Copy of Dark Tourism Gains Ground in India as Travelers Seek Meaning
- Tharindu Ameresekere
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Indians are increasingly visiting sites of tragedy and conflict not for thrill or spectacle, but for reflection and understanding. This growing travel trend, known as dark tourism, involves journeys to places marked by historical trauma, where visitors seek emotional connection, context, and meaning. Across India, destinations such as Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar and the abandoned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal are drawing renewed attention from travelers who want to engage with the country’s difficult past.
Dark tourism has traditionally been associated with international destinations, but it is now emerging as a distinct and expanding segment within India’s travel market. Younger generations, in particular, are showing strong interest. Many see these visits as a way to process history more deeply than textbooks allow, combining travel with education, empathy, and personal reflection. For them, standing at the site of a tragedy offers a tangible way to understand the human cost of political decisions, industrial failures, and social conflict.
This search for meaning through travel reflects a broader cultural shift. As mental health conversations become more open, people are increasingly looking for ways to confront fear, loss, and uncertainty rather than avoid them. Two weeks ago, a mid-level operations specialist in Mumbai walked out of a hospital with a stage-three breast cancer diagnosis. Shock quickly gave way to fear and resignation. In a counselling session soon after, she voiced her darkest anxieties: what if the disease was terminal, what if life as she knew it was ending.
Such moments underline why places of collective grief resonate so strongly. They remind visitors that suffering is shared, survival is possible, and remembrance matters. In this way, dark tourism is less about death itself and more about confronting vulnerability; both personal and collective, and finding meaning within it.