Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a term primarily used in religion and spirituality of a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of every religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.

Secular and civic pilgrimages are also practiced, without regard for religion but rather of importance to a particular society. For example, many people throughout the world travel to the City of Washington in the United States for a pilgrimage to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. British people often make pilgrimages to the City of London for public appearances of the monarch of the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth of Nations.

Pop culture has also sought to redefine pilgrimages, defining a demoscene party as a pilgrimage.

Contents

1 Antiquity 2 Bahá'í Faith 3 Buddhism 4 Christianity 5 Hinduism 6 Islam 6.1 Hajj 6.2 Ziarah 7 Judaism 8 Mesoamerica 9 See also 10 Further reading 11 External links

Antiquity

Many ancient religions had holy sites, temples and groves, where pilgrimages were made.

• Karnak, Egypt.
• Thebes, Egypt.
• Delphi, Greece. Oracle.
• Ephesus Temple of Diana.
• Baalbek Lebanon.

Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'u'lláh decreed pilgrimage in His Motherbook (Kitáb-i-Aqdas) to two places: the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran. In two separate Tablets, known as Suriy-i-Hajj, He prescribed specific rites for each of these pilgrimages (lifting the injunction regarding the shaving of one's head for pilgrimage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas). It is obligatory to make the pilgrimage, "if one can afford it and is able to do so, and if no obstacle stands in one's way". Bahá'ís are free to choose between the two Houses, as either has been deemed sufficient. And although women are not bound to perform pilgrimage, they are certainly not prohibited to do so.

Later, `Abdu'l-Bahá designated the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahji (the Qiblih) as a site of visitation. No rites have been prescribed for this.

Buddhism

Gautama Buddha spoke of four holy sites that followers may seek.

• Lumbini birth place
• Sarnath (formally Isipathana) where he delivered his first teaching
• Bodh Gaya place of Enlightenment
• Kusinara (now Kusinagar, India) where he passed away

Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimages include:

• Lhasa, capital of Tibet and traditional home of the Dalai Lama
• Mount Kailash
• Lake Nam-tso

Christianity

Pilgrimages were first made to sites connected with the life, birth and crucifixion of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome. Pilgrimages also began to be made to Rome and other sites associated with the Apostles, Saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

The largest single pilgrimage in the history of Christendom was to the Funeral of Pope John Paul II after his death on April 2, 2005. An estimated four million people travelled to Vatican City, in addition to the almost three million people already living in Rome, to see the body of Pope John Paul II lie in state.

World Youth Day is a major Catholic Pilgrimage, specifically for people aged 16-35. It is held internationally every 2-3 years. In 2005, young catholics will visit Cologne, Germany.

The major Christian pilgrimage sites are:

• Jerusalem, Israel and West Bank. Site of the teaching, trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
• Rome Site of the deaths of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and other early martyrs. Headquarters of the Catholic Church.
• Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Famous medieval pilgrimage, the Way of St James, to the shrine of Saint James.

Other important Christian pilgrimage sites include:

• Avila, Spain, St Theresa of Avila, relics
• Bethlehem, Israeli occupied, under PNA. Birthplace of Jesus and King David.
• Canterbury associated with Saint Thomas à Becket.
• Croagh Patrick, Ireland. Saint Patrick.
• Conques, France
• Cologne, Germany. Relics of the Three Kings.
• Czestochowa, Poland. Virgin Mary image.
• Fatima, Portugal. Apparition of the Virgin Mary.
• Glastonbury, England. St Joseph of Arimathea.
• Guadalupe, Spain.
• Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City. Apparition of the Virgin Mary.
• Kevelaer, Germany
• Knock, Ireland
• Lisieux, France. Saint Therese of Lisieux, burial place.
• Lourdes, France. Apparition of the Virgin Mary. Place of healing.
• Mariazell, Austria. Marian Shrine to Austria and Hungary
• Mount Athos, Greece. Orthodox monastic centre.
• Mount Nebo, Jordan. Traditional site of the death of Moses.
• Mount Sinai, Egypt, holy mountain to the ancient Hebrews, traditional site has been commemorated since time of Constantine
• Nazareth, Israel, hometown of Jesus
• St. Patrick's Purgatory, Donegal, Ireland
• Taizé Community, France, modern monastery that actively encourages pilgrimages to it
• Nidaros, Norway
• Turin, Italy. Holy Shroud.
• Sea of Galilee, Israel, site of Jesus' early ministry.
• Vierzehnheiligen, Germany.
• Walsingham, England. Virgin Mary apparition site.
• Wittenberg, Germany. Church of Martin Luther and epicenter of the Protestant Reformation.

Hinduism

• Kedarnath
• Gangotri
• Yamunotri
• Rishikesh
• Haridwar
• Benares
• Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi
• Vrindavan

The first four sites in the list above together comprise the Chardham, or four holy pilgrimage destinations. It is believed that travelling to these places leads to moksha, the release from samsara (cycle of rebirths). Vrindavan is most important place of pilgrimage for every Vaishnava, especially for the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism who regard Krishna as the original Personality of Godhead (God). Here one can attain love of God (prema).

Islam

Hajj

Pilgrimage to Mecca – the hajj – is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It should be attempted at least once in the lifetime of all able-bodied Muslims.

In addition to that most of the Shiite Muslims undertake a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mashhad in northeastern part of Iran.

Ziarah

Local Pilgrimage traditions - those undertaken as ziarah visits to local graves, are found throughout Muslim countires.

Judaism

See related article Three pilgrim festivals.

Within Judaism, the Temple in Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish religion, until its destruction in 70 AD, and all who were able were under obligation to visit and offer sacrifices known as the korbanot, particularly during the Jewish holidays in Jerusalem.

Following the destruction of the Second Temple and the onset of the diaspora, the centrality of pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Judaism was discontinued. In its place came prayers and rituals hoping for a reurn to Zion, see Jerusalem, Jews and Judaism.

Mesoamerica

The concept of pilgrimage was also found in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Important pilgrimage sites included:

• Teotihuacan (still visited centuries after its buildings fell to ruin), said to be where the gods gathered to plan the creation of mankind
• Chichen Itza, especially the sacred cenote, a natural well sacred to the rain god Chac, into which sacrifices were thrown.
• Izamal, sacred to the creator god Itzamna
• Cozumel, sacred to Ix Chel, goddess of the moon and childbirth

See also

• Junrei
• Monastery

Further reading

• al-Naqar, Umar. 1972. The Pilgrimage Tradition in West Africa. Khartoum: Khartoum University Press. [includes a map 'African Pilgrimage Routes to Mecca, ca. 1300-1900']
• Jackowski, Antoni. 1998. Pielgrzymowanie [Pilgrimage]. Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo Dolnoslaskie.
• Wolfe, Michael (ed.). 1997. One Thousands Roads to Mecca. New York: Grove Press
• Sumption, Jonathan. 2002. Pilgrimage: An Image of Mediaeval Religion. London: Faber and Faber Ltd.
• Zarnecki, George. 1985. The Monastic World: The Contributions of The Orders. pp. 36-66, in Evans, Joan (ed.). 1985. The Flowering of the Middle Ages. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.

External links

• Sacred Destinations (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/index.html) Sacred sites and pilgrimages.
• French pilgrimage routes from 1000 CE till 1500 CE (http://www.ciolek.com/OWTRAD/DATA/tmcFRm1500a.html)
• Spanish pilgrimage routes from 900 CE till 2000 CE (http://www.ciolek.com/OWTRAD/DATA/tmcESm1400.html)
• VEDA: Holy Places (http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/index.htm#6)
• Pilgrimage (http://www.kensmen.com/catholic/pilgrimage.html) traditional Catholic

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