Place of pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is in different religions a place with a prominent religious significance - a sanctuary - and as such the goal of a pilgrimage . Visiting a place of pilgrimage is said to have special effects, such as healing illnesses.
A pilgrimage tradition can be evoked by an event such as a miracle or an apparition of the Virgin Mary or by the veneration of a personality of the respective religion who worked or is buried in the place; in Christianity these are mostly saints and there is usually a pilgrimage church in the places . On the commemoration days of these people or events, the pilgrimage sites are often visited by thousands of pilgrims.
Judaism
Christianity
In Christianity , the first pilgrimages led to places that, according to tradition or tradition, were associated with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ . Evidence from the 4th century shows that there were already pilgrimages to the Holy Land at this time . As Christianity spread, pilgrimages were also made to Rome to the tombs of early Christian martyrs and to places that replicated sites in the Holy Land, such as the Sacri Monti in Piedmont, Italy, and Lombardy. Pilgrimages were also made to the graves of other saints , as well as to places where Marian apparitions and miraculous healings were reported. Over time, a pilgrimage church or a “holy district” was built in such places for the streams of pilgrims .
Important pilgrimage sites
- Prominent places of pilgrimage in ancient Greece were Epidaurus , Delphi and Ephesus ; the latter was converted into a place of pilgrimage for the old church .
- A special feature is Jerusalem (and other Israeli pilgrimage sites) in the three Abrahamic religions Judaism , Christianity and Islam as an important place of pilgrimage.
Christianity
- The second most important place of pilgrimage for Christianity after the Holy Land is Rome , where the origins of the Western Church and the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul are located: around 18 million pilgrims per year.
- In addition to Rome and the Holy Land, the grave of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) was one of the great Christian pilgrimage destinations of the Middle Ages and continues to be the destination of many pilgrims.
- With around 20 million pilgrims come to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. The largest pilgrimage site in Brazil, with 8 million pilgrims annually, is Aparecida in the state of São Paulo, where Maria appeared to three fishermen in 1717.
- The Marian pilgrimage sites are of particular importance in Europe :
- Lourdes , which goes back to the Marian apparitions by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858; Within a few years, Lourdes became the most important place of pilgrimage in Europe.
- Fátima in Portugal. There, on May 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three shepherd children in an open field; she had ordered them to come back to this place every 13th of the month.
- In Germany, Altötting in Bavaria and Kevelaer on the Lower Rhine are of supraregional importance.
- Important pilgrimage sites in Austria are the basilica of Mariazell , Maria Plain and St. Leonhard ob Tamsweg .
- The most important place of pilgrimage in Poland is Czestochowa with the Black Madonna .
- Important pilgrimage sites in Switzerland are Einsiedeln Monastery (Marienwallfahrt) and Flüeli-Ranft ( Niklaus von Flüe ).
Islam
- The Kaaba in Mecca is the most important place of pilgrimage in Islam, which every wealthy Muslim should visit and which is visited by over two million people every year. The pilgrimage is known as Hajj .
- Karbala in Iraq is an important place of pilgrimage for Alevis and Shiites .
- The popular Islam knows regionally more tombs ( Mazarat , Arabic مزار), to which pilgrimages are sometimes undertaken.
Hinduism
In Hinduism , rivers are considered sacred, the most important of which is the Ganges as the embodiment of the goddess Ganga . Important pilgrimage sites are therefore often on rivers, river sources or at points where rivers meet. Examples:
- Varanasi , the most important Hindu pilgrimage site, there the Ganges flows north towards its source
- Haridwar , there is the source plateau of the Ganges in the Himalaya Mountains
- Prayagraj , the Kumbh Mela takes place there every twelve years
- Amarnath , Shiva's place of revelation in the form of a linga made of ice
- Pushkar
- Puri with the Jagannath Temple, which is only accessible to Hindus
- In Kanchipuram , Shiva and Vishnu are equally honored in several temple complexes
- In Madurai standing Meenakshi Amman Temple
- Rameswaram
Buddhism
In Buddhism there are numerous pilgrimage sites. The five most important ones are:
- Buddha's birthplace Lumbini
- Bodh Gaya , the place of enlightenment
- Sarnath , the place of the first sermon (starting the wheel of teaching ( Dharmachakra ))
- Kushinagar , the place of the total extinction Parinirvana
- Borobudur , one of the largest Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia.
Bahai
- The Shrine of Baha'u'llah in the Israeli city of Acre , where the remains of Baha'u'llah , the founder of the religion of Bahaism , are kept.
- The Shrine of Bab in the Baha'i World Center in the Israeli city of Haifa , where the remains of Bab , the founder of the religion of Babism , are kept.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011: over 11 million pilgrims; Source: Day of the Lord magazine , June 30, 2013.