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The aim of the study was to assess status, prospects and challenges of sustainable development for pilgrimage site of Ayodhya, the study focuses on Macroeconomic transformations, the temple economy of Ayodhya, and amidst the recent developments the sustainable practices which are practiced by the stakeholders.
The research reviews existing literature on sustainable development of pilgrimage sites, with a particular emphasis on Ayodhya comparative sites like Vrindavan and Varanasi. Along with them it also explores global studies on sustainable tourism. The gaps identified from the review include lack of empirical valuation of the impacts of developmental activities to promote religious tourism of such sites and absence of holistic examination of macroeconomic indicators and potential sectors which are yet unexplored, local economies and sustainable practices.
In the light of these gaps, the study employs a mixed-method case study approach to explore overall macro-economic developments of Ayodhya, the temple economy of Ayodhya and the small enterprises considering the interconnections with sustainable practices along with economic adjustments being made by them amidst the redevelopment. The study specifically examines the effects of the development interventions on the local economy and residents of Ayodhya. This is done by using Sustainable Livelihood Framework including comparative per-capita GDP trends analysis, logistics regression models and SWOT analysis.
The findings of comparative trends analysis indicated that there is lack of an organized handicraft industry despite having potential in khadau sandals, vermillion and chandan industries. The analysis of impact on shopkeepers and adjustments made by them is done in two stages where initially field study was done to analyze the entire scenario of the market and eventually deciding the variables and eventually a logistics regression analysis was done on impact on reported revenue growth since 2022, of received support from local authorities which resulted to be inadequate, impact of structural changes like reported reduction in size of shop, reported increase in cost burden due to redevelopment, which resulted in showing positive impacts on revenue growth, and lastly the type and age of the business in which it was indicated that only Prasad and offerings shops significant and positive impact on business and that old shops are in more profit in comparison to those established recently. The results of the qualitative SWOT analysis had shown that there is scope of improvement in the measures undertaken to protect the depleting air quality, faults in sewage management and issues in hospitality, however there has been good work done in terms of maintain water quality of the Sarayu river and overall cleanliness along with restoration of important heritage points in the city.
