by Sri Ajit Halder
A pilgrimage is a religious journey to a sacred place (Teerthasthaan) undertaken by one person or a whole community
travelling as a group to perform a ritual at the holy site. Any person who
makes the trip to the holy site is called a pilgrim (Teerthayaatri). Hinduism encourages devotees for their own
spiritual benefit to visit temples or sacred shrines as an act of pilgrimage. The
site may be linked with the pilgrim’s belief or faith, may be the place of
birth or death of the founder of a religious sect to which the person belongs,
be a location where a deity is worshipped in a temple famous for its architectural
beauty and antiquity, or any site that is believed to have special spiritual
powers. So it seems that there are many reasons to motivate people to embark on
a pilgrimage.
From the above discussion it will be clear that a pilgrimage is not just an
aimless travel. The person undertaking the journey pre-selects the place of
pilgrimage after much careful consideration given to choose the place, and the
travel plan finalized well in advance of the trip. A strong religious urge is felt
inside the heart and mind of a person who undertakes the journey to a known
destination of spiritual significance. One wonders why this urge is felt to go on a
pilgrimage. Is it the opportunity to
worship the deity and pray to receive the divine blessing to remove the ills of
worldly life, or is it the thrill to be experienced all along the long journey
as well as the charm and beauty of the scenery to be seen on way to a temple or
shrine? It may also be the encouragement
to go on a pilgrimage provided by parents, elderly relatives or a family
member, who had been to that holy place before. Whatever may be the motive or the attraction
for pilgrimage, people inspired by religious devotion have been on pilgrimage for
hundreds of years.
Places of pilgrimage
The four holy sites, Chaturdham, namely
Badrikashram in the Himachal Pradesh in north India, Rameswaram in Tamilnadu in
the south, the Jagannath temple in Puri in the state of Utkal in the east, and
Dwarka in Gujarat in the west of India are adored as holy places of pilgrimage. Hindus believe that visiting these four holy
places and offering puja to the presiding deity (or deities) will be
spiritually rewarding, and that they will receive the blessing of Moksha, salvation, which will relieve them
from worldly sufferings. Varanasi, situated on the bank of the Ganges
in Uttar Pradesh, is considered to be the seat of Lord Viswanath (the guardian
and protector God of the universe), and hence should be added to this group.
The sites mentioned so far are ancient and religiously important sacred places
regularly visited by the Hindus. There are other countless holy sites, for
example, the fifty-one Peethasthaan which are fifty-one holy places where fell
the pieces cut off from the body of Sati
Parbati, Lord Shiva’s consort. Also on the Himalayas, Pancha Kedar, the five Kedars,
Devaprayag, Rudraprayag and many other sacred sites are to be found dotted all
over that mountain range. So the sites of pilgrimage are far too many to be
mentioned in the short space of this article. A striking feature of a pilgrimage site is the
fact that besides the main temple, there are other shrines in the vicinity of
the temple which the pilgrims visit and make offerings.
During their time at a holy site, the pilgrims pray, chant hymns (mantras),
sing devotional songs, make offerings to the deity and worship often in a
congregation of devotees to demonstrate that they are devoted to their religion
– all in the hope of coming closer to God in the process.
It is interesting to note that in modern times, more and more new places
are being added to the list of established sites of pilgrimage. Mention may be made of the Dakshineswar
Temple on the river Hooghly near Calcutta, associated with the pious life and
preaching of Sri Ramakrishna. The Belur
Math, linked with the memory of Swami Vivekananda, and visited by the thousands
of the followers of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, has also assumed importance
as a place of pilgrimage. I should
mention here my good fortune of visiting two sites made sacred by His Holiness
Sri Sri Babathakur. The first one is the head quarter of the Saccidananda
Society in Kolkata, and the other one in Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi. Prajnanpurush
Sri Sri Babathakur stayed at both the sites, and held religious discourses on
divine wisdom that spiritually uplifted the minds of devotees. At both places sanctified by His holy
association, I stood in reverence before the portrait of that saintly figure, feeling
within me the receipt of His blessing.
Pilgrimage was often hazardous in the old days due to a lack of proper roads. The pilgrims had to negotiate mud tracks in
rough terrains, and unsheltered roads travelling through in an unfamiliar
region. There was the additional hazard of
encountering thugs and robbers who might plunder and loot their belongings, and
who would cause physical injury often resulting in death. Indeed, many pilgrims lost their lives on the
road to pilgrimage. So before the pilgrims took to the road, they bade emotional
farewells to their loved ones because there was the uncertainty that they might
not return back to their homes at the end of their trip. True, in olden days the condition on the road
was bad but in modern times too pilgrims face hazards in some trips. The perilous pilgrimage to Amarnath is a case
in point. Pilgrims use trains, cars, helicopters to reach their destination but
there always remains the last few kilometers of walk through hilly tracts, and
many pilgrims die before they reach the shrine.
Ignoring the danger, pilgrims still risk the hazards of the road and are
killed before they reach the Amarnath cave to offer puja to Lord Shiva’s statue
formed by ice. We pay our respectful homage to all those pilgrims who lost
their lives in their religious mission to visit Amarnath and other shrines.
As there are many places of pilgrimage scattered over different regions of
India, it will never be possible to visit all major pilgrimage sites in one’s
life time. So a person may prefer to
visit the site which is considered religiously most important to him/her for
pilgrimage, at least once in life. To
the Bengali devotees, the visit to Gangasagar
island in the Bay of Bengal and offering Puja at the temple of Kapil Muni
is the supreme pilgrimage they can wish for. The oft-quoted saying in Bengali is:
“Bahu tirtha baar baar, Gangasagar ek baar’ meaning that –
one may be extremely fortunate to visit several places of pilgrimage, but
to receive the supreme spiritual gain, a pilgrimage to Gangasagar is a must and
is the principal religious aim of a Hindu.
So strong is the religious attraction to visit Gangasagar.
Concluding Remarks
A devout Hindu practices rituals as part of his/her religious living. Pilgrimage
is an important ritual as the Hindus believe that going on a pilgrimage will
help them to feel closer to God.
Because of this fervent belief, the ritual of Pilgrimage deserves to be included in the group of other Hindu
rituals. In this context it will be rewarding to turn our minds on the principal
rituals. The most honored rituals are
five in number, and these are quoted below:
(i) Parameswara (God) – a Hindu
believes in One God of many virtues, and the goal of Hindu religion is to
realize God in this worldly life
(ii) Prarthana
(Prayer) - by means of prayer, a Hindu devotee establishes union with God
(iii)
Purushartha (Law of Karma) – the
reward of an act performed by an individual depends on the good or evil
character of the action performed
(iv) Punarjanma
(Rebirth) – a Hindu believes that at death the human body dies but the soul
lives on and enters into a new body
(v) Praanidaya (Compassion shown to living beings) – Hindus practise
Ahimsa by not being cruel to any person or living being, and not causing injury
to any human or living being
This article proposes to add Paribraajan (Pilgrimage) to this list of five rituals so that the
new set of six rituals will serve as a more useful guide to a Hindu aspirant to
lead a religious life.
The author was on
pilgrimage to the holy city of Varanasi, and he wishes to share with the reader
the feeling he had standing on the top step of Varanasi’s famous Dasaswamedh
Ghat, watching the pilgrims perform rites on the bank of the Ganges to cleanse
their souls off worldly sins. I watched many
pilgrims offering ‘tarpan’ for their departed
elders and ancestors, and praying for peace in their after lives. I noticed many saffron-robed sadhus in the
crowd, and men and women whose varied styles of dress indicated that they had come
from different Indian states. Many were
chanting mantras and singing hymns. The
melody and rhythm of these devotions rose above the din of the crowd. I became engrossed in watching the various offerings
made by the pilgrims, and the air was ringing with divine sound. I considered myself lucky to have witnessed religious
activities on the ghat, which strengthened my Hindu faith. Observing all these rituals taking place in Varanasi
- amongst the most sacred places of pilgrimage to the Hindus - spiritually inspired
my mind. But Varanasi held for me an additional
appeal. Varanasi is the place where my
parents and their parents and ancestors had also been on pilgrimage. They walked on the streets of Varanasi and
sanctified the place by their presence.
This thought raised in my mind a deeper sense of the holiness of
Varanasi. No doubt the same uplifting
feeling I experienced in Varanasi, resonates in the minds of people who had
been on a pilgrimage to Varanasi and to other holy places.
