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Smart Pilgrimage: Digital Transformation of Indian Sacred Journeys through AI and IoT

  • Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
  • Abbr : JKIOTS
  • 2026, 12(3), 4
  • Publisher : The Korea Internet of Things Society
  • Research Area : Engineering > Computer Science > Internet Information Processing
  • Received : April 28, 2026
  • Accepted : June 17, 2026
  • Published : June 30, 2026

Choonho Lee 1

1한국외국어대학교 인도연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

India's major pilgrimage sites draw tens of millions of devotees each year, resulting in massive religious gatherings that have repeatedly faced challenges such as crowd crush incidents, environmental pollution, and inadequate infrastructure. Most existing research on smart tourism has focused on secular tourist destinations, often failing to capture the unique spiritual dimensions of pilgrimage. To address this gap, this study proposes the conceptual framework of Smart Pilgrimage, which integrates AI and IoT technologies throughout all stages of the pilgrimage experience. AI can be leveraged to predict crowd movements, analyze visitor satisfaction, and recommend personalized routes, while IoT enables solutions such as RFID and GPS-based tracking, environmental monitoring, and multi-level safety management systems. By examining four pilgrimage sites like Prayagraj, Vaishno Devi, Amarnath, and Varanasi, this study explores the current state of technology adoption and the challenges that remain. It also critically reflects on ethical issues, including data privacy, digital divides, and concerns about diminishing the sacred nature of pilgrimage. Ultimately, the study emphasizes the importance of designing technology to enrich pilgrims' spiritual experiences and agency, and points to directions for future empirical research.

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