Kashi Vishwanath Corridor unlocks Varanasi's tourism boom, economic growth

The corridor drives Varanasi's massive economic growth, but experts call for expanding tourism strategies to uplift the entire Purvanchal region

Ever since the redevelopment project was inaugurated in December 2021, the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor, in Varanasi, has become the engine of the city’s economic growth.

 

Its real estate, local handicrafts and sari industry, hotels, restaurants and eateries have benefited from the substantial increase in tourists visiting the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

 

But lack of awareness about the tourism potential of the rest of the Purvanchal region, or eastern UP, has meant that the state has failed to leverage the attraction of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple for the welfare of the rest of the region.

 

A panel discussion titled “Tourism in Purvanchal: Scope and Facilities” took up these issues at the Business Standard Ubharta Purvanchal conclave, held in Varanasi last month.

 

 

According to Vishwa Bhushan, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, Varanasi, said that from December 13, 2021, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the redeveloped corridor, to June 29, 2026, more than 325 million people had visited the temple.

 

“Not all visitors to Varanasi visit the temple. They are here to visit Sarnath and the Parshvanath Jain temple, or for business,” Bhushan said. 

 

The temple trust’s CEO, who is also the author of several books on the city’s spiritual significance, furnished details that show the average expenditure of tourists in Varanasi has increased.

 

He said the Uttar Pradesh Tourism sample survey, done by a reputed private agency, revealed that tourists from within the state spent on average ₹7,000 per person during their Varanasi visit, while those from outside UP spent ₹8,000 and international tourists ₹20,000, including on travel, boarding and lodging, purchasing prasad or saris and other handicrafts. He said of the tourists, 75 per cent comprised domestic tourists from outside the state, and of the rest, 23 per cent were from within UP and 2 per cent are international tourists.

 

Bhushan said the economic spinoff was an estimated ₹5.5 trillion annually, while earlier estimates were ₹1.25 trillion to ₹1.5 trillion per year.

 

Rajendra Goenka, a Varanasi-based businessman who runs Rajendra Toyota, said the Kashi Vishwanath Temple shouldn’t merely remain the engine of growth of the city but that of the entire Purvanchal, and that required a strategic approach to holistically develop the tourism of entire Purvanchal. It isn’t just Varanasi but also Ayodhya with its Ram temple, and Hanumangarhi, Prayagraj’s Triveni Sangam and its association with the country’s freedom struggle, Sarnath and Kushinagar’s Buddhist history, the shrines of Vindhyachal and the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, all of which could together become a magnificent centre of world tourism.

 

Goenka said people’s perception of Varanasi was that it was a dirty city, which had changed because of cleanliness. Varanasi has truly transformed. There is an unrealised potential of developing the eastern UP tourism circuit, which goes beyond Varanasi, such as Prayagraj’s Anand Bhavan and fort, Buddhist religious sites across the region, such as Kushinagar, where the Buddha attained mahaparinirvana. Possibilities are immense but infrastructure needs to be improved, such as at the Triveni Sangam, in Prayagraj.

 

“Why can’t the conveniences ensured for people during the Kumbh mela be made available for them the entire year round,” Goenka asked. He also spoke of the Chunar Fort in Mirzapur, the scenic waterfalls in the region, Ballia district’s association with the freedom struggle, and Azamgarh’s black pottery, which still lacks international recognition.

 

Rajat Mohan Pathak, of Varanasi-based Synergy Group, said: “Tourism has increased in leaps and bounds. Earlier, of every 100 tourists, half were devotees visiting the temple, and the rest were non-religious tourists. The ratio now is 70:30 of religious and non-religious tourists.”

 

Pathak said Varanasi was witnessing industry-linked growth because market forces had triggered the opening of homestays, restaurants and cafeterias, and probably there would soon be a time when guidelines would need to be put in place to regulate businesses.

 

But it seems that there is a definite strategic long-term approach to not just promote tourism related to the temple. Townships are coming up around the city’s Ring Road and road widening is taking place. Infrastructure in the city does not always keep in step with the rapid growth in tourist footfall but the government’s intent until now has been positive, he said.

 

Girish Vasudev Kulkarni, founder and CEO of Divinity Worldwide, said his company worked with 16,980 temples across 70 countries, and in its experience, every temple faced the same set of issues, especially lack of awareness about the temple, poor footfall and revenue. There are several old temples, but not every temple has a footfall similar to that of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, he said.

 

Kulkarni said it was the job of the Tourism Promotion Board to see how footfall at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple could spill over to rest of the Purvanchal region.

 

Rahul Mehta, chairman of the Indian Industries Association’s (IIA’s) tourism committee, said Varanasi had ascended the peak of religious tourism in the last three years. “Earlier, pilgrimage was part of tourism to Varanasi, and now it’s the other way round,” he said, adding that the number of international tourists had declined, and steps had to be taken to redress this.