Pilgrimage in India

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meaning of pilgrimage in Hinduism. A systematic and planned movement is termed as tourism. Out of various types of tourism spiritual and religious tourism is named as pilgrimage. In Indian tradition the pilgrimage place is called “tirtha” and pilgrimage is known as “tirthayatra.” A visit to the place is referred to as “darshana.” Tirthayatra is a journey which is regarded as of great religious and spiritual significance undertaken by the devotees with firm faith and conviction.
There can be many motives for undertaking pilgrimage. People go on pilgrimage with exalted purposes like demonstrating devotion, or moral significance like penance or wash out sins, or to gain divine help for redressing of disease or calamity or misfortune, or as an act of thanks giving after miraculous recovery or healing of injury or averting of an accident, or as a result of a vow. But mostly it is a meritorious practice to accumulate good karmas and to receive divine grace. The pilgrims have firm faith that any one who has sincerely pays reverence to the holy with a devout heart will reap benefits and happiness. According to the Indian understanding of human personality there are five sheaths (panchakosha) in human person. They are annamaya (physical), pranamaya (vital breaths), manomaya (mental and volitional), vijnanamaya (intellectual) and anandamaya (blissful). In undertaking pilgrimage all the five sheaths or dimensions of human person are believed to get fulfillment.
In India we have the oldest continually operating pilgrimage tradition. The practice of pilgrimage is so deeply embedded in Indian cultural psyche and the number of pilgrimage sites is so large and innumerable that practically the entire sub-continent can be regarded as one grand and continuous sacred place for pilgrimage. Hinduism being the oldest and largest religion has highest number of pilgrimage places. Among Hindu pilgrimage places I introduced 12 ones at the end of this paper.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meaning of pilgrimage in Hinduism. A systematic and planned movement is termed as tourism. Out of various types of tourism spiritual and religious tourism is named as pilgrimage. In Indian tradition the pilgrimage place is called “tirtha” and pilgrimage is known as “tirthayatra.” A visit to the place is referred to as “darshana.” Tirthayatra is a journey which is regarded as of great religious and spiritual significance undertaken by the devotees with firm faith and conviction.
There can be many motives for undertaking pilgrimage. People go on pilgrimage with exalted purposes like demonstrating devotion, or moral significance like penance or wash out sins, or to gain divine help for redressing of disease or calamity or misfortune, or as an act of thanks giving after miraculous recovery or healing of injury or averting of an accident, or as a result of a vow. But mostly it is a meritorious practice to accumulate good karmas and to receive divine grace. The pilgrims have firm faith that any one who has sincerely pays reverence to the holy with a devout heart will reap benefits and happiness. According to the Indian understanding of human personality there are five sheaths (panchakosha) in human person. They are annamaya (physical), pranamaya (vital breaths), manomaya (mental and volitional), vijnanamaya (intellectual) and anandamaya (blissful). In undertaking pilgrimage all the five sheaths or dimensions of human person are believed to get fulfillment.
In India we have the oldest continually operating pilgrimage tradition. The practice of pilgrimage is so deeply embedded in Indian cultural psyche and the number of pilgrimage sites is so large and innumerable that practically the entire sub-continent can be regarded as one grand and continuous sacred place for pilgrimage. Hinduism being the oldest and largest religion has highest number of pilgrimage places. Among Hindu pilgrimage places I introduced 12 ones at the end of this paper.