Pilgrimage, a journey undertaken for a religious motive. Although some pilgrims embarked on with no fixed destination, pilgrims more commonly seek a specific place that has been sanctified by association with a divinity or other holy personage. The institution of pilgrimage is evident in all world religions and was also important in the pagan religions of ancient Greece and Rome.

         Great centres of pilgrimage attract visitors from widely dispersed cultural backgrounds and geographic locations, often enabling them to commemorate the origins of their particular faith

        Many religions attach spiritual importance to particular places: the place of birth or death of founders or saints or to the place of their "calling" or spiritual awakening, or of their connection (visual or verbal) with the divine, to locations where miracles were performed or witnessed, or locations where a deity is said to live or be "housed," or any site that is seen to have special spiritual powers. Such sites may be commemorated with shrines or temples that devotees are encouraged to visit for their own spiritual benefit: to be healed or have questions answered or to achieve some other spiritual benefit.

     Since the 2nd or 3rd century CE, Christians have traced the events of the Bible, including the life of Jesus Christ himself, through visits to the Holy Land. Mecca is revered by Muslims as the dwelling place of Adam after his expulsion from paradise and as the birthplace of Muhammad (570-632), the prophet of Islam.


Last modified: Saturday, 24 February 2024, 10:38 PM