Hyderabad, October 29, 2026: For generations, religious travel in India has largely revolved around visiting temples, offering prayers and undertaking pilgrimages. But a new approach is emerging, one that views a spiritual journey not merely as a visit to a sacred place, but as an opportunity to discover India’s heritage, traditions, food, art and communities.
In Hyderabad, two women entrepreneurs, Neha Rajgarhia, 46, and Radhika Jalan, 51, are exploring this approach through NR TravelBuddyz, a travel venture they founded in 2024. With around 27 journeys and more than 1,000 participants across destinations such as the Kumbh Mela, Ayodhya, Varanasi and Kolkata, they are building a niche around curated spiritual, religious and cultural travel.
Their experience of undertaking more than 20 journeys to Varanasi alone has earned them the affectionate nickname ‘Banaras Girls’.
Their story offers an interesting perspective on how religious travel can evolve to meet the changing expectations of Indian travellers. Here are five ways in which the duo are seeking to redefine the experience.
- Making spirituality appeal to a younger generation
For many younger Indians, travel is about discovering a destination, understanding its history, sampling its cuisine and experiencing its culture. A conventional pilgrimage itinerary may not always capture all these interests. Neha and Radhika see an opportunity to bring these elements together, making spiritual destinations more engaging for young travellers who want to connect with India’s heritage in ways that go beyond the customary temple visit.
A journey to Varanasi, for instance, can offer an opportunity to appreciate the city’s spiritual atmosphere, historic neighbourhoods and cultural traditions. Similarly, a visit to Ayodhya can combine devotion with an understanding of the destination’s history and transformation.
The idea is not to dilute spirituality, but to present it through experiences that help people connect more deeply with a destination.
By combining religious significance with exploration and cultural discovery, NR TravelBuddyz is working towards a format that can appeal to different generations. The growing participation of younger travellers in such journeys would be an important indicator of how this approach is evolving.
- How Hyderabad’s ‘Banaras Girls’ are reimagining religious travel
Entering an established travel segment requires more than identifying popular destinations. It calls for understanding travellers’ expectations, coordinating arrangements and building confidence among people who place their time, money and comfort in the hands of an organiser.
For Neha and Radhika, repeated journeys to Varanasi have become an important part of their experience and identity. Their more than 20 visits to the city have helped shape the nickname ‘Banaras Girls’ and their association with spiritual travel.
Rather than treating every trip as a standard package, the founders focus on curating the overall journey around its destination and the interests of the group.
“We identified a gap for well-curated group journeys that allow people to experience India’s spiritual destinations comfortably and meaningfully. Many travellers want to visit these places but prefer someone to take care of the planning, arrangements and overall experience. That is the need we set out to address,” say Neha and Radhika.
- Making spiritual travel easier for women and senior citizens
Not everyone finds it easy to organise a pilgrimage independently. Transport, accommodation, local navigation, crowded public spaces and coordinating several aspects of a trip can be challenging, particularly for senior citizens and people travelling without family members.
Organised group journeys can reduce the burden of planning and give participants the reassurance of travelling with an itinerary and arrangements in place.
NR TravelBuddyz caters to a mix of travellers, including couples, senior citizens and younger, unmarried participants. The founders emphasise organised arrangements and manageable travel durations, helping people who prefer not to coordinate every detail themselves.
For older participants, the appreciation expressed for the care taken in organising a journey has been especially encouraging, the founders say.
The broader opportunity is to make spiritual travel more approachable for people who may otherwise postpone or avoid such trips because of logistical concerns. Thoughtful planning, clear communication and attention to participants’ requirements can make a meaningful difference.
As the venture grows, its experience also highlights the importance of understanding the specific needs of women travelling independently and older travellers when designing group itineraries.
- Where faith meets culture and tourism
One of the most distinctive aspects of India’s spiritual destinations is the way faith intersects with music, food, architecture, crafts, festivals and community life.
NR TravelBuddyz’s recent Kolkata journey offers an example of this broader approach. Its AMAARMONI – Shubho Puja 2026: Celebrating the Spirit of Bengal programme took 30 participants to Kolkata from October 12 to 14, offering an introduction to the city’s celebrated Durga Puja traditions.
The itinerary included visits to elaborately decorated pandals, traditional welcomes accompanied by dhol beats, Bengali music and dance, Sindoor Khela, an authentic Bengali sit-down lunch, and opportunities to explore stalls featuring sarees, fashion, handicrafts and local products.
The experience went beyond witnessing a religious celebration. It offered participants a glimpse into the artistic expression, culinary traditions and community participation that make Durga Puja such an important part of Bengal’s cultural identity.
Kolkata’s Durga Puja was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021, recognising its significance as a living cultural tradition.
For travellers, such experiences demonstrate that a spiritual journey can also be an opportunity to understand the people and cultural traditions of a place. For destinations, this approach can create opportunities for tourism businesses, artisans, local vendors and cultural practitioners.
It is this meeting point between faith and cultural discovery that gives experiential spiritual travel its wider appeal.
- Twenty-seven journeys and the making of the ‘Banaras Girls’
Every travel venture has a story behind its numbers. In the case of NR TravelBuddyz, around 27 organised journeys and more than 1,000 participants represent the experience accumulated since its founding in 2024.
The destinations reflect the diversity of India’s spiritual and cultural landscape, from the scale of the Kumbh Mela to the religious significance of Ayodhya, the timeless appeal of Varanasi and the festive energy of Kolkata’s Durga Puja.
Behind the numbers is a business model that depends on understanding people as much as places. Travellers have different expectations: some seek devotion, others are drawn to heritage and culture, while many value companionship, convenience and the reassurance of an organised journey.
The challenge is to bring these expectations together in an experience that feels coherent and meaningful to the group.
For Neha and Radhika, the journey so far has been about exploring this space and developing a distinctive offering within India’s broader travel market.
A new dimension to spiritual tourism
India’s religious destinations have long attracted pilgrims and visitors. What is changing is the range of experiences travellers may seek around those visits.
By combining spiritual discovery with cultural immersion, organised group travel and attention to participants’ needs, NR TravelBuddyz is exploring a model that moves beyond the conventional pilgrimage package.
The venture is still developing, but its experience offers a useful example of how smaller travel businesses can respond to changing traveller expectations while drawing on India’s rich spiritual and cultural heritage.
For Hyderabad’s ‘Banaras Girls’, the ambition is straightforward: to help people experience India’s sacred destinations not only through the places they visit, but also through the traditions, people and memories they encounter along the way.
