For many thousands of years our ancestors have been visiting and venerating the power places of Europe. One culture after another has often frequented the same power sites and the story of how these magical places were discovered and used is filled with fairies and nature spirits, sages and astronomers, and enigmatic myths of world destroying cataclysms.

Read more here: » Sacred Sites: Pilgrimage in Ancient Europe - Megalithic and Celtic Sacred Space

Read more here: » Sacred Places: Sacred Sites, places and temples in India

Since the dawn of human time people have described certain places as being holy or magical, as having a concentrated power or presence of spirit. Ancient legends, historical records and contemporary reports tell of extraordinary, even miraculous happenings at these places. It is a curious fact, however, that these sacred sites, so significant to human culture are so little known beyond their own religious traditions. Of enormous importance, they have received only limited attention from social anthropologists, cultural geographers and religious historians. Why this remarkable omission of awareness and understanding?

Read more here: » Sacred Sites and Sacred Places: Pilgrimage and the lure of sacred sites

India has probably the most enduring pilgrimage tradition in the world. The greater the challenge of the path, the stronger its allure.

There is no typical profile of a pilgrim in India - they come from as diverse a background as the country itself, whether from the upper, middle or poorer classes.

There is an interesting passage in Frank Elias's The Gorgeous East published in 1913: "One of the strangest sights in India is that of the ascetics who make pilgrimages from one part of the country to another.

(See also: Pilgrimage in India, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

On his return from a pilgrimage to Amarnath, Swami Vivekananda hardly spoke to anyone. A disciple asked him what the matter was. "Oh that," said the otherwise fiery monk: "Since visiting Amarnath I feel as if Shiva is sitting on my head all 24 hours, not coming down for even a moment!"

Many of us go on pilgrimages, but not all our experiences are similar. Individual narrations differ in content and feeling. Every individual has a different experience to relate. All perceptions and reactions stem, however, from a common desire to forge a close relationship with the Divine. And it is this personal experience that makes a pilgrimage so different from a holiday or business trip.

(See also: Pilgrimage, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

What makes a place sacred? A place where meditation is practised over many years automatically acquires certain powers. The place gets charged with the energy and vibrations from peaceful thoughts. Depending on the intensity of meditators, the sanctity and power of a particular place can thus remain charged, exuding powerful vibrations, for thousands of years.

The Parshvanath Hills is one such place. Twenty-two of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras attained nirvana on this hill, and these enlightened persons were separated by thousands of years.

(See also: Sacred places in India, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Over 4,000 years ago God asked Abraham to build the Kabah (house of worship) at Mecca and to call upon all people to make the pilgrimage to the House of God. Thus, it came to be obligatory for every Muslim to go for Haj at least once, provided good health and financial position permitted it.

Over two million believers from all over the world gather every year in Mecca to perform this pious duty. The rites of Haj take about one week to complete, but the devout spend as many days as possible so that they may become spiritually enriched by the sacred atmosphere. All the acts and sites of Haj convey a spiritual message.

(See also: Kabah, Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí at the Bahá'í World Centre in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage. Bahá'u'lláh decreed pilgrimage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas to two places: the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran. In two separate Tablets, known as Suriy-i-Hajj, He prescribed specific rites for each of these pilgrimages (lifting the injunction regarding the sh ...

Read more here: » Bahá'í pilgrimage: Encyclopedia - Bahá'í pilgrimage

Martin Gray is an anthropologist and photographer. His work over twenty years specializing in the sacred sites and pilgrimage traditions were the result of visits to over a thousand sites in eighty countries. Other related archivesanthropologist, photographer

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Kushinagar or Kusinagar is a Buddhist pilgrimage site located next to Kasia, a rural town in Kushinagar District of the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India 52 km from Gorakhpur, In ancient times, it was known as Kushavati (Jatakas). Kushinagar was a celebrated center of the Malla kingdom of ancient India. Later, it would be known as Kushinara, one of four holy sites for Buddhists. At this location, near the Hiranyavati River, Gautama Buddha atta ...

Read more here: » Kushinagar: Encyclopedia - Kushinagar

The Char Dham ('the four abodes/seats') is the most important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Indian Himalayas. Located in the Garwhal section of the state of Uttaranchal (formerly the northwestern section of Uttar Pradesh), the circuit consists of four sites—Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. While each site in the circuit has an autonomous history and significance that predates and remains distinct from their status as a circuit, inclusion in the Char Dham has, over time, caused them be viewed together in pop ...

Including:

• Char Dham - Origins
• Char Dham - Pilgrimage centers

Read more here: » Char Dham: Encyclopedia - Char Dham

Kedarnath is a Hindu holy town located in the Uttaranchal state of India. Kedarnath, where a form of the Lord Shiva is venerated as one of the twelve jyotirling (linga of light), is one of the four sites in India's pilgrimage Char Dham. The most remote of the four Char Dham sites, Kedarnath is located in the Himalayas, about 3584m above sea level near the head of river Mandakini, a ...

Read more here: » Kedarnath: Encyclopedia - Kedarnath

Bhadrachalam Shrine is a site of pilgrimage for Hindus. It is situated on the bank of the river Godavari (southern Ganges) 320 km from Hyderabad. Its name is derived from Bhadragiri ( Mountain of Bhadra). This shrine was built by a devotee of Lord Rama, Kancharla Gopanna popularly known as Bhakta Ramdass in the 17th century (1630 A.D.). ...

Read more here: » Bhadrachalam: Encyclopedia - Bhadrachalam

Dark tourism or thanotourism is tourism involving travel to sites associated with death and suffering. This includes sites of pilgrimage such the site of St Peter’s death in Rome; castles and battlefields such as Culloden near Inverness, Scotland; sites of disaster, either natural or man made such as Ground Zero in New York and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; prisons now open to the public such as Beaumaris Prison in Anglesey, Wales; and purpose built centers such as the London Dungeon. In a class of its own, one of the most notorious destinations for dark tourism is ...

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The Way of St James, or St James' Way, quite often known by its Spanish name the Camino de Santiago, is the pilgrimage to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in north-westernmost Spain where the apostle Saint James the Great is said to be laid to rest. There is no one route - the Way can be one of any number of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela - but there are a number of main ones. The Way of St James has been one of the most important Christian pilgrimages since medieval times - the othe ...

Including:

• Way of St. James - History of St James' Way
• Way of St. James - The pilgrimage as penance
• Way of St. James - Pre-Christian history of the route
• Way of St. James - The modern-day pilgrimage
• Way of St. James - The many roads of the Way of St James
• Way of St. James - The French Way or Camino Francés
• Way of St. James - The Arles Way and the Aragonese Way
• Way of St. James - The Northern Way or Camino del Norte
• Way of St. James - The English Way or Camino Inglés
• Way of St. James - The Portuguese Way or Camino Portugués
• Way of St. James - The Camino Mozárabe and the Via de la Plata
• Way of St. James - The Way of St. James in England
• Way of St. James - The Way's name in other languages

Read more here: » Way of St. James: Encyclopedia - Way of St. James

Gangotri, the source of the Ganga (Ganges) River and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. The Gangotri temple can be reached in one day's travel from Rishikesh, Haridwar or Dehradun, or in two days from Yamunotri, the first site in the Char Dham circuit. More popular and important than its sister site to the east, Gangotri is also accessible directly by car and bus, meaning that it sees many more pilgrims than Yamunotri. A small village of guesthouses and restaurants serves the pilgr

Read more here: » Gangotri: Encyclopedia - Gangotri

Croagh Patrick (Cruach Phádraig in Irish), known locally as the Reek, is a mountain in the west of Ireland in County Mayo. Croagh Patrick has been a pilgrimage site for hundreds of years in honour of Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, who fasted for forty days on the summit of the mountain in 441 and built a church there. In modern times, a small chapel was built on the summit, and dedicated on the 30th July, 1905. On 31st July 2005, during the annual pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, or 'Reek Sunday' as i ...

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The Virgin of Montserrat is believed to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the church. Legend has it that the Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their cathedral at Montserrat, choosing to instead build around it. The statue's sanctuary is located at the rear of the cathedral, where an altar of gold surrounds the icon, and is now a site of pilgrimage. Catalan catholics consider the Virgin of Montserrat, ...

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Badrinath, the seat of the god Vishnu in his aspect of Badrinarayan, is the most important of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. Located in Uttaranchal only a few kilometers from China, Badrinath is generally a two-day's journey from either Kedarnath, the site that precedes it in the Char Dham circuit, or one of the main disembarkation points on the plains. Also a member of the all-India Char Dham, Badrinath is one of the most important Vaisnava temples in India. As the route to Badrinath is for much of the way also the r

Read more here: » Badrinath: Encyclopedia - Badrinath

A tirtha is a pilgrimage site. Literally the Sanskrit term "tirtha" means a ford, a shallow part of a body of water that may be easily crossed. A tirtha provides the inspiration to enable one to cross over from worldly engagement to the side of nirvana. In Jainism, a tirtha may be Siddha kshtra: site of liberation of a Kevali (including Tirthankaras) like Ashtapad hill, Sammet Shikhar, Champa, Girnar, Pava and Shatrunjaya. Atishaya kshetra: where divine events have occurr ...

Read more here: » Tirtha: Encyclopedia - Tirtha