‘Sacred India’: Ancient temple towns are becoming icons of cleanliness

India’s devotion has long stood the test of gratuitous filth in temple towns. It has become normal for devotees to encounter a pall of dirt on trees and buildings, garbage piled up on corners, raucous vendors, litter and spit, and a pervading smell of dung and dead flowers. However, that may no longer be the case. Swachh Survekshan 2021, the Centre’s annual cleanliness survey, indicates a surprisingly changing landscape of old and sacred India.

The city that was a mess until a decade ago, at least during the Gupta era, is now regularly ranked at the top when it comes to cleanliness. There has been a revolution in civic awareness with 100% segregation at source, NGOs and private firms involved in garbage processing, decentralized waste management, a massive filth-to-fuel recycling facility, clockwork road maintenance, citizen participation, and civic pride expressed by local citizens. Surat, an old port hub, is second on the list despite also being the fastest-growing city in India. The city has also developed an almost identical obsession with cleanliness.

Delhi’s ranking at fifth is not a surprise. As the Capital, it receives a lot of official attention to make up for the lack of motivation of its citizens. Additionally, the toxic air more than offsets the tidiness enforced on the ground. However, Ambikapur, in Chhattisgarh, Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh, and Ujjain, in Madhya Pradesh, are the real stories of a quietly transforming India. Three of them are temple towns. Every month, they receive millions of visitors, threatening to overwhelm every kind of civic readiness. Due to an alert citizenry, driven civic bodies, and perhaps even god, these temple towns have managed to keep their streets clean almost to a fault.

In Ambikapur, named for the goddess Ambika, a garbage café is recycling plastic waste, for instance. Those who collect 1 kg of plastic get a full meal, and those who turn in 500 grams of waste earn a heavy breakfast. Ramgarh, where Ram and Sita are believed to have spent 14 years in exile, is one of the city’s main attractions. The Tirupati Civic Authorities have cleaned the Tirupati Railway Station, as well as the area around the internationally famous Shri Venkateshwara temple.

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Even transgender communities have joined and are leading the rapidly snowballing cleanliness drive in Ujjain, home to the revered Mahakal temple. Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission, once mocked as a foolish, unattainable campaign, is slowly showing results. The country’s old cities and pilgrim towns, once seen as basket cases when it comes to cleanliness, are now setting the standard. Politics is usually dirty, but great politics cleans up the mess.