Selling Identity for Pennies: The True Cost of Losing Purity and Culture
“Selling Identity for Pennies: The True Cost of Losing Purity and Culture”
Is it right or wrong to sell your purity, your land, your identity for just four paise?
This is not just a question – it is the bitter truth of what is happening in Himachal Pradesh today. The mountains of Himachal, once the silent abodes of sages and goddesses, where gods and rishis performed penance for ages, are slowly being reduced to tourist markets, polluted picnic spots, and business hubs.
Himachal has always been Devbhoomi — the sacred land of gods, goddesses, and divine culture (Dev Sanskriti). It is mentioned in mythological epics and ancient texts, and even today it is revered as Devbhoomi. Here, every mountain is believed to embody divine power, every river tells its own timeless story, every tree is regarded as sacred, and every path leads to a temple or a shrine. But today, this very sanctity is being sold for short-term gain — for a hotel booking, a liquor shop, a tourist selfie, or just a few notes of profit.
The question is not only about tourism. The question is about identity — about whether Himachal will remain Devbhoomi or become just another polluted, broken, commercial city.
Himachal: The Sacred Land of Dev Sanskriti
From the earliest texts to folk songs, Himachal’s land has always been portrayed as the land where gods walk among humans. The sages found their refuge here; the gods made these valleys their homes. Ancient temples like Hatkoti, Baijnath, Masrur, Bijli Mahadev, and Nirmand’s Parshuram Kothi are living examples of this divine connection.
Even today, Himachal’s Dev Sanskriti survives — not in books, but in real practice. Every village has its deity, every festival begins with prayers, and every journey into the high mountains is treated as a pilgrimage, not an adventure sport. But now, blind development and the greed of modern society are eroding this very foundation.
Blind Development and the Death of Sanctity
Modernity was supposed to bring comfort, but in reality, it is making people blind. In search of money, locals are themselves turning pilgrimage places into markets. Hotels, dhabas, and commercial shops now stand where once devotees sat in silence.
The government, instead of protecting these sacred places, promotes them as “tourist attractions.” Roads are widened to bring in more vehicles, concrete hotels rise in fragile mountains, and rivers are dammed for electricity.
Visible Results
- Landslides, flash floods, and sinking towns like Mandi Kulluand kinnaur are warnings.
- Once-pristine rivers like the Beas and Sutlej now carry plastic waste and sewage.
- Sacred peaks and lakes are littered with alcohol bottles and garbage.
- In Himachal, frequent cloudbursts and massive landslides have turned highways, especially in districts like Mandi, into death zones, taking countless lives and leaving towns cut off for days.
- Entire villages and towns in the mountains are facing a terrifying situation, with people living in constant fear of nature’s fury triggered by blind development.
This is the cost of selling purity for four paise.
Lessons from the Cities: A Dark Mirror
If someone doubts this, they only need to look at the state of India’s cities.
Many Indian cities today are counted among the most polluted in the world. Here, the air is so toxic that people cannot breathe without disease. Water is so contaminated that it spreads illness instead of life. Concrete jungles have replaced green trees, and people live under skies where sunlight itself struggles to enter.
In these cities, human life has lost value. People kill each other for two paise, and morality is sold like cheap goods.
When the city dwellers finished polluting their own cities, they turned to the sacred mountains — bringing the same greed, waste, and chaos that once destroyed their urban homes. The very places they came seeking purity are now being choked by their pollution.
Once upon a time, Himachal and Uttarakhand stood as the opposite of these cities — clean, pure, and divine. But now, the same dark shadow is creeping into the mountains.
Pilgrimage vs. Tourism: A Dangerous Shift
The difference between a pilgrimage and tourism is devotion.
A pilgrim goes to a sacred place to bow his head, to seek blessing, to sit in silence. A tourist goes to take selfies, to play loud music, to drink, and to dance.
Sadly, Himachal’s sacred places are now being turned from pilgrimages into tourist destinations.
Examples
- Parashar Lake (Mandi): Dedicated to Rishi Parashar, where gods themselves are believed to bathe. Yet liquor bottles and plastic waste are often found near the temple.
- Jalori Pass (Kullu): The abode of Maa Kali and Panchveer, now disturbed by loudspeakers and noise.
- Shrikhand Mahadev and Kinner Kailash Yatras: Once sacred pilgrimages, now flooded with tourists climbing for fun, leaving garbage, and disturbing peace.
- Manikaran and Kheer Ganga: Once deeply spiritual, now treated as party hubs filled with cafes and hotels.
This is not just carelessness; it is desecration.
The “Rape” of the Mountains
The word may sound harsh, but what is happening to these mountains is nothing less than violation.
A tourist comes, spends a few days, and leaves behind broken bottles, piles of plastic, and scars on the environment. He has “enjoyed” and gone — but the mountain is left wounded.
Noise, alcohol, pollution, and disrespect have stripped the mountains of their dignity. For the gods and goddesses who reside in these places, this is not just an insult — it is an invasion of their sacred homes.
Not All Tourists Are the Same
It is important to understand that not every tourist disrespects the mountains. There are many who come with devotion in their hearts and deep respect for nature. They walk carefully on sacred paths, avoid plastic, and even help in keeping the environment clean.
In fact, I have personally seen many foreign visitors in Himachal who not only admire the beauty of the Himalayas but also take responsibility by joining local communities in cleaning drives and spreading awareness about conservation. For them, the mountains are not just a holiday spot, but a living temple of nature.
Unfortunately, a large number of local and domestic tourists treat the same land carelessly. They leave behind piles of plastic, liquor bottles, and garbage at places which are considered sacred. The difference is clear — while some visitors see the Himalayas as a divine gift to be preserved, others see it only as a picnic spot to be consumed.
Sacred Sites at Risk
Beyond the famous ones, many other sacred places face the same threat:
- Hatkoti Temple (Shimla), Nirmand (Kullu), Shikari Devi (Mandi), Kamrunag (Mandi), Churdhar (Sirmaur): Once known for silence, now overcrowded and commercialized.
- Kullu Dussehra: Once a festival of devotion, now dominated by commercialization.
- Local dev sthans (village shrines): Even these are slowly turning into tourist photo spots instead of sacred grounds.
If this continues, Himachal will lose not only its environment but also its soul.
Warnings from the Deities
Himachal is not just land and mountains — it is Devbhoomi, and the deities here still guide and protect their people. Time and again, many local deities have given clear warnings against blind projects in the name of development.
Deities of Himachal have strongly opposed the opening of sacred pilgrimages like Shrikhand Mahadev and Kinner Kailash to large-scale tourism and commercialization. The deity of Bijli Mahadev has also warned against the proposed ropeway project to the holy temple, demanding that the natural sanctity of these places be preserved.
The message from the deities is strict: if these warnings are ignored, the consequences will follow.
We have already witnessed the results. In the past four years, cloudbursts have struck the sacred Shrikhand Mahadev area three to four times. Just last year, an entire village was swept away by floods, and many innocent lives were lost. These are not coincidences — they are reminders that nature and divinity will not tolerate disrespect for long.
What is Happening Now: A Crossroad
Right now, Himachal stands at a crossroad.
One path leads to becoming like the cities: polluted, overcrowded, commercialized, and spiritually dead. The other path is harder, but it is the only right one: preserving the mountains as sacred, respecting Dev Sanskriti, and rejecting blind commercialization.
The choice lies not only with the government but also with the people themselves.
What is Right: Preserving Dev Sanskriti and Nature
It is not wrong to welcome visitors — Himachal has always opened its heart to outsiders. But it is absolutely wrong to sell the soul of the mountains for money. Sacred pilgrimages are not tourist spots; they are places of devotion and discipline, where only those with respect in their hearts should step.
The Right Path
- Allow only those pilgrims who come with faith and devotion, not those seeking parties or entertainment.
- Ban alcohol, loud music, plastic, and reckless behavior at all sacred sites.
- Stop the promotion of pilgrimage sites that our deities themselves have not permitted to open for mass tourism.
- Educate both locals and visitors about Dev Sanskriti and the true sanctity of these places.
- Encourage eco-tourism and spiritual tourism that respects nature, instead of careless and destructive tourism.
- Strengthen local deity institutions so that decisions about sacred places are guided by the deities’ councils, not businessmen or government policies.
- Stop selling land and resources to industrialists and outsiders. Today, most big hotels and companies in Himachal belong to outsiders, while locals are left to work in them for meager wages. The government is playing with the lives and future of its own people.
If Himachal is Devbhoomi, then it must remain Devbhoomi — a land where sacredness is valued above profit, and where mountains, rivers, and temples are treated as living deities, not commodities.
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