Hinduism

=== Pilgrimage ===
{{See also|Tirtha (Hinduism)|Hindu_pilgrimage_sites_in_India|l2=Tirtha locations|Yatra}}
Many adherents undertake [[pilgrimage]]s, which have historically been an important part of Hinduism and remain so today.{{Sfn|Fuller|2004|pp=204–05}} Pilgrimage sites are called ''[[Tirtha (Hinduism)|Tirtha]]'', ''Kshetra'', ''Gopitha'' or ''Mahalaya''.{{Sfn|Lochtefeld|2002n|pp=698–699}}{{Sfn|Jacobsen|2013|pp=4, 22, 27, 140–148, 157–158}} The process or journey associated with ''Tirtha'' is called ''Tirtha-yatra''.{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|p=2}} According to the Hindu text ''[[Skanda Purana]]'', Tirtha are of three kinds: Jangam Tirtha is to a place movable of a [[sadhu]], a [[rishi]], a [[guru]]; Sthawar Tirtha is to a place immovable, like Benaras, Haridwar, Mount Kailash, holy rivers; while Manas Tirtha is to a place of mind of truth, charity, patience, compassion, soft speech, Self.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Krishan |last2=Sinha |first2=Anil Kishore |last3=Banerjee |first3=Bijon Gopal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrkUMlsu_YIC |title=Anthropological Dimensions of Pilgrimage |publisher=Northern Book Centre |year=2009 |isbn=978-81-89091-09-5 |pages=3–5 |access-date=5 July 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328161616/https://books.google.com/books?id=RrkUMlsu_YIC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Maw |first=Geoffrey Waring |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IarXAAAAMAAJ |title=Pilgrims in Hindu Holy Land: Sacred Shrines of the Indian Himalayas |publisher=Sessions Book Trust |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-85072-190-1 |page=7 |access-date=5 July 2017 |archive-date=16 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216202914/https://books.google.com/books?id=IarXAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Tīrtha-yatra'' is, states Knut A. Jacobsen, anything that has a salvific value to a Hindu, and includes pilgrimage sites such as mountains or forests or seashore or rivers or ponds, as well as virtues, actions, studies or state of mind.{{Sfn|Jacobsen|2013|pp=157–158}}{{Sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=288–289}}

Pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the [[Puranas]].{{Sfn|Kane|1953|p=561}}{{Sfn|Eck|2012|pp=7–9}} Most Puranas include large sections on ''Tirtha Mahatmya'' along with tourist guides,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glucklich |first=Ariel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC |title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-971825-2 |page=146 |quote=The earliest promotional works aimed at tourists from that era were called ''mahatmyas'' [in Puranas]. |access-date=10 July 2016 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328161546/https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC |url-status=live }}</ref> which describe sacred sites and places to visit.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=559–560}}{{sfn|Holm|Bowker|2001|p=68}}{{sfn|Rocher|1986|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}} In these texts, [[Varanasi]] (Benares, Kashi), [[Rameswaram]], [[Kanchipuram]], [[Dwarka]], [[Puri]], [[Haridwar]], [[Sri Rangam]], [[Vrindavan]], [[Ayodhya]], [[Tirupati]], [[Mayapur]], [[Nathdwara]], twelve [[Jyotirlinga]] and [[Shakti Pitha]] have been mentioned as particularly holy sites, along with geographies where major rivers meet (''sangam'') or join the sea.{{Sfn|Kane|1953 |pp=553–556, 560–561}}{{Sfn|Eck|2012|pp=7–9}} [[Kumbh Mela]] is another major pilgrimage on the eve of the solar festival [[Makar Sankranti]]. This pilgrimage rotates at a gap of three years among four sites: [[Prayagraj]] at the confluence of the [[Ganges]] and [[Yamuna]] rivers, [[Haridwar]] near source of the [[Ganges]], [[Ujjain]] on the [[Shipra]] river and [[Nashik]] on the bank of the [[Godavari]] river.{{sfn|Eck|2013|pp=152–154}} This is one of world's largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 40 to 100 million people attending the event.{{sfn|Eck|2013|pp=152–154}}{{Sfn|Klostermaier |2010|p=553, note 55}}<ref group="web">{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Alan |date=14 January 2013 |title=Kumbh Mela: The Largest Gathering on Earth |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/01/kumbh-mela-the-largest-gathering-on-earth/100438/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=14 November 2017 |archive-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229174128/https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/01/kumbh-mela-the-largest-gathering-on-earth/100438/ |url-status=live }}<br />{{Cite news |last=Memmott |first=Mark |date=14 January 2013 |title=Biggest Gathering On Earth' Begins In India; Kumbh Mela May Draw 100 Million |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169313222/biggest-gathering-on-earth-begins-in-india-kumbh-mela-may-draw-100-million |website=NPR |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229174326/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169313222/biggest-gathering-on-earth-begins-in-india-kumbh-mela-may-draw-100-million |url-status=live }}</ref> At this event, they say a prayer to the sun and bathe in the river,{{sfn|Eck|2013|pp=152–154}} a tradition attributed to [[Adi Shankara]].{{Sfn|Dalal|2010|loc=chapter Kumbh Mela}}
[[File:Kedar Ghat in Varanasi.jpg|right|thumb|Kedar Ghat, a bathing place for pilgrims on the Ganges at Varanasi]]
Some pilgrimages are part of a ''Vrata'' (vow), which a Hindu may make for a number of reasons.{{Sfn|Eck|2012|pp=9–11}}{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|p=6}} It may mark a special occasion, such as the birth of a baby, or as part of a [[sanskara (rite of passage)|rite of passage]] such as a baby's first haircut, or after healing from a sickness.{{Sfn|Eck|2012|p=9}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bharati |first=Agehananda |year=1963 |title=Pilgrimage in the Indian Tradition |journal=History of Religions |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=135–167 |doi=10.1086/462476|s2cid=162220544 }}</ref> It may, states Eck, also be the result of prayers answered.{{Sfn|Eck|2012|p=9}} An alternative reason for Tirtha, for some Hindus, is to respect wishes or in memory of a beloved person after his or her death.{{Sfn|Eck|2012|p=9}} This may include dispersing their cremation ashes in a Tirtha region in a stream, river or sea to honour the wishes of the dead. The journey to a Tirtha, assert some Hindu texts, helps one overcome the sorrow of the loss.{{Sfn|Eck|2012|p=9}}{{refn|group=note|The cremation ashes are called ''phool'' (flowers). These are collected from the pyre in a rite-of-passage called ''asthi sanchayana'', then dispersed during ''asthi visarjana''. This signifies redemption of the dead in waters considered to be sacred and a closure for the living. Tirtha locations offer these services.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maclean |first=Kama |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HznRCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228 |title=Pilgrimage and Power: The Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 1765–1954 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-971335-6 |pages=228–229 |access-date=18 November 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328161603/https://books.google.com/books?id=HznRCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002a|p=68}}}}

Other reasons for a Tirtha in Hinduism is to rejuvenate or gain spiritual merit by travelling to famed temples or bathe in rivers such as the Ganges.{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|pp=3–5}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amazzone |first=Laura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PM_TNDu8NHUC |title=Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7618-5314-5 |pages=43–45 |access-date=5 July 2017 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111153836/https://books.google.com/books?id=PM_TNDu8NHUC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Holm|Bowker|2001|pp=69–77}} Tirtha has been one of the recommended means of addressing remorse and to perform penance, for unintentional errors and intentional sins, in the Hindu tradition.{{Sfn|Lingat|1973|pp=98–99}}{{Sfn|Bhardwaj|1983|p=4}} The proper procedure for a pilgrimage is widely discussed in Hindu texts.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|p=573}} The most accepted view is that the greatest austerity comes from travelling on foot, or part of the journey is on foot, and that the use of a conveyance is only acceptable if the pilgrimage is otherwise impossible.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=576–577}}
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