Community Perception on Religious Tourism and Spatial Representation of Temples in Thrissur District

Abstract

Heritage tourism is a branch of tourism oriented towards the cultural heritage of the location where tourism is occurring. India is famous for its rich heritage and ancient culture. Cultural heritage is broadly divided into Tangible heritage and intangible heritage. (Mckercher and Cros 2012). Religious tourism is a part of Intangible heritage, which is firmly based on faith and spiritual dynamics. From the Vedic era, religious tourism was prevalent in India; Hinduism was one of the earliest forms of spiritual beliefs that existed among the human community. Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, has a lot of religious centers that speak more about mythology and history. The city attracts a lot of tourists outside India during Thrissur pooram. The study was done in two phases Phase- 1Inventory and Creation of Database of Temples in Thrissur district. The study explains about maps done using QGIS software and grouped in different aspects like Festivals, Main deity, Temple Administration, Temple Year built, and Temple Built by. Phase 2 Community Perception of religious tourism impacts was assessed. Socio-economic profile of the local community and community perception of different attributes of religious tourism was assessed. The relationship of demographic attributes with temple image, socio-economic, and physical benefits were studied. Three factors were extracted from temple Image, namely Traditions and Customs, Faith and Ethnicity and Worship dynamics. Seven constructs were developed for tourism support of the local community. newlineFrom the Structural Equation Modeling it is understood that Temple image influencing the economic, social and physical benefits; this, in turn, affects the overall development, temple image has a positive influence on community attachment and support for tourism development. newlinei) Major objectives : To build an inventory and database of temples, creating a route map and zoning of temples with GIS. newlineand#61623;and#61472;To assess the perception of the local community on religious tourism.