India is a large country with great traditions, culture, and civilization. India has 4000 years of fertile civilized life with planned cities, monumental temples, mosques and churches, palaces, sculptures, paintings and various artistic creations. These scenic beauties have made India one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world. The Tourism potential of any country mainly depends on its climate, scenery, historical monuments, arts, tradition, festivals and the society. If any place or area or spot possesses all these characters and potentials, we may call it as a tourist centre or pilgrim centre. Tamil Nadu, a southern State of India, is a land of charm with ancient traditions; the picturesque land of Tamil Nadu has towering temples with magnificent architecture and sculptures, art galleries and heterogeneous natural beauty, existing on the hills and mountains. Tamil Nadu is flooded with different cultural, spiritual and religious centres like Madurai, Rameswaram, Kanyakumari, Tanjavur, Kumbakonam, Trichy, Kancheepuram, Chidambaram, Tiruvannamalai and Palani. Religious institutions like temples in Tamil Nadu have been playing a multifaceted role in religious, social, economic and cultural life of the Tamil community. Moreover, temples are considered as producers, land owners, trustees,employers, pilgrim centres and institutions. There are studies conducted in cultural and spiritual tourism centres, which focus on heritage, culture and the historical aspects. But studies that focus on economic aspects of such centres are scanty. With this background, the authors have made an attempt to study the memories and reminiscence of 150 Pilgrimage tourists, who visited Palani Temple; one of the Six abodes of Lord Muruga located in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, with an objective of examining the social and economic characteristics of the pilgrimage tourists; and identify their major problems and suggest ways and means for promoting pilgrimage tourism in Palani. The Primary data has been collected through interview schedules. The interview schedule was pre-tested, modified and well- structured, and was used for obtaining information and data from the cultural-spiritual tourists, who are visiting the Palani temple. Secondary data in connection with the Palani temple were also gathered from the office of the Commissioner, Palani temple. Further, the authors have collected data and information from 150 tourists who visited the Palani temple during June-July 2011. The tourists were purposively selected in different spots in and around the Palani temple. For the purpose of analyzing the data, simple tools like ratio, percentage and average were used
PILGRIMAGE TOURISM IN OUR COUNTRY (SAMARKAND EXAMPLE)
