Religious Tourism and the Environment. Группа авторов

This chapter situates the Sagrada Familia by Gaudí and its entangled relations with Montserrat within the reconceptualization of nature by the Catholic Church in a contemporary European context.

      In Chapter 9, Daniel Olsen examines how the rigours of religious tourism and pilgrimage affect human health through a review of the literature related to the development and spread of infectious diseases by participants at pilgrimage/religious tourism mass gatherings. While some of this occurs because of the lack of hygienic facilities, the close proximity of religious travellers in sometimes small, confined spaces also exacerbates the rates of contraction and the spread of these diseases. The author also looks at the different types of infectious and non-infectious disease and other health risks that occur at religious mass gatherings with a particular emphasis on the Hajj. The author concludes with a discussion of how government, health, and religious officials are trying to mitigate the spread of diseases that originate from, and other health-related issues that occur at, these religious mass gatherings, highlighting the need for further research in this area.

      Waste management, the most visible environmental problem for Hajj managers, is the focus on Jahanzeeb Qurashi’s chapter (Chapter 10). Even though the Quran is explicit in highlighting the importance of environmental stewardship and conservation, the areas in Saudi Arabia that host the Hajj – one of the most important tenets of Islamic religious practice – experience extensive environmental damage during the pilgrimage. This is in part due to the lack of controlled waste disposal, recovery, and recycling, as well as deficiencies in the country’s national waste management strategy. This chapter critically focuses on a number of key areas related to the Hajj and environmental damage, including how pilgrims and the hospitality and tourism industry affect the natural environment and how the government of Saudia Arabia is attempting to improve the environmental sustainability of the Hajj.

      In Chapter 11, Michael Di Giovine and Elisa Ascione focus on the rebuilding of religious tourism sites after major natural disasters, as shown in the case of St Benedict in Norcia, Italy. The authors explore how different stakeholders have framed the role of tourism in the area and how touristic practices re-signify the value of places and their associated moral ideals after environmental disasters. While the clergy in the area have used recent earthquakes as a metaphor for redemption and renewal, tourists and other stakeholders have also affirmed their presence and experiences in the region as transformative for themselves and for the environment. The authors also emphasize how the necessary tearing down of important churches affects the region’s sense of place and social identity, and how efforts to rebuild these churches as well as the surrounding community have helped instil a sense of sacredness beyond the old core to the destination as a whole. In addition, the authors illustrate the dialectical effects of a double environmental transformation on sacred sites: how a natural disaster – unplanned and uncontrollable by social actors – affects the tangible and intangible fabric of a pilgrimage site and how those subsequent social interventions likewise influence religious tourism and its stakeholders as well as the wider environment.

      In the final chapter, Daniel Olsen and Kiran Shinde summarize the major arguments as discussed in the preceding chapters and expand upon their proposed conceptual framework for environmental analysis in a pilgrimage place from Chapter 1. The authors also focus on the limitations of the book and suggest future avenues of research in the area of religion, tourism, and the environment.

       Note

      ¹ The Kumbha Mela celebrates the victory of the gods over the demons in winning control over the pitcher or kumbha containing the nectar of immortality. According to myth, four drops of the nectar fell to earth during the battle, each landing in one of four religious centres: Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik. The Kumbha Mela pilgrimage, which takes place every 3 years in January-February, rotates between these four religious centres. Participating in the Kumbha Mela is regarded as a meritorious act for Hindus, and sadhus or wandering ascetics, religious gurus, and pilgrims from all over India and the world come to participate in the ritual bathing in the river on the day marking the mythical event. In 2019, more than 120 million visitors attended the Kumbha Mela at Allahabad.

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