Prayagraj, August 14, 2025 – In a strategic move to elevate religious tourism, authorities are advancing plans to rebrand Prayagraj as the “City of Temple Corridors”, leveraging newly constructed temple walkways and immersive cultural initiatives following the recent Maha Kumbh-2025 and in anticipation of Ardh Kumbh-2031.
Led by Regional Tourism Officer Aparajita Singh, the plan involves promoting temple corridors that connect historically significant but under-visited sites—such as the Dwadash Madhav cluster, Bade Hanuman Temple near the Sangam, Akshayvat, Saraswati Well, and the Bhardwaj Ashram—through a revitalisation initiative costing over ₹129 crore.
To support this transformation, the government has unveiled a Tourism Tracker, a digital monitoring tool that provides monthly insights into domestic and international tourist inflow, hotel occupancy, transport logistics, events, and project implementation.
The objective is to leverage data insights to continuously fine-tune and elevate the experience for pilgrims and visitors—through tools like real-time crowd monitoring and digital travel assistants. For instance, Kerala’s Sabarimala dashboard offers real-time crowd updates and processing trends, while its WhatsApp chatbot provides multilingual assistance on logistics, schedules, and accommodations.
Infrastructure is also being upgraded across city limits under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Planned enhancements include parking lots, rest houses, public restrooms, and cafeterias. These are to be placed strategically outside the core city to manage footfall and congestion during peak seasons like Ardh Kumbh-2031.
To sustain tourism momentum beyond major events, authorities are organizing a mega tourism conclave that will bring together tour operators, travel agencies, and hoteliers. Simultaneously, the NOC (No Objection Certificate) process for hotels will be streamlined, and the numbers of quality homestays and registered dharamshalas will be increased.Complimentary to these efforts, cultural programming such as Ganga Aarti and evening performances will be hosted at key sites, and multilingual signage will be installed along corridors, with tendering already underway. There will also be measures to prevent unauthorised vendor encroachments in these sacred spaces.
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