MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY CHALLENGES IN SACRED SITES : A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KEDARNATH SHIV TEMPLE, AMBABHONA, ODISHA

Sociology

India’s holy places play a big role in how people come together and practice their rituals. But with more religious tourists visiting, these sites face growing problems in management and safety. This study looks closely at one such place,the Kedarnath Shiv Temple in Ambabhona, Odisha. It’s a key local Shiva shrine that holds deep cultural meaning for the region. This study uses a mix of methods i.e ethnography, surveys, and Giddens’ structuration theory to explore these issues. The research pulls from Durkheim’s idea of collective excitement during rituals and Giddens’ view on how structures and actions shape each other. It uncovers big gaps, like poor crowd management, crumbling facilities and too much commercialization that chips away at the site’s holiness. Safety risks are high too similar to accidents at other temples. Main takeaways show clashes between different groups make things worse, breaking down community bonds. Pilgrims’ movements create divisions along caste, class and gender, heightening dangers. To fix this, the study suggests a layered approach to governance like using GIS technology for tracking crowds, involving locals in care and pushing for better policies to build sustainable tourism. On the theory side, it sheds light on how sacred spots get turned into commodities in places shaped by colonial histories. In practice, it offers ideas for improving temple boards and cutting disaster risks in Odisha’s religious landscape.

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