FRELIGION ELSEVIER Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 won eleviercomylocateftligion Religion and Spirituality in Lonely Planet’s India. Siv Ellen Kraft Department of Religious Studles, University of Tromso, 9037 Tromse, Norway Remaskable, bewildering, totally ieresiible ~ India offers a milion diferent experiences, all at once, al the time. IF you seek spiritual enlightenment, the thei of scaling the mighty Himalaya, or the buzz ofa modern hyper metropolis ~ or if you just want tote ‘oma tropical beach and count cows ~ discover the sensory overload that i Inia with this topseling guide. (back cover, Lonely Planet india 2005) Abstract For years, the authors of the best-selling guide to India, Lonely Planet, has shaped the perspectives of ‘many travellers. This article considers how religion is constructed as a category and how itis made relevant to travellers. [ argue that ‘teligion’ comes in two versions, one pertaining to the Indian hosts and one to travellers, Religion is based on tradition, faith and historical institutions, whose members, rituals and sacred sites are of interest to travellers. Spirituality has to do with the personal development of travellers and is exclusively referred to as philosophy. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved, ‘Commonly referred to by travellers asthe Bible’, Lonely Planet has for years been the best-selling, guide to India (hereafter referred to as LP India). Like most other contemporary guidebooks, this ‘one deals extensively with religion, and like most bibles it speaks with an authoritative voice. The artiole is an attempt to analyse the information presented on religion, The main pact of the article is organised as follows. First, it discusses the authority of the guidebook. Second, it discusses the kind of information presented and religion as a category. Third, it focuses on religious dimensions of travellingand the traveller, including so-called spiritual resources offered to travellers. Finally, LP India’s concept of travelling is discussed as a version of rite de passage, whose processes of transfor- mation carry religious overtones, Exmail address: svk@sv.1it.no (0048-721 X/S - see front matter © 2007 Klsovier Ltd. All rights reserved. ‘doi:10.10167 religion 2007.07.01SLE. Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230~242 2a Religion, tourism and guidebooks Since the 1980s, interest in travel has increased among scholass of religion, but mainly in regard to explicitly religious genres, such as pilgrimages. Several studies comment upon the overlap be- tween religious journeys and tourism, but little systematic attention has been granted to their relationship (see Badone and Roseman, 2004; Cohen and Noy, 2005; Swatos and Tomasi, 2002; Vukonic, 1996). The second edition of The Encyclopaedia of Religion (2005) has an entry on ‘tourism and religion’, but among the seventeen studies cited only one (see Bremer, 2004) deals explicitly with this topic, and it does not consider guidebooks. Meanwhile, the broader field of tourism research has produced few studies of guidebooks, and most ignore religion. Sociologist Deborah Bhattacharyya, for instance, does not mention religion in an otherwise interesting actiele about Lonely Planet’s India: A Travel Survival Kit (see Bhattacharyya, 1997). She is concerned with the narrative style of the guidebook, its representations of India, and ‘proper’ relations be- tween Indians and Western travellers. She emphasises the ongoing Orientalist underpinnings of the guidebook, but she does not include religion among the exotic representations discussed.‘ From the perspective of religious studies, guidebooks are revealing in several respects. First, the amount of space granted (o religion indicates its importance as a topic in tourism. LP India may be extreme, but a brief search through the main publishers of guidebooks indicates that informa- tion about religion is common, along with detailed descriptions of religious sites, buildings and rituals. What Penny Travlou refers to as a shift towards culture and history in guidebooks (see Travlou, 2002) appears to include religion. Travlou dates this shift to the publication of Rough Guides and Lonely Planet guides during the mid 1980s. Second, the idea that travelling is conducive to religious wisdom is as old as Gilgamesh (see Leed, 1991, p. 58). In guidebooks like LP India this educational or mind-opening dimension is stressed. Third, guidebooks are conservative in regard to emblematic images.’ They play a role in repro- ducing and citculating stereotypes, though their potential for novel contributions may be consid- erable. In India, they include the construction of religious tourist destinations, based largely upon already established religious centres yet revised to meet the needs of travellers. Places like Dhar- amsala, New Delhi and Varanasi now cater to the spiritual quest of travellers through courses in yoga, meditation and alternative medicine — frequently organised by ashrams and monasteries. In Rishikesh, by the River Ganges, the religious industry is dominated by backpackers. Made famous by the visit of the Beatles in 1968, this traditional centre for pilgrims has sinee then been " Other studies include an article about guidebooks to Athens (see Travlow, 2002), a short entrance in the Enepelope- dia of Tourisn {sce Tower, 2000), a chapter focusing on more general aspects of the genre (see Stowe, 1994), and an article about the origins of sightseeing (see Adler, 1989). In addition, Dean MacCannelf's frequently cited The Tourist: ‘A New Theory of the Leisure Class (1976) draws upon guidebooks, and Tone Elsrud, in a study of backpackers in Thai- land, discusses the importance of Lonely Planet guidebook (see Elsrud, 2004). 7 In a study of guidebooks co Athens, Travlou notes that stereotypical images have changed litle since the appearance of the first guidebook ia 1845 (see Travlou, 2002). Torun Elsrud, similarly, argues that guidebooks, due partly to the fact that they are produced to make a profit, tend to be conservative in regard to emblematic images: “I is easier to stick to the same old stories, the ones that are assumed Lo be easily understood by readers. This, f boieve, is part of the ex- planation why (iravel) journalism tends (o thrive on myth ~ or stereotypes ~ regarding the nature of “otherness” and fother stories separating the tourist from the people at the destination’ (Eisruc, 2004, p. 44),232 SLE, Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 established as a backpacker Mecca, And LP India, by including it on its suggested itineraries, has contributed to this development. Lonely Planet Started by an Australian couple in the early 1970s, Lonely Planet has since then been estab- lished as the largest of the so-called independent guidebook publishers.’ True to the original vision of the founding couple, these publications speak to the backpacker-segment of the travel industry — low-budget travellers who travel both extensively and for long periods (see Cohen and Noy, 2005, p. 2). Usually described as a sub-category of youth travel, this way of travelling originated during the counter-culture of the [960s and developed upon its symbols and strategies.” Asa global culture, backpacking still appears to be running from ‘the West to the rest’, (o borrow a term used by Fiirsich and Kavoori (2001, p. 151). Backpacking ‘is still very much informed by these traditional so called “western” values. Predominantly rather affluent people from European countries, USA, Canada, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand travel to economically poorer na- tions in tropical zones’ (Elsrud, 2004, p. 145). The first edition of LP was published in (981. The eleventh edition is 1139 pages long and is the work of thirteen authors. In conformity with the structure of Lonely Planet publications, the first chapter presents background information on how to plan and prepare for the trip. This chapter is followed by ‘Suggested Itineraries’ (including ‘Classical Routes’, ‘Roads Less Travelled’ and ‘Tailored Trips’). The next four chapters deal with “History’, “The Culture’ (including religion), ‘Environment’, and “Food and Drink’. The main part of the book is a geographically organised description of places and sights. There are maps and photographs throughout the book. The voice of authors and the authority of the text The Encyclopedia of Tourism defines guidebooks, in contrast to the impressionistic, personal world of other types of travel literature, as ‘lying more within the objective, informative sphere of production’ (Tower, 2000, p. 267). Guidebooks are usually written by professional travel writers, and their sources tend to include scholarly studies as well as travel literature, novels, and various other kinds of popular information (see Tower, 2000). LP India claims to provide neutral information and independent advice (p. 13). The authority of the text is based upon the status of the authors as experienced travellers. References to team- work, however, are limited to the first and last pages. The remaining parts are presented in the voice of ane implicit narrator. Bhattacharyya discusses several strategies in this style of writing, Most important is the representation of interpretative material without argument, in a unitary ¥ LP India claims to cover ‘most corners of the planet’. Publications include more than 600 titles in English, and trans lations include French, Italian, Spanish, Korean and Japanese versions. The publicist also hosts extensive Internet sites, ‘with information on books and travel gear, an author's blog, and the so-called Thorn Tree Forum, invotving more than ‘000 active users. See htip:/www lonely planet.com/. * Since then, the boundaries of both the counter-culture and the backpacker-movement have loosened, thus making it less clear who the backpackers are and how they differ from mainstream culture, On the diversification of the back- packer culture, see Richards and Wilson 2004S.E, Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 233 voice (see Bhattacharyya, 1997, p. 375). The authors never disagree, communicate doubts or re- ‘veal themselves as individuals, and do not distinguish between facts and opinions. The world con- sists of facts. The guidebook presents these facts, thus saving (ravellers the trouble. ‘Very few of the books are written by scholars of religion, and the few exceptions are written by Indian scholars, thus suggesting that LP India relies on the information of ‘insiders’. The section on Hinduism, for example, suggests two studies for travellers ‘with no prior knowledge of the subject’, namely, Shakunthala Jagannathan’s Hinduism ~ An Iniroduction and Amar Chitra Katha’s children series of ‘colourful comic-book style versions of the Ramayana and the Mahab- harata’ (p. 62). Religion and philosophy in ‘LP India’ ‘True to its conception of knowledge, LP India distinguishes between a surface-level world of bewildering religious complexity and an underlying kernel of fundamental structures. As the in- troduction declares, India’s religious texts are ‘as perplexing as their underlying message is simple” (p. 4). The job of the authors, it seems, is to guide readers through this complexity by revealing for them its underlying simplicity. Diversity is occasionally considered, but the more common style of representation is that of uniformity, of what one billion Indians believe and do, regardless of place, culture or social context, and of their ancestors’ faith and religious activities, dating back to the time of the Vedas. ‘The introductory section on religions may serve as.a starting point (pp. 61~7). This section pro- vides statistical material, a short passage on conflicts, and separate entries on Hinduism, Islam, Sikhisma, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. The section on Hinduism, which is by far the most extensive, emphasises its antiquity, its belief in gods and its sacred texts, with section titles like ‘Gods and Goddesses’, ‘Other Prominent Deities’, ‘Sacred Texts’, and ‘Worship’. Except for the section on Buddhism, all of the sections emphasise the group character of the religions depicted. Among the religious photographs, only five are portraits of individuals (three of them Buddhists), and these involve neither religious nor ritual activities. By contrast, eight pictures feature religious crowds, either on their way to a religious ritual or engaged in it. ‘The impression created is that of faceless groups, who are tightly integrated, are characterised by uniformity rather than diversity, and move as ‘one body’. Buddhism is introduced under the title ‘religions’, butis nevertheless referred to asa ‘philosophy’, and is not linked to any of the religious markers, such as gods, myths, sacred texts and belief’. Both. the Buddha’s hagiography and his search for enlightenment are referred to in factual terms, and these facts are systematically tied to specific places which tourists can visit. In the section on Bod- hgaya, for instance (pp. 506-9), readers are introduced to the precise spot where ‘the dying Buddha donated his begging bowl’, where he ‘preached his last sermon’, where he “transformed himself into the enlightened one’ (p. 506), where he ‘formulated his philosophy of life’ (p. 507), and where he “undeewent years of penance’ (p. 509). The section on ‘Tailored Trips’ includes a ‘Buddhist Circuit’, through which travellers can follow in the footsteps of the Buddha, starting in Bodhgaya and ending in Kushingar, where he died. After or before this trip, the travellers can ‘find inner peace’ beneath, the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya, or through a meditation course (p. 34), What is meant by philosophy is not clear. LP India speaks of philosophy in eegard to Bud- dhism, (o yoga and meditation, and (o certain movements of Western origin, such as the24 S.E. Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 ‘Theosophical Society (in Chennai) and the Auroville community (in Pondicherry). First, philos- ophy is both a noun anc! a verb, referring to existing bodies of truth on the one hand and to the act, of systematic searching on the other. As paths to wisdom, philosophy seems to be positioned half way between science and religion, thereby pethaps bringing out the best in the two. Second, phi- losophy appears to be closely connected to values typically associated with Western traditions, such as freedom, individualism and democracy. Again, the pictures are illuminating. OF the por- traits, three out of five feature Buddhist monks. In contrast ¢o the crowd-pictures of Hindus and Muslims, the Buddhists are either alone ot in small groups, thus implying their individualistic ori- entation and anti-authoritarian approsel Underpinning these portrayals is a divide between the otherness of religion and the familiarity of philosophy. Both are portrayed as authentic parts of Indian culture, but only philosophies are deemed relevant (o the development of travellers. Indian religions are desctibed as exotic, colour- ful and extremely different, and for these reasons interesting, But they are not offered as truths to be taken seriously by travellers, at least not in the package-deal version ascribed to locals. Re- moved from this deal, particular ingredients, such as yoga and meditation, are presented as rele- vant to the development of travellers. But these ingredients seem to be redefined as either philosophy or as we shall see in more detail its close relative, ‘spirituality’. Certain contemporary phenomena are excluded from these categories of authentic religion and philosophy, and these are subjected to a more critical evaluation. Two examples are Sai Baba and (the recently deceased) Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh. In the section on Puttaparthi, the main ashram of Sai Baba, we learn that Sai Baba has a ‘huge following in India and around the globe’ and that he is ‘the god of big things’. Celebrations of his seventy fifth an- niversary drew one million visitors to the ashram, LP India notes, for a ‘massive gig’, resem- bling an Olympic opening ceremony (p. 876). In fact, everything about Sai Baba is big: ‘the ‘Afro hairdo, the big name-devotees, ... the money ... and controversies’, including ‘serious allegations of sexual misconduct and molestation’ (p. 876). LP India’s discussion of Osho med- itation resort in Pune advises travellers (o ‘check it out’, but with caution, Like Sai Baba, its, founding guru, Bhagwan Rajneesh, was a man of dubious morals and an extravagant lifestyle, including an enormous collection of Rolls Royces. In addition, the ashram is now a sleeker version of itself: ‘Old-timers say that it ain’t what it used to be’ (p. 749). Bhagwan is said to have followed ‘no particular religion or philosophy’ but to have advocated ‘sex as a path to enlightenment’ and to have based this upon ‘a curious blend of Californian pop psy- chology and Indian mysticism’ (p. 749). The cases of Osho and Sai Baba speak to several issues. These are popular gurus, but they have not formulated religions in LP India’s sense of the word. Their teachings are recent rather than old, their congregations shifting rather than stable, and their followers Western as well as Indian. In addition, they draw upon various traditions. And their spiritual enterprises are explicitly commercial. These last two ‘violations’ may be particularly important. Syncretism is seen as falseness, as a ‘mishmash of religion’ and as a departure from original tradition. Meanwhile, commercial aspects of the West are portrayed as somehow foreign to religion, and equally suspect in authenticity. The contrast between a spiritual East and a materialistic West has been crucial to the Orientalist tradition, and this contrast is one main reason for India’s position as a favourite destination of the New Age movement and the counter-culture.S.E. Kraft} Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 235 Extreme, timeless and exotic ~ the emblematic position of religion in ‘LP India’ The overall impression Lonely Planet offers is that India is an extremely religious country. On one level this may seem obvious and hard to dispute, but other Lonely Planet editions indicate that the local importance of religion is not the only factor determining its position in guidebooks In contrast to the overwhelming importance of religion in LP India, Lonely Planet’s guidebook on California (2003) is relatively silent about religious matters. Yet according to a statistic referred to, only 9% of the Californians ‘say they are not at all religious’ (I.P California, p. 42).° Religion is nevertheless not included among the tourist highlights presented. Christianity is barely referred to at all, indigenous religions are completely ignored, and new religious currents ~ (o dhe extent that they are mentioned — tend to be described in derogatory terms, as not worthy of ‘dipping into’. Meanwhile, the section on sights aad places does include religion, but primarily in the form of historical interest, such as missionary buildings. The religious life of contemporary Cali- fornians is not presented as a beckoning site for travellers. The use of pictures and overarching images underscores this impression. LP India features a goddess on the front page; LP California, palm trees and a man in shorts and T-shirt. In LP India 47 out of a total of 126 pictures have a religious theme; in LP California only 1 out of 52 does. LP California claims that ‘change is the only constant’; LP India describes traditionalism as the most characteristic trait. India has ‘one foot deeply grounded in time-honoured traditions, and the other fervently striding into the e-age’ (p. 4), but emphasis is consistently placed on the traditions. The history of India is portrayed as longer, deeper and richer than that of most other countries, and this past is still here, particularly in religion. The tourist industry’s concern with authenticity may illuminate these presentations.° One aspect of authenticity is the existence of difference: ‘what makes travelling authentic is simply the existence of difference, and the more different a place is, the better’ (Heath and Potter, 2004, p, 270). Non-Western religions generally score higher on the scale of tourist attractions, and a demarcation of differences makes sense from the perspective of tourism and guidebooks, But it is unlikely that the average tourist knows much about native American religions, and foreign imports such as Buddhism would seem to be as different here as in the countries of their origin. Why, then, the lack of interest and information? One reason may be the relationship between religion and established stereotypes of the nation, In the case of India religion is an emblem of national identity, By contrast, Americanness is associated with freedom, individualism and progress — the secular world of modernity rather than the religious world of the past. Furthermore, both popular and scholarly representations tend to portray religion as ‘the serious’ life. LP India’s description of Indian religions fulfills these expectations. By contrast, California is depicted as the ‘fun, play and cereal’ state (LP California, ¥ According to the statistic given, 10% are Christians, 5% are Fewish, 7% belong to other ait, and 18% ‘express no sectarian preference but yet consider themselves religious’ (LP California p. 42). ©The importance granted to “authenticity” dates back to MacCannel's The Tourist (1976). Here tourism is a quest for authenticity, and this quest is a modern version of a universal human concert with the sacted. The tourist is de- scribed as a contemporary pilgrim, seeking authenticity in places and times that are distant in time or geography. Mace Cannell’s theory has been replaced by a more complex set of motives and orientations: se for instance Cohen, 1989 and Cohen, and Ney, 2005.236 SLE. Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 p. 42), so that the potential for proper religiosity is scant and any religious phenomena are likely to be superticial. ‘The contrast between serious and superficial corresponds to a contrast established in social the- ories of tourism between ‘front and ‘back’. Beginning with Dean MacCannell’s The Tourist, pub- lished in 1976, Erving Goffman’s front-back dichotomy (see Goffman, 1959) has been applied to the field of tourism. MacCannell refers to a tourist fascination with “the back’ of culture rather than its front. A back implies ‘a certain mystification, a place where there are secrets, props or activities that might undermine the “reality” of that is going on out front’ (Heath and Potter, 2004, p. 272). MacCannell suggests a divide between Western societies as ‘all front’ and ‘primitive’ societies as ‘all back’ — that is as open, somewhat innocent and authentic (see MacCannell, 1976, p. 93).” In contrast to the all-front image of happy-going Californians, India is portrayed as ‘all back’ ~ as a country with depths played out in the open, thus accessible for Indians and travellers, alike. LP India’s portcayal of Varanasi is an unusvally elaborate example of the tendencies discussed. ‘Varanasi is described as ‘one of the holiest cities in India’, as one of its most important pilgrim sites, as ‘the beating heart of the Hindu universe’, as a ‘crossing place between the physical and spiritual worlds’, and as the site of extreme rituals (p. 384). Both magical and overwhelming, it isa place where ‘the most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public’, accessible (0 tour- ists and Indians alike. In fact, to walk the ghats, particularly at dawn is a unique, world-class ‘people-watching’ walk as you mingle with the fascinating mixture of people who come to the Ganges not only for a ritual bath but also to wash clothes, do yoga, offer blessings, buy paan (mixture of betel nut and feaves), sell flowers, yet a massage, play cricket, wash their buffaloes, get a shave, improve their karma by giving (o beggats, or sim- ply loiter. This is traditional India at its most colourful and picturesque and photo opportu- nities abound. (p. 387) ‘The ‘back’ is wide open. It offers authentic scenes from rituals and everyday life, and these are representative of ‘traditional India’. To gaze upon Varanasi is to gaze upon the ‘essential India’ of past and present. As a miniature version of Indianness, this one has the added advantage of being, picturesque. The idea of the back as a timeless zone may be particularly pronounced in guidebooks on pre- sumably traditional countries. In guidebooks to Athens, Travlou (2002) has argued, visitors are introduced to two different times: that of the ancient and interesting past, as represented by Acropolis, and that of contemporary city. Only the ancient past is marked as worthy of tourist attention. The portrait of contemporary locals ‘is either absent or related to the provision of ser- vices’ (Traviou, 2002, p. 212). Bhattacharyya’s description of India points in a similar direction, Having discussed the importance of historical monuments in LP India, she notes as striking that the monuments of India’s past are represented pietorially without human subjects, {thus} communicating a disjunction between the contemporary inhabitants of India and their ¥ As MacCannell puts it, The problem here is clearly one of the emergent aspects of life in modern society. Primitives Who live theie lives totaly exposed to their “relevant others” do not suffer from anxiety about the authenticity of their lives’ (MacCannell, 1976, p. 93).SCE. Kroft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 237 historical past. This reinforces the sense that ‘the wonder that was India’ is no longer con- nected to the lives of today’s Indians, The message is not unlike Gokhale’s characterization of the 19th century American view of India as having a ‘dichotomous nature, wherein the contemporary Indian reality of political subjugation, economic deprivation and religious and intellectual atrophy stands starkly against a glorious past of lofty achievements in phi- losophy and literature’. (Bhattacharyya, 1997, pp. 382-3) But contrary to Bhattacharyya, the religious ‘wonder that was India’ is presented as a contin- uous tradition of timeless wonders. The overall selection of photographs in LP India is of religious buildings and monuments (twenty-three photographs), but almost half of these include human subjects. Some of them are involved in ritual activities. Others are posed as visitors to a traditional sacred site. LP India’s lack of reference to the contemporary religious context emphasises the image of timeless (raditions and continuity with the past. The introductory section on religion contains few references to historical changes. Apart from short descriptions of when and where they orig- inated, these religions are consistently represented as ahistorical, Seventeen of the photographs show Indian people engaged in a traditional ritual. Commenting upon a similar tendency in Na~ tional Geographic, Luvz and Collins argue that photographs of rituals reproduce certain cultural themes, namely, that ritual contains ‘distilled history’ and cultural wisdom and accordingly is the most conservative and meaningful remnant of culture (see Lutz and Collins, 1993, p. 90). fn LP India the camera-angle of the photographs adds to this notion of timeless ‘types’. Few of the pho- tographs show persons looking directly towards the camera. Among the photographs of religious rituals, none of the subjects faces the camera. A way of showing it as itis, these photographs cre- ate the impression of non-staged events, of people who are unaware of the passage of time or of the presence of observers. Religious dimensions of the ideal traveller Unlike the compulsory religiosity of Indian locals, travellers may choose to be ‘spiritual’. A re- current theme in LP India, this divide between ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ is correlated with that between locals and travellers, further underlining che seemingly enormous cultural gap that sep- rates them. I shall consider the concept of spirituality in Europe and the US. [ argue that the idea of travelling as conducive to personal transformation follows the pattern of @ rite de passage. Spirisuality, quest culture and seeker mentality So-called spiritual offers are granted considerable space in LP India. All entrances to big cities include descriptions of spiritual opportunities such as classes in yoga or meditation, and “travel- lets’ centres’ are to a large extent represented as spiritual centres Rishikesh (in Uttaranchal), for instance, is ‘conducive to meditation and mind expansion’ because of its location on the banks of the Ganges. It is also ‘very New Age’ and ‘the Yoga capital of the world’, with offerings including, courses in sitar and tabla, laughing yoga, humming and gong meditation, changing mantras, crys- tal healing, and massage. Even eating is a spiritual event in Rishikesh. During meals, you can ‘lis- ten to spiritually uplifting CDs as you sip Ayurvedic tea with your vegetarian meal’ (p. 416)238 S.E. Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 Catering to similar interests, MeLeod Ganj (in Himachal Pradesh) is described as ‘the headquac- ters of the Tibetan Government in Exile and residence of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama’ (p. 269), Travellers can visit museums and gompas and take courses in therapies, massage, med- itation and philosophy, including both New Age versions, such as Reiki and Reflexology, and ‘traditional’ Tibetan ones. Rishikesh and McLeod Ganj are only two of many centres of spirituality: ‘For those keen on dipping into the sacred, an array of sacrosanct sites and spiritual encounters beckon’ (p. 4). Not to be personally interested in spirituality is acceptable, but for those ‘who are keen’, India has much {0 offer. LP India refers to ‘dipping into’, to ‘checking out’, and to ‘spirituality’ (rather than re- ligion). The ideal spiritual teaveller is not interested in permanent membership in one organisation and does not bow to the authority of religious leaders or texts. Rather, the traveller explores the sources encountered, experiments with different opportunities, and checks things out oneselé.* These guidelines belong to a broader current, in scholarly literature referred to as ‘quest cul ture’, ‘seeking mentality’ (see Roof, 1999), ‘a new spirituality of seeking’ (see Wuthnow, 1998), ‘spiritual revolution’ (see Heelas and Woodhead, 2005) and ‘occulture’ (see Parte ridge, 2004). Writ- ing in 1998, Robert Wuthnow described a shift in American religion from a ‘spirituality of dwell- ing’ to ‘a new spirituality of seeking’ (see Wuthnow, 1998). Similar claims have been made by Roof (1999) on the basis of an extensive study in the US, and by Partridge (2004) and Heelas and Woodhead (2005) for Europe. Common to them all is interest in self-understanding and self-development, skepticism towards religious organisations, the celebration of religious plural- ism, and a willingness to explore traditions. The seekers prefer spirituality to religion. In fact, many of them claim to be spiritual rather than religious. Spirituality is often set against religion, and corresponds to a stereotypical dichotomy between travelling and tourism — typical of LP India and the backpacker culture in general. Much like the “true traveller’, the spiritual person is credited with depth, tolerance and oper -mindedness. By contrast to the passive and organised conformity of religion (and tourism), spirituality (and trav- elling) connotate independence, creativity and transformation. Like tourism, religion is based on package-deals. Like spirituality, travelling is unique and personal. In the words of Anna King, ‘religion is seen in terms of inherited structures and institutional externals, (while) spirituality hhas become a term that firmly engages with the feminine, with green issues, with ideas of whole- ‘ness, and interdependence, with the interfusion of the spiritual, the aesthetic and the moral’ (King, 1996, p. 345). Spirituality can also be seen as the inner truth to which all religions point (see King, 1996). Based on the perennialism typical of the New Age movement, spirituality may be found in all kinds of religions, even though some traditions may be richer, more useful and easier to employ. Buddhism, as represented in LP India, is clearly favoured, for it is closer to the world of spiritu- ality than to that of religion. Hinduism, although represented as a religion for Indians, is also available in piecemeal fashion, especially to meet the needs of travellers, In addition, pilgrimages T Backpackers’ spiritual inclinations have been noted in recent fiedwork studies. For instance, in her study of fscaeli backpackers in tadia, Ayana Shira Haviv claims that many use their trips (o explore ‘spirituality. The majority, many ‘out of curiosity, attends courses in yoga, meditation and alternative medicine, and some deseribe these as central to their trip. As one informant told her: ‘Tt completely changed my life... [never kniew who I realy was or whom { could become until the course at the ashram’ (aviv, 2005, p. 80)SLE. Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230~242 29 are considered interesting for (ravellers. LP India’s index includes twenty-four entries on ‘pilgrim- ‘age’. These entries explain the religious meaning of particular pilgrimage routes and provide de- tailed practical information. Most of the routes require several days of travelling, and many are far from public transport. They are thus limited (0 the ‘serious’ visitors to India ~ those who stay for a considerable time and who are willing to suffer. In conformity with the logic of sacrifice as gift-giving, the traveller pays the price. The tourist does not. Pilgrimage engages a broader range of the senses and is therefore deeper than the more limited and superficial world of (touristic) sight-seeing. Pilgrimage is an opportunity (o experience the inner aspects celebrated by the quest, culture, ‘The New Age movement contributed in important ways to the popularity of the quest, but like the counter-culture, from which it originated, the New Age movement has progressed from the fringes of culture to its mainstream. There is now ‘plenty of spiritual currency abroad in the culture atlarge ... in domain after domain.... Christianity isin decline (or dead) whereas spiritualities of lite are expanding’ (Heelas and Seel, 2003, p. 238). By contrast to the drop-outs of the 1960s, these members of the mainstream alternative are not heading for permanent settlement on “the other side’. They are likely to remain on ‘theit own side’, but to enrich it by regular or occasional encoun- ters with ‘the other’, Travelling provides particularly rich opportunities from this perspective. As temporary drops outs, backpackers are free to create their own version and degree of rebellion, Travelling as a life-changing experience; the rhetoric of awakening and transformation In one of the traveller novels recommended by LP India, first time backpacker Dave accom- panies his best friend’s girlfriend to India in an attempt lo seduce her. Titled Are You Experi- enced?, the novel is described in LP India as a ‘perceptive portrayal of the backpacker scene in India’ (p. 24), and has been called popular among backpackers (see Elsrud, 2004). One of its main themes is the spiritual development of the lead characters. Dave's girlfriend, Lisa, learns to reach for Nirvana through meditation. Her girlfriends improve their karma by volunteer work in a leprosy home dedicated to positive thinking. Dave himself, who throughout the book is the cynical voice of a rather gullible and very New Age orientated traveller community, finds himself transformed within weeks of his return to England. Dave can still remember how miserable he had been and how much he had hated travelling, but these negative memories quickly disappear: ‘My journey around India was already reducing itself into just another person’s “amazing experience™” (Sutcliffe, 1997, p. 227). Through these processes ‘a new me’ was created, ‘one who had matured so much that he was now ‘almost a new person’ (p. 235). LP India is referred to as ‘the Bible’ (or just ‘The Book’) by the characters in Are You Experi- enced. And the experiences of these ‘people of the Bible’ are to a large extent true to its overarch- ing ideals. Most of them are spiritual seekers, and all experience petsonal transformations. These changes, moreover, are not connected to one particular experience but rather, as in the case of Dave, (0 the overall encounter with India. Indicative of the main themes of this rhetoric, IP India claims on the first page of its introduction that India is a place to expect the unexpected and your journey through itis ultimately going to be exactly what you make of it. This mystifying country isn’t a place you merely ‘see’; it’s an invigorating assault on all senses, an experience that’s impossible (o define because it’s so240 S.E, Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 incredibly different for everyone. Love it or hate it — and most visitors seesaw between the two — India will jostle your entire being and no matter where you go or what you do, it’s a place you'll never forget. (p. 4) ‘The theme of “a new me’ is to some extent applicable to the patterns of rite de passage. Like the initiates described by Victor Turner, the (raveller leaves the known world, enters the unknown, and eventually returns home with a new social status (see Turner, 1979). The liminal stage is character- ised by communitas, by freedom from normal social confines and customs, and by transitional sym- bolism. In LP India the transition is both literal and metaphorical, with inner development paralleled by actual movements across space. Travellers are ‘tested’ along the way, through illness, exhaustion and stresses. Indeed, as the subtitle of LP India used to imply, travelling has to do with surviving. As theic ‘survival kit’, LP India assists the traveller along the way, but ultimately the rav- eller must endure the ordeals and pass the tests. ‘The main feature of liminality — ambiguity — is not important in LP India.” Rather, LP India refers to a world of sharp contrasts, which are the driving force behind personal development. ‘Apart from being extremely different from the Western world, India is a ‘land of astonishing con- teasts, as sublime as it is squalid, with plains as flat and featureless as the Himalaya are towering and spectacular, and religious texts as perplexing as their underlying message is simple’ (p. 4). ‘These contrasts are said to invoke the entire scale of human emotions, and in rather dramatic ways: what ‘best encapsulates this extraordinary country is its ability ¢o inspice, frustrate, thrill and confound all at once’ (p. 22). The result is the aforementioned ‘attack on all senses’, the ‘jos- ling’ of the traveller’s entire being, and the birth of a new, more refined and more developed person. LP India does not explain why this kind of sensory overload contributes to individual develop- ment. One likely assumption is the counter-cultural critique of modern civilisation. Among the popular remnants of this critique is the idea of moderns as robot-like creatures, who have lost the ability to feel. The hippies favoured hallucinogenic drugs as an opportunity to break the shells of numbness. New Age healing is fuelled by the same goal, with the soul’s liberation tied €o the liberation of the body. Similar kinds of healing techniques are also common in popular culture. In the film Fight Club, various kinds of shock-treatment are connected to a process of ‘awaken- ing’. The main character starts out as a caricature of the modern mass consumer, @ person whose identity is entirely based on his Ikea furnished apartment, and whose severe insomnia dulls his senses and shuts him out from reality. Halfway into the film, le blows up his apartment (and iden- tity), starts a fight club and through fighting creates opportunities for feeling alive LP India’s account of travelling fits nicely with these scenarios. It offers opportunities for shock treatments and ‘neat life’-experiences. Unlike the destructive and ultimately fatal strategies of Fight Club's hero, however, the ordeals of the traveller ace limited in time and are expected to result in the creation of a new, better, richer person. Tn tourist studies, concepts of liminality and rite de passage have frequently been employed, but usually in a some- ‘what metaphorical manner. These studies have usually been based upon a by now outdated concept of seeularisation, implying that tourism has taken over the functions once provided for by religious institutions. In a critical comment ‘upon this strategy, John Eade has referred to its collapse of tourism and pilgrimage as based upon ‘superficial analogies behind which there les a more complex world of dissonance, ambiguity and coudlct’ (cited in Vakonic, 1996, p. 84).SLB. Kraft | Religion 37 (2007) 230-242 mL ‘Conclusion Interest in spititual matters is presented as optional to travelling in India, but also as respect- able and even admirable, Spirituality is considered mainstream, Guidebooks are produced to make a profit, For this reason they are likely to thrive on stereotypes like these, for these stereo- types appeal to the buyers fo these books “The portrayal of Indian religions found in LP India belongs to an older, more established, stereo- typical tradition. Fitting the Orientalism analysed by Edward Said (1979), Lonely Planet depicts Indians as fascinating and colourful, but a¢ the same time primitive or childish — locked up in their religions and unable to think for themselves. By contrast, travellers are assumed to be creative and independent. LP India not only presents a divide between the religious population of India and the free-thinking spiritual traveller but also promotes the individuality of the traveller as a spiritual goal References Adler, J., 1989. Origins of sightseeing. Annals of Tourism Research 16, 7~29. Badone, E,, Roseman, 8.R. (Eds.), 2004. Intersecting Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgsimage and Tourism. Univer- sity of Itinois Press, Chicago. Bhattacharyya, D., 1997, Mediating ladia: an analysis of a guidebook. Annals of Tourism Research 24, 371—389. 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