The Centrality of Religious Festival Experience and Satisfaction on The Subjective Well-Being of Visitors: Evidence from Udupi Paryaya Festival

Authors

Vidya Patwardhan, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal Academy of Higher EducationFollow
Keith Shirlvin Nigli, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal Academy of Higher EducationFollow
Jyothi Mallya, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal Academy of Higher EducationFollow
Valsaraj Payini, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal Academy of Higher EducationFollow

Abstract

Themed public celebrations, known as festivals, that explore and promote different aspects of local culture contribute significantly to the economic and social well-being of regions. They provide a distinctive image to the place and create a unique, shared, and memorable experience (ME) for visitors. In India, large-scale festivals represent a source of social interaction that generates positive socio-cultural, hedonic, and functional benefits, which are believed to increase happiness and, subsequently, subjective well-being. This paper explores the religious essence of the historic sacred religious site in Udupi, Krishna Matha. To do so, it examines visitors’ ME from attending a unique biennial religio-cultural festival known as Paryaya. The quantitative study investigates the impact of ME on subjective well-being (SWB) and the mediating role of satisfaction on this relationship. The study results show that ME has a significant influence on satisfaction and SWB. This study is one of the first in the indigenous tourism literature to test a framework that characterises the relationship between ME, satisfaction, and SWB of visitors in a religious festival setting. It provides a new perspective from which festival organisers and tourism policymakers at the local and state government levels can respond to visitors’ needs and plan for the sustainability of such mega-events. Locally, organisers and managers of Krishna Matha may focus on continuing their profile-raising outreach efforts on behalf of the location.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Patwardhan, Vidya; Nigli, Keith Shirlvin; Mallya, Jyothi; and Payini, Valsaraj (2023) "The Centrality of Religious Festival Experience and Satisfaction on The Subjective Well-Being of Visitors: Evidence from Udupi Paryaya Festival," International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage: Vol. 11: Iss. 1, Article 9.
doi:https://doi.org/10.21427/J47B-3G43
Available at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol11/iss1/9

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/J47B-3G43