Mahakumbh: The evolving legacy of pilgrim taxes from Mughal tax to modern day fee
The investment made by teerth purohits comes in the form of taxes paid for the land allotted to them since the Mughal period.
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The business of teerth purohits is not just to guide their ‘jajmaans’ through the mela period but also to invest in the services availed by the pilgrims. However, they recover this investment through ‘dakshina’ once the mela is over and pilgrims start leaving the mela area.
The investment made by teerth purohits comes in the form of taxes paid for the land allotted to them since the Mughal period. Earlier, the Mughal kings charged ‘Yatri Kar’ (pilgrim tax) from pilgrims entering the mela area through a ‘toll-tax’ booth at the entrance to Sangam.
According to teerth purohit and president of Prayagwal Sabha, Pandit Rajendra Paliwal, Mughal kings used to charge ‘Yatri Kar’ from pilgrims arriving at the mela at Sangam way back in the 16th and 17th centuries. “To curb the holding of the mela at Sangam every year and to restrict the growth of Sanatan Parampara, they raised the ‘Yatri Kar’ so much that many pilgrims, unable to afford the exorbitant charge, stopped coming to the mela. This affected the annual earnings of teerth purohits. From that time onwards, purohits decided to pay the ‘Yatri Kar’ themselves, a practice that continues to this day,” he said.
However, Mughal king Akbar had abolished the ‘Yatri Kar’ as an administrative measure to please the Rajputs after marrying Jodha Bai, according to eminent historian and former head of the department of Medieval and Modern History at Allahabad University, Prof Yogeshwar Tiwari. “But after Akbar, the ‘Yatri Kar’ was once again imposed on pilgrims during the later Mughal period,” he added.
Prof Tiwari further informed that the British changed the name of the pilgrimage tax to ‘Lagaan,’ which was also abolished after the First War of Mutiny in 1857. However, after independence, the same tax was once again resumed and continues to be in existence today.
Currently, the rate of ‘Chavni Kar’ or tax paid by every teerth purohit is ₹5,000 per bigha of land located in the prime area between Jhunsi bridge and Sangam, while the tax for a bigha of land from Jhunsi bridge towards Phaphamau is ₹750, as this area is farther from Sangam and pilgrims have to walk a significant distance to reach Sangam every day.
In addition to land tax, the cost of setting up tents, providing food daily, and the cost of puja materials used in performing rituals are also borne by the purohits.
