Pilgrimage: A Very Short Introduction by Ian Reader

Author:Ian Reader
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780198718222
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2015-01-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Practices, motives, and experiences

At the Greek Orthodox Church of the Madonna of the Annunciation on the Aegean island of Tinos some pilgrims crawl on their hands and knees up the street and steps leading to the shrine, perhaps because they have made a special vow to show their devotion in this way or because they feel that such public demonstrations of piety enhance the petitions they make to the Madonna. They may also endure hardships on the island if they cannot afford a bed and have to sleep in the streets. Not all pilgrims make such dramatic approaches, however, for austerities are not deemed mandatory for pilgrims. Many simply walk up to the shrine and demonstrate their devotion by making monetary and other offerings. They may also stay in comfortable accommodation, while some combine their pilgrimages with a vacation on the island, visiting its beaches and going swimming.

Such scenes, in which some pilgrims engage in ascetic practices and others take more comfortable paths, are common in pilgrimage contexts. In August 1971, when I walked to Amarnath from the nearest town, Pahalagam, at the start of the annual pilgrimage season, I met many sadhus—ascetic devotees of Shiva—who wore barely any clothing, begged for alms, and viewed their pilgrimage as an ascetic journey of devotion. I also encountered better-off pilgrims who rode horses, had guides who cooked for them, and stayed overnight in tents (see Figure 9). Nowadays, with enhanced support facilities, including helicopter tours to shorten the trip for those who wish to pay for the privilege, the Amarnath pilgrimage displays an even greater admixture of ascetics, foot pilgrims, and the well-off using horseback and other means of transport to make their journeys less arduous. At Kataragama in Sri Lanka, Hindus and Buddhists come making supplications to the deity Murukan (known to the Buddhists as Skanda). Some engage in dramatic ascetic displays to show their devotion and sincerity, walking on hot coals, and/or engaging in self-mortifications to show the deity that they are worthy of his benevolence. Others come by bus and car and enjoy the creature comforts available around the site, to the extent that various complaints have emerged in the Sri Lankan media and elsewhere that Kataragama has become tainted by frivolous touristic behaviour.

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