has been on UNESCO’s “tentative list” for close to 25 years. As a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrimages, Sarnath continues to attract thousands of visitors annually and yet remains under-developed unlike other pilgrim-towns or a religious tourism destination. This paper examines reasons for the shunted growth of Sarnath. The findings are based on fieldwork conducted in Sarnath in 2019. The analysis from stakeholder interviews suggests several reasons for Sarnath not being able to capitalise on its religious and cultural heritage for tourism-led development. The endogenous factors include the archaeological and historical heritage of the place rather than. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which controls and manages the site, prohibits performing of any rituals that are necessary for a living practice of Buddhism. A handful monasteries are where Buddhist followers stay and perform their pilgrimage rituals rendering them as enclaves. While a full-fledged pilgrimage economy is absent, with merely 20 odd hotels and guesthouses, private sector accommodation has also not developed. The vast expanse of site as a park serves a recreational purpose for picnics of domestic tourists. The exogenous factors include its proximity to Varanasi which is 10kms away. Varanasi is the most significant Hindu sacred city and hence most visitors stay there for much longer durations to soak in cultural offerings including religious ceremonies around Ganga River; often they include only a half-day visit to Sarnath. Administratively, Sarnath does not have its own governance mechanism as it is just one ward (electoral constituency) in the Municipal Corporation of Varanasi. This means that interests of Sarnath (Buddhist site) are hardly acknowledged in the Hindu city of Varanasi. The paper argues that multi-layered contestations exist at the site level, town level, and between visitors and managers which have contributed to the poor state of heritage and tourism in Sarnath.
Mots clés : Sarnath, Buddhist pilgrimage, cultural heritage, religious tourism, Archaeological Park, Varanasi
UGI202222