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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management REPRESENTATIVE DISSONANCE IN HERITAGE TOURISM IN INDIA A Thesis in Leisure Studies by Ranjan Bandyopadhyay © 2006 Ranjan Bandyopadhyay Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2006 The thesis of Ranjan Bandyopadhyay was reviewed and approved* by the following: Garry E. Chick Professor of Recreation, Park & Tourism Management Thesis Adviser Chair of Committee Duarte B. Morais Associate Professor of Recreation, Park & Tourism Management Harry C. Zinn Associate Professor of Recreation, Park & Tourism Management Jeffrey H. Cohen Associate Professor of Anthropology Linda L. Caldwell Professor of Recreation, Park & Tourism Management Professor-in-Charge of Graduate Programs in Leisure Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT The debate surrounding the role of tourism in the renegotiation of history has gained much importance recently. Several scholars have argued that heritage tourism may be important in creating national identity. As ethnically diverse societies have the tendency for fragmentation, heritage tourism has arguably emerged as a privileged tool for states to disseminate a shared cultural identity with their citizens. The increasing popularity of heritage creates conflicts over its representation. So, there are disputes over whose heritage should be preserved and made available for touristic consumption. Thus, heritage tourism is highly political in which dominant narratives of history, culture and identity are always disputed. Since India’s independence in 1947 from Britain, the Governments of the country have tried to build a sense of ‘nation’ by uniting the diverse groups of the country. However, identity in India has centered around smaller groups based on religion, culture and language, of which, religion is the most prominent. Although several scholars have claimed that the representation of heritage encompasses several agents who interact to co-construct a representation of the past, with a few valuable exceptions, scholars have only considered one voice in investigations of tourism representations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore: 1) What heritage of six major religions (i.e., Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain) in India is represented to domestic tourists by the three Indian tourism representations (i.e., Indian Government, Indian Trade, and Indian Public)? and 2) What are the differences, if they exist? A three year time frame from March 2002 – June 2005 was selected for this study. The data were examined using content analysis. iv The study produced several insights into how tourism is interconnected with socio-political dynamics governing India’s contemporary state and society. There were four similarities in the three representations. First, all representations celebrated India’s glorious past as a Hindu “Golden Age.” Second, the blend of different religions was heavily emphasized. Third, all representations portrayed the suffering from Muslim tyranny. Fourth, all representations highlighted atrocities of Colonial rulers. However, there was one difference in the three representations. The Indian Government resisted the Colonial influence but the other two representations did not. The Indian Government and Indian Tourism Industry harmoniously represented the heritage of India. As there was no significant difference in the three representations, it can be argued that the mythmaking by the Indian Government promotes dominant nationalist ideologies, which are well accepted by the tourism industry that needs these myths to sell heritage attractions. This study revealed that the Indian government’s efforts to build an Indian national identity are inextricably linked to a Hindu national identity. Thus, it can be argued that political identity building in the name of religion is more important in India than national identity building. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 National Identity and Ethnic Conflicts ………………………………………….. 1 National Identities in India ………………………………………………………. 2 The Role of Heritage Tourism in Constructing National Identity in India ……… 3 Justification for the Study ........................................................................................ 5 Research Questions .............................................................................................. 12 Limitations and Delimitations................................................................................. 12 Significance of the Study …………………………………………………………. 13 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................... 15 Nationalism …………………………………………………………………….. .. 15 Classical Theorists on Nationalism ………………………………………………. 15 Modernist Theorists on Nationalism …………………………………………… 17 Ethnicity ………………………………………………………………………… 18 A Brief History of India ………………………………………………………… 21 Religions in India ……………………………………………………………….. 31 Religion and Pilgrimage ……………………………………………………….. 42 Colonialist Fantasy in Tourism Representations ……………………………… 45 Postcolonialism and Tourism ………………………………………………….. 46 Politics of Heritage Tourism Representations and National Identity Building ….. 47 Chapter 3. HERITAGE IN INDIAN TOURISM ……………………………… 50 The Indian Scenario – A Brief Background …………………………………….. 50 Tourism in India - A Historical Perspective ……………………………………… 50 Chapter 4. RESEARCH METHODS ……………………………………………... 57 Data Collection …………………………………………………………………… 57 The Indian Government Tourism Representation ……………………………….. 57 The Indian Trade Tourism Representation ………………………………………. 58 The Indian Public Tourism Representation ……………………………………… 58 Timeframe for the Study ………………………………………………………….. 60 Treatment of Data ………………………………………………………………… 61 Reasons for choosing Content Analysis ………………………………………….. 61 Coding of Data ……………………………………………………………………. 62 Researcher’s Bias …………………………………………………………………. 68 Researcher’s Identity ……………………………………………………………… 69 vi Chapter 5. RESULTS …………………………………………………………… 71 Indian Government Tourism Representation of India’s Heritage ……………… 71 Hindu Heritage ………………………………………………………………….. 72 Muslim Heritage ………………………………………………………………… 76 Christian Heritage ………………………………………………………………. 79 Buddhist Heritage ……………………………………………………………….. 81 Jain Heritage …………………………………………………………………….. 82 Sikh Heritage ……………………………………………………………………. 84 Other Themes (not related to any religion) ……………………………………… 86 Indian Trade Tourism Representation of India’s Heritage ……………………… 90 Hindu Heritage …………………………………………………………………… 91 Muslim Heritage ………………………………………………………………… 95 Buddhist Heritage ……………………………………………………………….. 96 Jain Heritage …………………………………………………………………….. 97 Sikh Heritage ……………………………………………………………………. 98 Christian Heritage ………………………………………………………………. 99 Other Themes (not related to any religion) ……………………………………… 99 Indian Public Tourism Representation of India’s Heritage ……………………… 102 Hindu Heritage …………………………………………………………………… 103 Christian Heritage ………………………………………………………………… 106 Muslim Heritage ………………………………………………………………… 108 Buddhist Heritage ………………………………………………………………… 109 Jain Heritage ……………………………………………………………………… 110 Sikh Heritage …………………………………………………………………….. 110 Other Themes (not related to any religion) ……………………………………… 111 Representative Dissonance in the Three Indian Tourism Representations of India’s Six Religions’ Heritage ………………………………………………… 113 Ancientness and Myths of Hindu Architecture …………………………….. 114 Colonial Heritage …………………………………………………………… 120 Representative Dissonance in the Three Tourism Representations ……………… 124 Similarities……………………………………………………………….… 125 Difference ………………………………………………………………… 138 Chapter 6. CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………. 142 Opportunities for Future Research ………………………………………………. 150 REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 153 vii TABLES: Table 1. International Tourist Arrivals in India ………………………………… 54 Table 2. Top 10 International Markets for India in 2003 ………………………. 54 Table 3. Foreign Exchange Earnings through Tourism ……………………….. 55 Table 4. Domestic Tourist Visits in India ……………………………………… 55 Table 5. Share (%) of Top 10 States in Domestic Tourist Visits in 2002 ……… 56 Table 6. Indian Government Tourism Representation of India’s Heritage ………. 71 Table 7. Indian Trade Tourism Representation of India’s Heritage ………………. 90 Table 8. Indian Public Tourism Representation of India’s Heritage ……………… 102 Table 9. Similarities and Differences in the Representation of Heritage of Six Religions in India by Three Indian Tourism Representations …………. 114 Table 10. Similarities and Differences in the Three Indian Tourism Representations ………………………………………………………. 124 viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS During my four years of Ph.D. study at Pennsylvania State University, and in the last two years in the process of researching and writing this dissertation, I have accumulated a great many debts of gratitude. I want to acknowledge them here. First, my committee - Professor Garry Chick, Dr. Duarte B. Morais, Dr. Harry Zinn and Dr. Jeff Cohen. I am particularly beholden to my chair, Professor Garry Chick. I want to sincerely thank him for his patience, encouragement and guidance that carried me on through difficult times. His perceptive comments have changed my outlook in doing research. I am truly grateful to my teacher and friend, Dr. Duarte