Re-examining Ecological Aspects of Vrindavan Pilgrimage

Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India, the medieval Hindu pilgrimage centre associated with Radha and Krishna, provides a clear instance for observing ecological concerns associated with modern religious pilgrimage. This paper reconsiders ecological approaches to Vrindavan pilgrimage and argues that the current mismatch between belief and action by modern pilgrims in Vrindavan and its pilgrimage sites is the result of a schism between the perceived ecological significance of pilgrimage as a religious act and the importance of acts of pilgrimage as a method of ecological awareness creation. Based on over a decade of environmental fieldwork, a seven level model of human ecology is presented incorporating several levels of pilgrimage. This model challenges the relevance of previous research in pilgrimage tourism and the secularisation of pilgrimage in modern contexts.