Prof Nimit Chowdhary, Vice Chancellor, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota; and, Professor of Tourism, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
On a misty morning in Varanasi, you stand on the ghats, watching the Ganga shimmer like liquid silver. The priests’ chants float in the air, bells ring, and the scent of incense clings to every breath. Yet, even as you soak in the “authentic” experience, your phone buzzes with a notification: Top 10 Instagram Spots in Banaras. The image on your screen shows the exact place where you stand—edited to perfection, stripped of noise, crowd, and chaos. For a moment, you feel disoriented. Are you in the city of living rituals, or in a digital fantasy where only curated fragments count as reality?
This is spatial phantasmagoria in action—the unsettling overlap of reality, imagination, and representation. And it is not just you in Varanasi who experiences it; it is all of us, whenever travel dissolves into a kaleidoscope of lived moments, staged spectacles, and virtual images.
What on earth is that?
Don’t worry, the word may sound like a tongue-twister, but it’s simple. Long ago, phantasmagoria meant ghostly magic-lantern shows that dazzled audiences. Add “spatial” and you get today’s spaces—cities, streets, monuments—that feel like stage shows, with reality and imagination playing side by side.
Here, boundaries blur. The past walks with the present. The online clashes with the offline. The dream overlaps with the dust.
When fantasy trips over reality
Tourists often arrive with glowing images in their heads. A palace in Rajasthan, imagined as dripping with gold and music, turns out to have peeling paint and plastic bottles scattered around. The heart sinks.
Or think of Old Delhi. On Instagram, it looks like a food heaven—glittering jalebis, juicy kebabs, smiling shopkeepers. But walk into the lanes, and the noise, sweat, and chaos hit you hard. Both are real, but together they cause confusion.
A game of blurred lines
That’s the trick of spatial phantasmagoria: one place, many overlapping versions.
Past vs Present At the Red Fort, emperors’ whispers still linger, but loudspeaker announcements and Bollywood memories crash into the moment.
Online vs Offline The Taj Mahal on your feed is spotless and serene. The Taj Mahal in reality has long queues, crowds, and summer heat.
Both versions tug at your mind.
Many stories, one place Goa is party paradise, yoga retreat, and heritage hub—all at once. The mix makes it colourful, but also hard to pin down.
Why this matters more than you think
Travel isn’t just moving from one place to another—it’s also about meaning. But if visitors only chase glossy versions, they risk disappointment. Worse, the ordinary details—like the cracked wall of a palace or the chatter of shopkeepers—get dismissed as “flaws.”
It’s like expecting pani puri served like a five-star dish. But the magic lies in gulping it on the street corner, watery chaos and all.
How to walk through the dream without getting lost
Here is your prescription
Enjoy the onion layers. Every destination is like an onion—layers of myth, memory, cinema, and daily life. Don’t peel away only the shiny bits. The raw ones give flavour too.
Peek behind the curtain. Some of the best moments aren’t on postcards: a craftsman carving idol, a temple dressing for a festival, or a cook stirring curry behind a restaurant. These are the hidden gems.
Use screens as spice, not the main course. Instagram reels, VR shows, and YouTube guides are fun. But treat them like chutney—great for flavours, but never the whole meal.
Love the imperfections. Dusty lanes, uneven paint, and crowded bazaars are not mistakes- they are fingerprints of time. They make the story richer.
Storytelling that works
Locals and guides hold the key to making sense of this dream-show. Instead of pretending everything is perfect, they can mix truth with wonder. A good guide in Old Delhi might say: “The videos show you beauty. But here, you’ll also taste the chaos, because this is the heartbeat of the city.”
That honesty doesn’t kill the magic—it makes it stronger. It’s like a magician revealing the trick, so you admire not just the illusion but the skill behind it.
Stepping out of the mirage
In the end, travel is always a little dreamlike. The smells, the sounds, the stories—mixing with images we’ve seen, songs we’ve heard, movies we’ve watched. And that’s okay.
The challenge is not to get trapped in the mirage. The secret is to see through it—using fantasy as a lens, not a blindfold.
Back at the Varanasi ghats, our traveller finally pockets his phone. The chants, the bells, the smoke, and the river feel messy, noisy, alive. No filter could ever capture this. At last, he isn’t chasing someone else’s dream—he’s living his own.
About the Author: Dr. Nimit Chowdhary is a distinguished Professor of Tourism at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and currently serves as the Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan Technical University, Kota. With over 31 years of academic experience—more than two decades as a professor—he has taught and inspired students across India, Mexico, and China. An accomplished scholar, Prof. Chowdhary has served as visiting faculty at the University of Gotland (Sweden), University of Girona (Spain), IIM Sirmaur, IIQM, and EDII. Renowned for his prolific academic contributions, he has authored 30 books and over 350 research papers, articles, and chapters, and successfully guided 23 PhD scholars. A global traveller who has explored more than 40 countries, Prof. Chowdhary is widely recognized as an authority in the field of tourism and hospitality education.
