CONSTRUCTING THE CONSIDERATION TO DEVELOP PLACENESS TO ENSURE THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: A CASE STUDY OF VARANASI GHAT

Abstract

It is not only about marking the sustainability concerns in the persuasion of sustainable tourism, but it also has open opportunities to set praxis of enhancing the new possibilities to lead the holistic developments. Sustainable concerns can lead to new options; for example, overcrowding is one of the prominent concerns concerning sustainable tourism for famous places such as Varanasi. Varanasi has 87 ghats, but only six to seven ghats have visitors’ attractions, which is a significant reason for overcrowding. In response, placeness can be developed at specific ghats to help crowd management. The other significant sustainable concerns can also address through the development of placeness, such as minimizing the probability of infrastructural (ghat, temples and walls of heritage buildings) damage, maximizing the livelihoods of local communities, enhancing the reach to the cultural diversity of the city, ensuring the new opportunities for regional art and craft promotion, and creating more options for the local (at ghat) tourism. The objective of this research paper is to construct significant consideration for developing the placeness to ensure the concept of sustainable tourism at Ganga ghats in Varanasi. Field surveys (among residents, vendors, artisans, and scholars) and visual elicitation (for in-depth interviews) have been conducted to elicit the theoretical framework for constructing the consideration. Urban construction and the process of transformation were at the centre of conversation to ensure the social, religious and economic meanings of the city and local communities. Later, it was examined through discourse analysis. Gulabi meenakari (as handicraft) and Gaay ghat (as a place) have been taken for the case development, in which the form and functions of ghat have been discussed in the context of recommendation. This study is based on literary information and qualitative interpretation, which has three pillars community, economy and creative cognition, to revisit sustainable tourism.