Paper short abstract:

We will report on our study of four places of pilgrimage in the Western Ghats that also attract trekkers and other tourists. The places’ attraction depends upon, yet also threatens, their forest and wilderness environment. We will outline the varying views of locals, visitors, officials, and NGOs.

Paper long abstract:

We will present a preliminary report on our ongoing study of four places of pilgrimage in the Sahyadri mountains (Western Ghats) that also attract trekkers and other, less energetic tourists. Tryambakeshvar, Bhimashankar, and Mahabaleshvar are sites of Śiva temples (of India-wide significance as Jyotirlingas in the first two cases, and of more local significance in the case of Mahabaleshvar) and the origin points of major rivers (the Godavari, Bhima, and Krishna, respectively). Kalsubai, our fourth study site, is the highest peak in the Sahyadris, with the temple of a local goddess atop it. Whereas in the case of Mahabaleshwar, tourism predominates, Tryambakeshvar is the most important of the places on the Sanskritic religious map of all of India. In all cases, we are interested in understanding the ways in which the attraction of the places for tourists and pilgrims depends upon, and at the same time threatens, the forest and wilderness environment of the places. We are also learning about the measures that various official and non-official organizations are taking to control, preserve, and "improve" the places. These organizations include government bodies on the local (Grampanchayat, Nagar Palika), regional (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation), and national (Forest Department) levels; the respective Temple Trusts; the associations of different types of priests (Brahmans, Guravs, Kolis) at the places; hotel owners' associations; taxi drivers' unions; and environmentalist NGOs organized either locally or by outsiders.