Religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is 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 major religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.

Hinduism

Most Hindus who can afford to go on such journeys travel to numerous iconic sites including those below:

These Hindu pilgrimage sites can be divided into dhams, kumbhs, jyotirlingas, devi sites etc. Every category has got its own significance. It is believed that visiting char dhams help one to attain salvation. There are four dhams and twelve jyotirlings along with 51 shakti Peeths in India.

Islam

In addition to being places of ziyarat, dargahs and rauzas have often served as places for Islamic education and the training of new ulema, as centres of Sufi turuq. For example, many Sunni ulema educated in the Chishti Order were educated in Delhi, where the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya is and where his students are well established. Movements within the ulema, such as the Deobandi or Barelvi movements, are so named because they are associated with particularly influential seminaries and madrassahs (like the Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, or the Urs-e-Razavi in Bareilly, the latter of which is so named because it is located at the rauza of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan).

During the Mughal era, Surat was a common port for Muslims across North and West India to depart for the Hajj.

Buddhism

Some other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are: Pataliputta, Nalanda, Vikramshila, Gaya, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Sanchi, Varanasi, Kesariya, Devadaha, Pava and Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Dhauli Stupa, near Puri, Odisha, etc.

There are many places scattered across mainland India, where one can find the relics of ancient Mauryan and the Gupta Empire, who championed and help propagate the Buddhist faith across most of India, South East and far East Asian countries.

Jainism

Zoroastrianism

The Zoroastrians take pilgrimage trips in India to the eight Atash Behrams in India and one in Yazd.

Christianity

  • Goa. St. Francis Xavier
  • St. Thomas Mount. Place where St. Thomas was martyred, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
  • St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church, Malayattoor is one of the eight international shrines in the world, situated in Malayattoor Angamaly, Ernakulam district of Kerala, India.
  • Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, Velankanni. 16th-century Marian apparition site, Velankanni, Tamilnadu, India.
  • St. Thomas Church, Thumpoly Alleppey kerala.
  • Our lady of Assumption Church, Poomkavu Alleppey, kerala.
  • Thodupuzha. Divine Mercy Shrine of Holy Mary - Marian apparition site.
  • Shrine of the Infant Jesus, Nashik, Maharashtra.
  • St. Jude Shrine, Jhansi
  • Mount Mary Church, Bandra, Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • St Peter's and St Paul's Orthodox church (Parumala church), Parumala, Kerala.
  • St George Orthodox church, Puthupally.
  • Kattachira St Mary's Orthodox Church.
  • Niranam St Mary's Orthodox church.
  • St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Bharananganam, tomb of Saint Alphonsa, the first woman of Indian origin to be canonised as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first canonised saint of the Syro-Malabar Church
  • St. Joseph's Pilgrim Church, Peringuzha, Muvattupuzha, Kerala
  • Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica Fort Kochi
  • Holy Cross Church, Mattanchery, Kochi
  • St Antony's Forane Church & St Joseph's Miraculous Shrine, Kannamaly Kochi.
  • Our Lady Of Velankanni Church , Maruvakad, Chellanam.Kochi
  • St Antony's Church, Arookuty, Paduvapuram.
  • St Lawrence Church, Edacochin
  • St Mary's Forane Church Thankey


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.