Whether its tacky souvenir stalls, airlines putting on special planes to fly people to Mecca or hotels set up to cater for those making long-standing sacred treks, religious tourism is big business these days. Pilgrimage plays a big part in all the major religions and ideologies – which makes for incredible sights and gatherings across the world.
Christian pilgrimages
In recent years, travelling the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain has boomed in popularity. There are various routes taken to reach the saint’s remains in the city’s cathedral, but most involve a long trek across France, the Pyrenees and northern Spain. Various refuges along the way cater for pilgrims.
Another major site is Lourdes, on the French side of the Pyrenees. It has been the site of unexplained happenings since the 1858, when the Virgin Mary appeared before a 14-year-old girl. The town is now swamped with visitors wanting to wash in the supposedly holy waters.
Hindu pilgrimages
Mt Kailash in Tibet is sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, and as a result remains the highest mountain in the world that no-one has attempted to climb. For Hindus, Kailash is the home of Shiva, destroyer of evil and sorrow, and many believe it to be the final home of the soul.
The most important pilgrimage route for Hindus is the Char Dham circuit through the Indian Himalayas. The arduous trek takes believers to temples at Puri, Rameshwaram and Dwarka before finishing at Badrinath – the supposed earthly home of Lord Vishnu.
Muslim pilgrimages
One of the five pillars of Islam is Hajj – the obligation of every able-bodied Muslim to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia at least once in their life. There is a series of rituals involved, the best known of which is walking round the kaaba (a large cubic structure) in the al-Masjid al-Haram mosque seven times.
Other Islamic pilgrimage sites include the prophet Muhammed’s tomb in Medina, Saudi Arabia and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel. The latter is where Muhammed is believed to have ascended to heaven.
Buddhist pilgrimages
There are four major pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, all of which have to do with Gautama Buddha, the founder of the religion. His birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal, is a World Heritage-listd site in which only monasteries are allowed to be built. The other three sites are all in north-Eastern India. Sarnath is where he delivered his first teachings, Bodh Gaya is where he achieved enlightenment and Kusinagar is where he died. All four sites have spectacular temples, and attract huge crowds on holy days.
Communist pilgrimages
Not all pilgrimages are religious. Some are based on ideology, and for those who refuse to admit that Communism is dead and buried, there are three major sites.
The first is the birthplace of Karl Marx in Trier, Germany, which has now been turned into an excellent – if disturbingly detailed – museum about his life and works. The other two are the giant mausoleums of the big Red cheeses. Chairman Mao lies in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, while Lenin takes pride of place in Moscow’s Red Square. Ironically, Mao wanted to be cremated, and Lenin buried next to his mum in St Petersburg.
This article was originally written for AOL UK.
Copyright David Whitley
