The Concept Of Pilgrimage In Hinduism
It is a general belief that those who follow a particular religion may enjoy a more experiencing and exciting life than non-religious people. The reason for this is that religions give us more opportunities to adopt a variety of cultural, ethical, and meaningful practices and themes than just accept a pure working life. Despite having distinctive missions and ways of practice, some religions do share a number of beautiful things in common and pilgrimage is said to be one of them.
A pilgrimage is a long spiritual journey made by religious adherents to sacred places. Sometimes a pilgrimage does not have to be physical movements but can simply be a metaphorical trip into subconscious mind. Typical destinations of pilgrimage might be shrines, holy locations, or peaceful places ones can relax and refresh their mentality. Some people usually resort to pilgrimage when they are encountered with difficulties, mishaps or miseries over the course of their life, others go on pilgrimage to reinforce their connection with god, to strengthen their faith, and to get motivation from communion of saints who set first footprints. During pilgrimage journey, pilgrims visit new places and gain valuable experiences as well as offering them chances of giving and being generous to others. A pilgrimage is truly a time of appreciating life’s gifts, letting go of the old and welcoming the new.
Hinduism is one of the leading religions to adopt the practice of pilgrimage. According to an Anthology of Living Religions. Hinduism is a religion having originated in the Indian subcontinent at least five thousand years ago. Being the oldest religion in human history, Hinduism is believed to carry a number of underlying religious themes and pilgrimage is also a prevailing activity among its practitioners. It is a faithful Hindus’ lifelong dream to make arduous pilgrimage voyages to sacred sites at least once throughout their lifetime. “In India’s sacred, geography, some pilgrimage sites are places of the deities in the mountains, some at holy rivers, some in areas made famous by the great epics. At the end of their lives, many people aspire to reach the sacred city of Varanasi, also known as “Kashi” or “Benares”, because dying there is believed to be a direct path to liberation of the soul. One of many spiritual traditions associated with Kashi is its fame as the ‘City of Light’. ” Indeed, pilgrimage can be seen supremely important to Hindus. Most of them regardless of age nurture a belief to embark on a spiritual adventure and conquer the map of India which usually encompasses seven holy cities such as Ayodhya, Mathura, Dwarka, Haridwar, Kashi, Kanchipuram, and Ujjain; and of these, Kashi exceeds all. Even though different sites associate with different gods and different legendary stories, to come across and die in Kashi is considered more meaningful as this is where the burden of karma and reincarnation is removed by the god Siva.
