Ashamed as a Hindu - Indian pilgrimage sites have turned into tourist traps
The sight of poor laborers carrying well-off pilgrims up steep mountain paths or performing physically demanding tasks in harsh conditions at pilgrimage sites raises difficult questions about empathy, privilege, and the ethics of faith practices. Many pilgrims may see this service as part of a spiritual journey, believing that hiring these laborers provides a livelihood, yet they overlook the physical and emotional toll it takes on the laborers.
This dynamic is complicated by the abundant availability of cheap labor in India, which can normalize inequitable practices under the guise of tradition or spiritual duty, making exploitation appear acceptable or even sanctified. There is a further moral dilemma in how devotion, or bhakti, is often practiced without mindfulness of the human impact. In theory, bhakti encourages humility, compassion, and respect for all beings, yet, in reality, the practice sometimes bypasses these values in favor of rituals that demand hardship from the underprivileged.
This dynamic is complicated by the abundant availability of cheap labor in India, which can normalize inequitable practices under the guise of tradition or spiritual duty, making exploitation appear acceptable or even sanctified. There is a further moral dilemma in how devotion, or bhakti, is often practiced without mindfulness of the human impact. In theory, bhakti encourages humility, compassion, and respect for all beings, yet, in reality, the practice sometimes bypasses these values in favor of rituals that demand hardship from the underprivileged.