Pilgrimage and Pilgrims: Reasons for Holy Journey

What are the needs and wants of a person?

We try our very best to fulfill every need of ours, every want that we can ever think of. It’s not only about material things; some needs are spiritual as well. When you take a look around the world you see every community is a mirror reflection of some belief. We thrive and survive based on those beliefs.

With time as the population grows around the world, far-fetched uninhabited places are now illuminated with the sea of people and man made wonder. But the most spiritual places remain the same; old, historical but never forgotten.

Some people have strong faith than rest, but pilgrimages are for everyone. The voyages are a lifetime of experience of a universal consensus. For instance, Muslims at every corner of the world saves money to get a reasonable hajj packages, so they can go and visit their most holy of places. To cleanse their soul of the sins they have committed in their lifetime and for some, it's spiritual guidance they need to move on and vice versa. Likewise, Jew visit Jerusalem to Great Wall and pray and so on each group resembles something worth travelling for.

A compelling journey made to the end of the world

Like I said earlier, people travel from one place to another for many reasons, spiritual or religious needs is one of those reasons. Pilgrims even travel for days no matter how tired they may feel. For much hardship is the conjugation of why they need to go in the first place. Let’s look at some of the possible reasons why people go for pilgrimage

Miracles and surprises

Universe creation is a miracle in itself, the most religious scholars of all say. Science named the miracle Big Bang but for many, it's the work of God. If a Go can create and destroy the world than he can cure terminal illness as well, right?

On my travel experience, I have seen hundreds of people travelling because they seek the miracle they were promised by their faith/religion. There come moments in life when a person is in desperate need of a miracle, a solution. The feeling of being helpless is not an unfamiliar feeling for me either. So miracle seeking and being surprised by the outcomes came in my mind first hand.

You may also have heard of such impossible to believe stories, where a person dying of terminal illness is suddenly cured and outlives the prediction made by the doctor. Sometimes science is also stunned and we call it a miracle. So yeah, the notion is attractive and a solution for many. Henceforth the reason, why people prefer to go on a holy journey is because of their strong belief in miracles.

Asking for forgiveness

How many times do we realize we sin? Something we were not supposed to do and yet we did it. And when people do realize it they ask for forgiveness and redemption. No is born perfect but our actions do define us. When you do feel remorse, you want to wash it away, the feeling.

Religious pilgrims allow the discomfort, the hardship that they have to face during the pilgrimage as a way of redemption. During a job encounter, I heard a client complaining to the customer service representative that his hajj packages all inclusive was not covering any accommodation and that he needs to go visit the pilgrim site he can't delay it because he is old age. When I asked him why he was persuading the agent, all he could tell me was the burden of his sins is way too much for him to carry now. Even the desperation to get rid of your actions can make people leave for the religious journey.

Religious duty

The most popular fact about religious communities is that every year on certain occasions, people go visit the pilgrim's sites because it is their sole duty. When you have strong faith you do not overlook your responsibility that your religion has bestowed on you.

People travel thousands of miles just because of their religious duty calls to them. Either you go visit the Himalayas or the temples in Cambodia or Makkah or Medina in Saudi Arabia, you can't deny the religious call. You feel closer to God, and this embarking journey unveils a lot of spiritual fulfillment for many.

Religious pilgrimage brings harmony, peace and enlightenment for many, hence one of the vital reasons why people go on a pilgrimage. Every religious or faith tends to bring the best out of its followers. And yes being a traveller myself I have seen many life stories. Interviewing pilgrims is enlightening in its way. When people share their experiences and their journeys, it turns out, much travel for pilgrimage because it's their religious duty and it brings them closer to God.

Peace and love

People are so busy in their daily regimes, that they often feel lost. It's a good way to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. The peace that lacks in daily routine is offered for as long as they want when they enter a holy site.

I have seen people on the hard floor under the open night sky, sleeping more peacefully than in the comfort of their hundreds of dollars of the bedpost. Asking upon, all answered sometimes material things are not what they are after. The peace and love they find at a pilgrimage site cannot be found in any other place regardless of the modern inventions.

People just simply buy a package in the budget, such as an affordable hajj package or Umrah package to visit holy sites of Makkah and Medina to wipe away their tears, to pray from the depth of their hearts and ask for solutions of the troubles they face in the real world.

Conclusion:

It is true if you have a strong faith you can outdo any possibility. Travelling to pilgrimage sites as an adventurer revealed many unspoken stories that I will always remember. With faith and belief, people have achieved much and lost much as well. it’s a humble way of finding new solutions.

Shahid Raza has been writing for magazines and newspapers since 2010, and editing and managing websites like Travel, Tech, latest Jobs and Latest Thunderball Results since 2011.