Pilgrimage

What it is for

A pilgrimage takes a person out of daily life into a time and place set apart. For believers it is a duty, a vow or a gift to the spiritual life, and many say it changes them. It may atone for a fault, fulfil a promise or seek a blessing for the family. Pilgrims often say it taught them humility and gratitude, and made them part of a long line of travellers. Shared hardship creates friendships that last for life, and the sites themselves are often places of great beauty and history.

Common elements across cultures

A pilgrimage has a destination, often a shrine, mountain, river or tomb, and a route, often with traditional stages. Pilgrims carry a staff, a shell or a badge, wear white or simple clothing, and give up comforts. They circle the holy site, bathe in sacred water, touch or kiss a sacred object, light a lamp and leave an offering. Hospitality along the road, from free meals to places to sleep, is a big part of the tradition. The return, with a souvenir or a blessing for those at home, completes the journey.

Food, dress and music

Pilgrim food is plain and shared: dates and water in Mecca, free community meals, langar, at the Golden Temple, simple rice and dal at Hindu centres, bread and wine on the Camino. Dress is modest: white ihram for the hajj, saffron robes in Hindu pilgrimages, black in Orthodox sites. Singing and chanting carry the walkers, from hymns to devotional songs, and bells, drums and conches announce arrival. Many pilgrims bring home a small token, such as a scallop shell, water from the sacred river, prasad sweets or a blessed cloth.

How it is changing

Air travel, buses and organised tours have made pilgrimage faster, and numbers have grown. Crowd control, health and the environment are now major concerns, and sites use apps, timed tickets and digital maps. Meanwhile, many people walk the old routes for a mix of spiritual and personal reasons, including many who say they are not religious. Heritage and tourism agencies work with local communities to protect the sites and the pilgrim's experience. The tradition shows no sign of declining and in some places is growing fast.

Pilgrimage around the world

Compare all 20 places

Traditions to start with

Kumbh MelaThe great Hindu bathing festival.Camino de SantiagoThe way of St James.Shikoku PilgrimageJapan's 88 temples.Qoyllur Rit'iThe Andean snow-star pilgrimage.

Also part of it, and being written: Hajj (The pilgrimage to Mecca.), Arba'in (The walk to Karbala.), Kora (The Tibetan circumambulation.), Lourdes (The French Marian shrine.).

Questions people ask