A Journey to holy place or place of religious interest for a religious reason is known as pilgrimage. It is a special kind of travel. The tourist who makes this physical and spiritual journey is known as a pilgrim. The prospects in this area of tourism are unlimited, because of spiritual interests of people, along with the cultural and historical importance of holy places. People tend to travel from one cornet of world to another for pilgrimage. Every year millions of Islam followers visit Mecca to offer their prayers to Prophet Mohammad at his birthplace. The scenario is similar for different religion or religious places.
Pilgrimage Hubs
Religious places from different religions are scattered all around the world, but the places with major importance lies in one country or place. The most important places of pilgrimage are as follows:
1. Jerusalem - Jerusalem is the holiest city in for Judaism, Christianity, and third most important place for Islam. The place is the spiritual center of the Jewish people since the 10th century BCE. The city contains a number of significant ancient Christian sites and is widely considered the third-holiest city in Islam.
2. Mecca - The city is most important religious place for Muslims for containing the holiest place of Islam, the Grand Mosque of Mecca. A pilgrimage to Mecca during the season of the Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a sacred duty that is required of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go, at least once in their lifetime. People of other faiths are officially forbidden from entering the city.
3. Bodhgaya - Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha. This is the place of Lord Buddha's enlightenment.
4. Amritsar - The place is home to the Golden Temple, and is the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahan in Agra and is the number one destination for non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India.
Along with these places, there are several places in Indian sub-continent important for followers of Hinduism. It is not possible to describe all places of Hinduism interest, because of their abundance all around sub-continent. Around these pilgrim hubs, there are several other places, which attracts pilgrims. These places are attracting tourists from other religion too. The reason is cultural, historical, and architectural importance of these places or monuments of these places. Tour and Travel agencies are offering special tour packages to attract the pilgrims during holy times of the year. Travel Agencies are proving all kinds of benefits to pilgrims according to their religious beliefs. The trend of Religious Tourism will be increasing in future too.
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