In temple run from Varanasi to Sikkim, faith's in fast lane

New Delhi: The budget’s emphasis on the development of temple towns, strengthening Buddhist circuits and creating high speed rail corridors between destinations such as Delhi and Varanasi should further boost spiritual and religious travel in India, industry insiders said.

Budget allocation towards the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (Prashad) scheme has gone up to Rs 245 crore for 2026-27 from the revised outlay of Rs 132 crore for FY26.

In her budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised developing tier-two and tier-three cities and temple towns which need modern infrastructure and basic amenities.


The budget proposed mapping of city economic regions (CER) based on their specific growth drivers and an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore per CER over five years for implementing their plans.

Sitharaman also spoke about developing seven high speed rail corridors between cities as ‘growth connectors’ on routes such as Delhi to Varanasi, and Varanasi to Siliguri.

Besides, she proposed a scheme for development of Buddhist circuits in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The scheme will cover preservation of temples and monasteries, and building pilgrimage interpretation centres, connectivity and pilgrim amenities.

Uttar Pradesh tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh said the state views the CER framework as a “highly relevant” intervention for temple towns and pilgrimage-led cities, where economic activity is directly linked to visitor volumes rather than resident population alone.

“Cities such as Varanasi, Ayodhya and Prayagraj experience seasonal and event-driven population surges, running into several multiples of their base population, creating a strong case for outcome-linked financing focused on urban services, tourism infrastructure and crowd management," he said.

Singh said high-speed rail connectivity between Delhi and Varanasi “will significantly strengthen weekend and two-day pilgrimage patterns, which are already a dominant segment for Kashi.” The rail corridor will also connect multiple spiritual destinations enroute, encouraging circuit based travel rather than single point visits, he added. Tourist footfalls to Varanasi and Ayodhya went up to over 17.3 crore and over 29.9 crore last year, up from nearly 11 crore and more than 16.4 crore in 2024 respectively as per data shared by UP Tourism.

Rajesh Magow, cofounder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip, said the budget’s focus on destination-level infrastructure, connectivity and urban amenities in heritage and temple towns will accelerate the momentum in the religious travel segment.



As pilgrim profiles evolve and expectations rise, several hotel chains are expanding into cities such as Ayodhya, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Shirdi, and Bodh Gaya, among others, said Mandeep S Lamba, president and CEO (South Asia) at hospitality advisory firm HVS Anarock.

Lamba said nearly 7,700 branded keys were signed last year in religious destinations and close to 8,000 in 2024, accounting for 13% and 17% of total signings respectively.

Last month, Lemon Tree Hotels signed a new hotel in Varanasi while Radisson Hotel Group said it was accelerating expansion across India’s fast evolving spiritual travel circuit with recent openings in Shirdi and Puri and an upcoming launch in Ujjain this year.

Enhanced infrastructure and improved hospitality offerings are encouraging longer stays and attracting a broader traveller profile, extending beyond traditional pilgrims to include families and experience-seeking travellers, said Nikhil Sharma, managing director and COO, South Asia, at Radisson Hotel Group.

“The budget’s continued emphasis on infrastructure development, improved air connectivity, highways, and destination-led tourism provides a strong structural foundation for the growth of religious and spiritual travel. Over time, this enables more stable demand rather than isolated or event-driven spikes,” he said.

Travel platforms have seen consistent growth in the spiritual travel segment.

Bookings to destinations such as Haridwar and Rishikesh have grown 60% year-on-year on Cleartrip, with Gen Z travellers now making up 12% of these trips, a 15% year-on-year increase, said Manjari Singhal, chief growth and business officer at the company.

Airline executives said while there is an overall increase in interest to travel to temple towns, traffic remains seasonal. “While it grows in festival months, there is a lull thereafter. So, in the months of Holi and Diwali, airlines launch extra flights,” an airline executive said.

India’s largest airline IndiGo has launched multiple flights connecting Nagpur to multiple cities.

Nashik serves as a gateway to Maharashtra’s spiritual heartland. Shirdi Sai Baba Temple is only 90 kilometres away, while Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga and Bhimashankar are within 200 km. Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga, another sacred site, lies 172 km from Nashik.

Bodh Gaya is also a major attraction for inbound tourism. Last year, Air Asia and Thai Airways announced flight schedules from Thailand to Bodh Gaya in October, while Bhutan Airlines and Drukair commenced flights from Bhutan. Besides, charter flights also operate from Vietnam to Bodh Gaya.