The inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, scheduled for January 22, is a highly anticipated event. The preparations for the day are underway, and thousands of invitations have been sent to distinguished guests, including politicians, religious leaders and dignitaries. Ahead of the ceremony, online travel company MakeMyTrip has provided an insight into the excitement around the inauguration.
As per the platform, “interest in spiritual tourism in India is seeing a massive boost.” The company also shared some data, claiming that the platform has recorded a 97% growth in searches for spiritual destinations on our platform, in the last two years.
It added that there has been an 1806% increase in searches for Ayodhya. “On-platform searches for Ayodhya from India increased by 1806% since the inauguration announcement,” the company said.

Heightened interest in Ayodhya globally
Not only in India, Ayodhya is being searched from across the globe, with maximum search contribution coming from five countries and regions. These include the US (22.5%), Gulf (22.2%), Canada (9.3%), Nepal (6.6%) and Australia (6.1%). The search data is collected from January 1 to January 12.
Top 10 ‘spiritual’ places searched on the platform
MakeMyTrip also listed top 10 pilgrimage and spiritual destinations which have seen growth in searches. The data compares searches in calendar year 2021 with calendar year 2023.
Ayodhya (585%)
Ujjain (359%)
Badrinath (343%)
Amarnath (329%)
Kedarnath (322%)
Mathura (223%)
Dwarkadhish (193%)
Shirdi (181%)
Haridwar (117%)
Bodh Gaya (114%)
Increase in searches for Lakshadweep
Recently, #BoycottMaldives trended on social media platforms and the travel platform has said that there has been a huge increase in searches for the tropical archipelago Lakshadweep.
“We have observed a 3400% increase in on-platform searches for Lakshadweep ever since the Honorable PM’s visit. This interest in Indian beaches has inspired us to launch a ‘Beaches of India’ campaign on the platform with offers and discounts to encourage Indian travellers to explore the country’s stunning beaches. Keep watching this space!” reads a post from MakeMyTrip on X, formerly Twitter.