Jump to content

Religious tourism: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
 
(28 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Travel to religious sites, whether spiritual or sightseeing}}
{{short description|Travel to religious sites, whether spiritual or sightseeing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
[[File:Kumbh Mela2001.JPG|thumb|upright=1.75|The [[Kumbh Mela]] is the largest gathering for religious purposes anywhere in the world.]]
[[File:As pilgrims prepare to return to their homes, Saudi authorities begin to prep for next year's Hajj - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg|thumb|[[Hajj]] in [[Mecca]], [[Saudi Arabia]], is one of the largest gatherings for religious purposes anywhere in the world.]]
[[File:Baptism in Jordan River P1020553.JPG|thumb|Christians come to the Jordan river to baptise. Picture taken in [[Yardenit]], [[Israel]].]]
'''Religious tourism''', '''spiritual tourism''', '''sacred tourism''', or '''faith tourism''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gannon |first1=Martin Joseph |last2=Baxter |first2=Ian W. F. |last3=Collinson |first3=Elaine |last4=Curran |first4=Ross |last5=Farrington |first5=Thomas |last6=Glasgow |first6=Steven |last7=Godsman |first7=Elliot M. |last8=Gori |first8=Keith |last9=Jack |first9=Gordon R. A. |s2cid=54745153 |date=2017-06-11 |title=Travelling for Umrah: destination attributes, destination image, and post-travel intentions |journal=The Service Industries Journal |volume=37 |issue=7–8 |pages=448–465 |doi=10.1080/02642069.2017.1333601 |issn=0264-2069 |url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70393/3/Umrah-SIJ-2017.pdf}}</ref> is a type of [[tourism]] with two main subtypes: [[pilgrimage]], meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.
'''Religious tourism''', '''spiritual tourism''', '''sacred tourism''', or '''faith tourism''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gannon |first1=Martin Joseph |last2=Baxter |first2=Ian W. F. |last3=Collinson |first3=Elaine |last4=Curran |first4=Ross |last5=Farrington |first5=Thomas |last6=Glasgow |first6=Steven |last7=Godsman |first7=Elliot M. |last8=Gori |first8=Keith |last9=Jack |first9=Gordon R. A. |s2cid=54745153 |date=2017-06-11 |title=Travelling for Umrah: destination attributes, destination image, and post-travel intentions |journal=The Service Industries Journal |volume=37 |issue=7–8 |pages=448–465 |doi=10.1080/02642069.2017.1333601 |issn=0264-2069 |url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70393/3/Umrah-SIJ-2017.pdf}}</ref> is a type of [[tourism]] with two main subtypes: [[pilgrimage]], meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.

By analogy, spiritual tourism refers to tourism undertaken for spiritual purposes; this can be a form of religious tourism, but can also go beyond the realm of religion<ref>{{Cite book|last=Alan A. Lew C. Michael Hall Allan M. Williams|title=Religion and Spirituality in Tourism|date=4 April 2014}}</ref>


==Types==
==Types==
Line 36: Line 35:
{{main|Pilgrimage}}
{{main|Pilgrimage}}


Pilgrimage is spiritually- or religiously-motivated travel, sometimes over long distances; it has been practised since antiquity and in several of the world's religions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Guzik |first1=Helena |title=What is a pilgrimage? |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/what-is-a-pilgrimage |publisher=National Trust / University of Oxford |access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref> The world's largest mass religious assemblage takes place in India at the [[Kumbh Mela]], which attracts over 120 million pilgrims.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eck |first=Diana L. |title=India: A Sacred Geography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uD_0P6gS-vMC |year=2012 |publisher=Harmony Books |isbn=978-0-385-53190-0 |pages=153–155}}</ref> Other major pilgrimages include the annual [[Hajj]] to Mecca, required once in a Muslim's life.<ref name="Modarresi">{{cite book |author=Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi |author-link=Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi |title=The Laws of Islam |date=26 March 2016 |publisher=Enlight Press |isbn=978-0994240989 |url=http://almodarresi.com/en/books/pdf/TheLawsofIslam.pdf |access-date=22 December 2017 |ref=Modarresi |language=en |page=471}}</ref>
Pilgrimage is spiritually- or religiously motivated travel, sometimes over long distances; it has been practised since antiquity and in several of the world's religions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Guzik |first1=Helena |title=What is a pilgrimage? |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/what-is-a-pilgrimage |publisher=National Trust / University of Oxford |access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref> The world's largest mass religious assemblage takes place in India at the [[Kumbh Mela]], which attracts over 120 million pilgrims.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eck |first=Diana L. |title=India: A Sacred Geography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uD_0P6gS-vMC |year=2012 |publisher=Harmony Books |isbn=978-0-385-53190-0 |pages=153–155}}</ref> Other major pilgrimages include the annual [[Hajj]] to Mecca, required once in a Muslim's life.<ref name="Modarresi">{{cite book |author=Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi |author-link=Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi |title=The Laws of Islam |date=26 March 2016 |publisher=Enlight Press |isbn=978-0994240989 |url=http://almodarresi.com/en/books/pdf/TheLawsofIslam.pdf |access-date=22 December 2017 |ref=Modarresi |language=en |page=471}}</ref> These journeys often involve elaborate rituals and rites, reflecting the deep significance and varied traditions associated with pilgrimage in different cultures and faiths.<ref>{{Citation |title=Religious and secular pilgrimage: Journeys redolent with meaning |date=2006-09-27 |work=Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys |pages=52–64 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203001073-13 |access-date=2024-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-00107-3}}</ref>


==Religious sightseeing==
==Religious sightseeing==
[[File:Santuário de Fátima (cropped).jpg|thumb|Tourists and pilgrims in front of the [[Sanctuary of Fátima]] in [[Portugal]]]]
[[File:Santuário de Fátima (cropped).jpg|thumb|Tourists and pilgrims in front of the [[Sanctuary of Fátima]] in [[Portugal]].]]
[[File:Tiendasturismoreligioso.jpg|thumb|Shops of religious tourism in Fátima, Portugal.]]
<!--[[File:Pigeons and tourists.jpg|thumb|Tourists in front of the [[Basilica di San Marco, Venice]]]]-->
<!--[[File:Pigeons and tourists.jpg|thumb|Tourists in front of the [[Basilica di San Marco, Venice]]]]-->


Religious sightseeing can be motivated by any of several kinds of interest, such as religion, art, architecture, history, and personal ancestry.<ref name="Makrides2009">{{cite book |last=Makrides |first=Vasilios |title=Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches: A Concise History of the Religious Cultures of Greece from Antiquity to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKOY5NsekfkC&pg=PA2 |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9568-2 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenia |first1=George |title=Pilgrimage and the American Myth |url=https://www.wm.edu/offices/auxiliary/osher/course-info/classnotes/spring2017/GreeniaSacredStepsPilgrimageAmericanMyth1.pdf |publisher=College of William & Mary |access-date=4 December 2019 |page=5 |quote=Scholars in religious studies take spiritual sketches of travellers’ yearning for the transcendent, while sociologists capture glimpses of mixed motives and intrusions of the definitely non-sacred. Even tourism studies help us see past the picture postcard images of the exotic and wondrous and show us vacationers, trekkers, skeptics, seekers and spenders flowing in and out of the channels of belief.}}</ref>
Religious sightseeing can be motivated by various interests, including religion, art, architecture, history, and personal ancestry.<ref name="Makrides2009">{{cite book |last=Makrides |first=Vasilios |title=Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches: A Concise History of the Religious Cultures of Greece from Antiquity to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKOY5NsekfkC&pg=PA2 |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9568-2 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenia |first1=George |title=Pilgrimage and the American Myth |url=https://www.wm.edu/offices/auxiliary/osher/course-info/classnotes/spring2017/GreeniaSacredStepsPilgrimageAmericanMyth1.pdf |publisher=College of William & Mary |access-date=4 December 2019 |page=5 |quote=Scholars in religious studies take spiritual sketches of travellers' yearning for the transcendent, while sociologists capture glimpses of mixed motives and intrusions of the definitely non-sacred. Even tourism studies help us see past the picture postcard images of the exotic and wondrous and show us vacationers, trekkers, skeptics, seekers and spenders flowing in and out of the channels of belief.}}</ref>
People can find holy places interesting and moving, whether they personally are religious or not. Some, such as the churches of [[Italy]], offer [[Architecture of Italy|fine architecture]] and [[Art in Italy|major artworks]]. [[Portugal]], for example, has as its main religious tourism attraction the [[Sanctuary of Fátima|Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima]], internationally known by the phenomenon of [[Marian apparition]]s. Others are important to world religions: [[Jerusalem]] holds a central place in [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]. Others again may be both scenic and important to one religion, like the [[Camino de Santiago|Way of Saint James]] in Spain, but have been adopted by non-religious people as a personal challenge and indeed as a journey of [[self-discovery]]. [[Religious tourism in India]] can take many forms, including [[yoga tourism]]; the country has sites important to [[Buddhism]], Islam, [[Sikhism]] and [[Hinduism]], as well as magnificent architecture and, for some travellers, the attraction of [[orientalism]].<ref name="Higgs 2019">{{cite web |last1=Higgs |first1=Andy |title=Tips for Organising a Religious Sightseeing Trip |url=https://grownuptravelguide.com/tips-for-organising-a-religious-sightseeing-trip |publisher=Grown-up Travel Guide |date=20 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Goldberg 2010">{{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Philip |title=American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation – How Indian Spirituality Changed the West |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-385-52134-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3Mdr3IMgW0C&q=Beatles |pages=7, 152}}</ref> Japan too offers beautiful religious places from Buddhist temples to [[Shinto]] shrines.<ref name="Higgs 2019"/>
People can find holy places interesting and moving, whether they personally are religious or not. Some, such as the churches of [[Italy]], offer [[Architecture of Italy|fine architecture]] and [[Art in Italy|major artworks]]. [[Portugal]], for example, has as its main religious tourism attraction the [[Sanctuary of Fátima|Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima]], internationally known by the phenomenon of [[Marian apparition]]s. Others are important to world religions: [[Jerusalem]] holds a central place in [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]. Others again may be both scenic and important to one religion, like the [[Camino de Santiago|Way of Saint James]] in Spain, but have been adopted by non-religious people as a personal challenge and indeed as a journey of [[self-discovery]]. [[Religious tourism in India]] can take many forms, including [[yoga tourism]]; the country has sites important to [[Buddhism]], Islam, [[Sikhism]] and [[Hinduism]], as well as magnificent architecture and, for some travellers, the attraction of [[orientalism]].<ref name="Higgs 2019">{{cite web |last1=Higgs |first1=Andy |title=Tips for Organising a Religious Sightseeing Trip |url=https://grownuptravelguide.com/tips-for-organising-a-religious-sightseeing-trip |publisher=Grown-up Travel Guide |date=20 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Goldberg 2010">{{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Philip |title=American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation – How Indian Spirituality Changed the West |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-385-52134-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3Mdr3IMgW0C&q=Beatles |pages=7, 152}}</ref> Japan too offers beautiful religious places from Buddhist temples to [[Shinto]] shrines.<ref name="Higgs 2019"/>


==Secular pilgrimage==
==Secular pilgrimage==


A category intermediate between pilgrims belonging to a major world religion and pure tourism is the modern concept of secular pilgrimage to places such as the Himalayas felt to be in some way special or even sacred, and where the travel is neither purely pious, nor purely for pleasure, but is to some degree "compromised".<ref name="Singh2005">{{cite journal |last=Singh |first=Shalini |s2cid=143325849 |title=Secular pilgrimages and sacred tourism in the Indian Himalayas |journal=[[GeoJournal]] |volume=64 |issue=3 |year=2005 |pages=215–223 |issn=0343-2521 |doi=10.1007/s10708-005-5649-8 |jstor=41148001}}</ref><ref name="Ricketts2018">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ricketts |first=Jeremy R. |entry=Tourism to Sacred Places in America: A Spatial Analysis |year=2018 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.541 |quote="Tourism to sacred places" or "sacred tourism" allows the flexibility to include hallowed places that are either formally religious or not. Indeed, sites of secular pilgrimage continue to proliferate wherein "pilgrim" is used indistinguishably from "tourist" because of the mixture of secular and sacred at the site itself as well as the diverse motivations of the people who journey there.|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |isbn=9780199340378 }}</ref> For example, [[New Age]] believers may travel to such "spiritual hotspots" <!--like the Himalayas--> with the intention of healing themselves and the world. They may practise rituals involving (supposedly) leaving their bodies, possession by spirits ([[Mediumship|channelling]]), and recovery of past life memories.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/travel/29spirituality.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=Touring the Spirit World | first=Ethan | last=Todras-Whitehill | date=2007-04-29 | access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> The travel is considered by many scholars as transcendental, a life learning process or even a self-realization metaphor.<ref name=gpti>{{cite web | last=Rountree | first=Kathryn | title=Goddess pilgrims as tourists: Inscribing the body through sacred travel | url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14435488 | access-date=15 October 2008}}</ref><ref name=plas>{{cite web | last=Oberholtzer | first=Heidi | title=Pilgrimage in literature of the Americas: Spiritualized travel and sacred place | url=http://refdoc-info.inist.fr/c4/refdoc.html?cpsidt=15305309 | access-date=15 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/BDLM/toModule.do?prefix=/search&page=/search_detail.jsp?seq=148731 |title = 書目明細}}</ref>
A category intermediate between pilgrims belonging to a major world religion and pure tourism is the modern concept of secular pilgrimage to places such as the Himalayas felt to be in some way special or even sacred, and where the travel is neither purely pious, nor purely for pleasure, but is to some degree "compromised".<ref name="Singh2005">{{cite journal |last=Singh |first=Shalini |s2cid=143325849 |title=Secular pilgrimages and sacred tourism in the Indian Himalayas |journal=[[GeoJournal]] |volume=64 |issue=3 |year=2005 |pages=215–223 |issn=0343-2521 |doi=10.1007/s10708-005-5649-8 |jstor=41148001|bibcode=2005GeoJo..64..215S }}</ref><ref name="Ricketts2018">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ricketts |first=Jeremy R. |title=Tourism to Sacred Places in America: A Spatial Analysis |entry=Tourism to Sacred Places in America: A Spatial Analysis |year=2018 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.541 |quote="Tourism to sacred places" or "sacred tourism" allows the flexibility to include hallowed places that are either formally religious or not. Indeed, sites of secular pilgrimage continue to proliferate wherein "pilgrim" is used indistinguishably from "tourist" because of the mixture of secular and sacred at the site itself as well as the diverse motivations of the people who journey there.|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |isbn=9780199340378 }}</ref> For example, [[New Age]] believers may travel to such "spiritual hotspots" <!--like the Himalayas--> with the intention of healing themselves and the world. They may practise rituals involving leaving their bodies, possession by spirits ([[Mediumship|channelling]]), and recovery of past life memories.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/travel/29spirituality.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=Touring the Spirit World | first=Ethan | last=Todras-Whitehill | date=2007-04-29 | access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> The travel is considered by many scholars as transcendental, a life learning process or even a self-realization metaphor.<ref name=gpti>{{cite web | last=Rountree | first=Kathryn | title=Goddess pilgrims as tourists: Inscribing the body through sacred travel | url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14435488 | access-date=15 October 2008}}</ref><ref name=plas>{{cite web | last=Oberholtzer | first=Heidi | title=Pilgrimage in literature of the Americas: Spiritualized travel and sacred place | url=http://refdoc-info.inist.fr/c4/refdoc.html?cpsidt=15305309 | access-date=15 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/BDLM/toModule.do?prefix=/search&page=/search_detail.jsp?seq=148731 |title = 書目明細}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==


⚫
* [[Devotional articles]]
* [[Christian tourism]]
* [[Christian tourism]]
⚫
* [[Devotional articles]]
* [[Halal tourism]]
* [[Halal tourism]]
* [[Kosher tourism]]
* [[Kosher tourism]]
Line 58: Line 58:
==References==
==References==


{{reflist|28em}}
{{reflist}}


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
Line 70: Line 70:
==External links==
==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Religion and spirituality}}
{{Wikivoyage|Religion and spirituality}}
{{Wikivoyage|Christianity}}
{{Wikivoyage|Islam}}
{{Wikivoyage|Islam}}
{{Wikivoyage|Judaism}}

* [http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Pilgrigmage.htm Encyclopedia of Religion and Society: Pilgrimage/Tourism] (history from ancient times)
* [http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Pilgrigmage.htm Encyclopedia of Religion and Society: Pilgrimage/Tourism] (history from ancient times)
* [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2008-03-20-10-great_N.htm USA TODAY: 10 Great Places to Mark Christianity's Holiest Day] (on Christian sacred places such as [[St Peter's, Rome]], [[St. John of Patmos|St John's cave on Patmos]], and the grotto at [[Lourdes grotto|Lourdes]])
* [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2008-03-20-10-great_N.htm USA TODAY: 10 Great Places to Mark Christianity's Holiest Day] (on Christian sacred places such as [[St Peter's, Rome]], [[St. John of Patmos|St John's cave on Patmos]], and the grotto at [[Lourdes grotto|Lourdes]])
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/10/earlyshow/contributors/debbyeturner/main1303854.shtml CBS Early Show: Rest, relaxation, & religion]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060219100640/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/10/earlyshow/contributors/debbyeturner/main1303854.shtml CBS Early Show: Rest, relaxation, & religion]
* [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-01-26-faith-based-travel_x.htm USA TODAY: On a wing and a prayer] (on [[James Dobson]] and [[Focus on the Family]] in Colorado)
* [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-01-26-faith-based-travel_x.htm USA TODAY: On a wing and a prayer] (on [[James Dobson]] and [[Focus on the Family]] in Colorado)
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401422.html Washington Post: Seeking answers with field trips in faith] (on [[Our Lady of Medjugorje]], Bosnia)
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401422.html Washington Post: Seeking answers with field trips in faith] (on [[Our Lady of Medjugorje]], Bosnia)
* [https://travelosei.com/guide-to-a-spiritual-sojourn-in-india/ Guide to a Spiritual Sojourn in India]


{{tourism}}
{{tourism}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Religious Tourism}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Religious Tourism}}

Latest revision as of 11:14, 11 November 2024

Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is one of the largest gatherings for religious purposes anywhere in the world.
Christians come to the Jordan river to baptise. Picture taken in Yardenit, Israel.

Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism,[1] is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.

Types

[edit]

Religious tourism has been characterised in different ways by researchers. Gisbert Rinschede distinguishes these by duration, by group size, and by social structure.[2] Juli Gevorgian proposes two categories that differ in their motivation, namely "pilgrimage tourism" for spiritual reasons or to participate in religious rites, and "church tourism" to view monuments such as cathedrals.[3][4] The Christian priest Frank Fahey writes that a pilgrim is "always in danger of becoming a tourist", and vice versa since travel always in his view upsets the fixed order of life at home, and identifies eight differences between the two:[5]

Distinguishing pilgrimage from tourism, according to Frank Fahey[5]
Element Pilgrimage Tourism
Faith always contains "faith expectancy" not required
Penance search for wholeness not required
Community often solitary, but should be open to all often with friends and family, or a chosen interest group
Sacred space silence to create an internal sacred space not present
Ritual externalizes the change within not present
Votive offering leaving behind a part of oneself, letting go, in search of a better life not present; the travel is the good life
Celebration "victory over self", celebrating to remember drinking to forget
Perseverance commitment; "pilgrimage is never over" holidays soon end

Pilgrimage

[edit]
Tibetans on a pilgrimage to Lhasa, doing full-body prostrations, often for the entire length of the journey
Main article: Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is spiritually- or religiously motivated travel, sometimes over long distances; it has been practised since antiquity and in several of the world's religions.[6] The world's largest mass religious assemblage takes place in India at the Kumbh Mela, which attracts over 120 million pilgrims.[7] Other major pilgrimages include the annual Hajj to Mecca, required once in a Muslim's life.[8] These journeys often involve elaborate rituals and rites, reflecting the deep significance and varied traditions associated with pilgrimage in different cultures and faiths.[9]

Religious sightseeing

[edit]
Tourists and pilgrims in front of the Sanctuary of Fátima in Portugal.
Shops of religious tourism in Fátima, Portugal.

Religious sightseeing can be motivated by various interests, including religion, art, architecture, history, and personal ancestry.[10][11] People can find holy places interesting and moving, whether they personally are religious or not. Some, such as the churches of Italy, offer fine architecture and major artworks. Portugal, for example, has as its main religious tourism attraction the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, internationally known by the phenomenon of Marian apparitions. Others are important to world religions: Jerusalem holds a central place in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Others again may be both scenic and important to one religion, like the Way of Saint James in Spain, but have been adopted by non-religious people as a personal challenge and indeed as a journey of self-discovery. Religious tourism in India can take many forms, including yoga tourism; the country has sites important to Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism, as well as magnificent architecture and, for some travellers, the attraction of orientalism.[12][13] Japan too offers beautiful religious places from Buddhist temples to Shinto shrines.[12]

Secular pilgrimage

[edit]

A category intermediate between pilgrims belonging to a major world religion and pure tourism is the modern concept of secular pilgrimage to places such as the Himalayas felt to be in some way special or even sacred, and where the travel is neither purely pious, nor purely for pleasure, but is to some degree "compromised".[14][15] For example, New Age believers may travel to such "spiritual hotspots" with the intention of healing themselves and the world. They may practise rituals involving leaving their bodies, possession by spirits (channelling), and recovery of past life memories.[16] The travel is considered by many scholars as transcendental, a life learning process or even a self-realization metaphor.[17][18][19]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Gannon, Martin Joseph; Baxter, Ian W. F.; Collinson, Elaine; Curran, Ross; Farrington, Thomas; Glasgow, Steven; Godsman, Elliot M.; Gori, Keith; Jack, Gordon R. A. (11 June 2017). "Travelling for Umrah: destination attributes, destination image, and post-travel intentions" (PDF). The Service Industries Journal. 37 (7–8): 448–465. doi:10.1080/02642069.2017.1333601. ISSN 0264-2069. S2CID 54745153.
  2. ^ Rinschede, Gisbert (1992). "Forms of religious tourism". Annals of Tourism Research. 19 (1): 51–67. doi:10.1016/0160-7383(92)90106-Y. ISSN 0160-7383.
  3. ^ Gevorgian, Juli. "Religious Tourism". Academia. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ^ Ralf van Bühren, The artistic heritage of Christianity. Promotion and reception of identity. Editorial of the first section in the special issue on Tourism, religious identity and cultural heritage, in Church, Communication and Culture 3 (2018), pp. 195-196.
  5. ^ a b Fahey, Frank (April 2002). "Pilgrims or Tourists?". The Furrow. 53 (4): 213–218. JSTOR 27664505.
  6. ^ Guzik, Helena. "What is a pilgrimage?". National Trust / University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  7. ^ Eck, Diana L. (2012). India: A Sacred Geography. Harmony Books. pp. 153–155. ISBN 978-0-385-53190-0.
  8. ^ Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi (26 March 2016). The Laws of Islam (PDF). Enlight Press. p. 471. ISBN 978-0994240989. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Religious and secular pilgrimage: Journeys redolent with meaning", Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys, Routledge, pp. 52–64, 27 September 2006, ISBN 978-0-203-00107-3, retrieved 11 September 2024
  10. ^ Makrides, Vasilios (2009). Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches: A Concise History of the Religious Cultures of Greece from Antiquity to the Present. NYU Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-8147-9568-2.
  11. ^ Greenia, George. "Pilgrimage and the American Myth" (PDF). College of William & Mary. p. 5. Retrieved 4 December 2019. Scholars in religious studies take spiritual sketches of travellers' yearning for the transcendent, while sociologists capture glimpses of mixed motives and intrusions of the definitely non-sacred. Even tourism studies help us see past the picture postcard images of the exotic and wondrous and show us vacationers, trekkers, skeptics, seekers and spenders flowing in and out of the channels of belief.
  12. ^ a b Higgs, Andy (20 May 2019). "Tips for Organising a Religious Sightseeing Trip". Grown-up Travel Guide.
  13. ^ Goldberg, Philip (2010). American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation – How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. New York: Harmony Books. pp. 7, 152. ISBN 978-0-385-52134-5.
  14. ^ Singh, Shalini (2005). "Secular pilgrimages and sacred tourism in the Indian Himalayas". GeoJournal. 64 (3): 215–223. Bibcode:2005GeoJo..64..215S. doi:10.1007/s10708-005-5649-8. ISSN 0343-2521. JSTOR 41148001. S2CID 143325849.
  15. ^ Ricketts, Jeremy R. (2018). "Tourism to Sacred Places in America: A Spatial Analysis". Tourism to Sacred Places in America: A Spatial Analysis. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.541. ISBN 9780199340378. "Tourism to sacred places" or "sacred tourism" allows the flexibility to include hallowed places that are either formally religious or not. Indeed, sites of secular pilgrimage continue to proliferate wherein "pilgrim" is used indistinguishably from "tourist" because of the mixture of secular and sacred at the site itself as well as the diverse motivations of the people who journey there.
  16. ^ Todras-Whitehill, Ethan (29 April 2007). "Touring the Spirit World". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  17. ^ Rountree, Kathryn. "Goddess pilgrims as tourists: Inscribing the body through sacred travel". Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  18. ^ Oberholtzer, Heidi. "Pilgrimage in literature of the Americas: Spiritualized travel and sacred place". Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  19. ^ "書目明細".

Further reading

[edit]
  • Ralf van Bühren, Lorenzo Cantoni, and Silvia De Ascaniis (eds.), Special issue on “Tourism, Religious Identity and Cultural Heritage”, in Church, Communication and Culture 3 (2018), pp. 195–418
  • Razaq Raj and Nigel D. Morpeth, Religious tourism and pilgrimage festivals management: an international perspective, CABI, 2007
  • Dallen J. Timothy and Daniel H. Olsen, Tourism, religion and spiritual journeys, Routledge, 2006
  • University of Lincoln (Department of tourism and recreation), Tourism – the spiritual dimension. Conference. Lincoln (Lincolnshire) 2006
  • N. Ross Crumrine and E. Alan Morinis, Pilgrimage in Latin America, Westport CT 1991
[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Religion and spirituality.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Islam.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religious_tourism&oldid=1256750368"