TRADITIONAL PILGRIMAGE IN INDIA

Abstract

The article considers the Indian pilgrimage as the most important part of the religious life of adherents of the religions of India. The purpose of the study is to reveal the peculiarities of the Indian pilgrimage, to show the impact of historical, geographical, cultural factors on their formation. The following research methods were used in the work: theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific literature, sacred texts, in particular, Vedas and their interpretation, systemic analysis, isolation and synthesis of main components. Pilgrimage can be seen as a form of religious behavior. Veneration of saints and teachers of faith, natural objects, expressed in pilgrimage to sacred places, is one of the main manifestations of the religious life of the Hindus. Some sacred places owe their existence to ancient history and the custom to venerate heroes of numerous eposes and myths. For hundreds of millions of believers in India, a reverent attitude to the object of worship serves the accumulation of grace, and this or that righteous person is an intercessor that helps a person interrupt the cycle of rebirth. The most important places of pilgrimage in India are the seven sacred cities of India, Kumbha Mela centers, sacred objects in the Himalayas, special sacred temples, the seven sacred rivers, relics, graves, and places where the Teachers were cremated. Returning from the journey, pilgrims bring home the formed religious system of views; become distributors of the ideology of pilgrimage among others. This work can be useful for solving urgent problems of interaction with representatives of the world of a deeply spiritual Indian civilization.