Mozari – A Spiritual “Field” of Tourism

Tourism is interaction between people and places through movement. The subject of distance in general and perception of distance in particular is very important in the study of tourism especially for religious tourism. Accessibility, connectivity of tourist places is one of the important factors to be considered for sustainability of religious tourism. Religious tourism generates employment for regional development and can enroot the cultural values. It also fosters revenue. The physical surrounding and effect of environment has greatly influenced each religion and so the religious tourism sites. The religious landscape is an expression of cultural landscape as religion is vital part of culture. Such landscapes are called as sacred landscapes or holy places. The content of religious landscape is varied ranging from houses of worship to cemeteries, way side shrines and place name. Moreover, religion contributes layout of settlement. The emphasis explores the potentiality and sustainability of religious tourism in and around Mozari in Amravati district of Maharashtra. It has both on-site and off-site advantage and is one of the important religious tourism locations in Maharashtra. Scenic beauty, accessibility and connectivity and temple clusters are to be considered as tourism resources for Mozari. Keywords : Spiritual, Religious tourism, picnic, pilgrimage, Alpha, gamma, beta and cyclomatic inde

Churches of Greater Mumbai – a physio-cultural appraisal

Greater Mumbai is a mosaic of diverse languages, cultures and religions. Churches in Mumbai reflect the long association of Mumbai City and Salsette Island which comprise the present day Greater Mumbai. The churches of Greater Mumbai are relics of art, architecture and culture, as well as multi-lingual and religious tolerance. They enjoy a great history which dates back to the 16th century. With the coming of the Portuguese and British, the churches and their surrounding environment have undergone a spatial and temporal change to withstand the needs of the society with increasing population and prevalent intra-urban migration. The contributions of East Indians, Goans, Mangaloreans, Tamilians and Keralites to the progress and development of the Church in the area is immense. The present paper is an attempt to highlight the environmental history of the churches chronologically with sketches and maps. The study also analyses the geographical background and population composition in and around the churches. It brings out the emerging spatial pattern of churches in Greater Mumbai as well as the changes that have taken place over a period of time. Moreover, the paper describes the contribution of sociofugal and sociopetal forces for generating the socio-environmental scenario in the contemporary spatial framework