The Concept of Pilgrimage in Hinduism

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.