Hindu Pilgrimage Essays - Hindu Pilgrimage Sites, Rigvedic Rivers

Hindu Pilgrimage annon The following essay addresses that of the Hindu pilgrimage as to why pilgrimage is an important aspect of Hindu religion? Firstly, the essay focusses on points which support pilgrimage as a fundamental and key aspect of the Hindu community. Secondly, a perspective denying pilgrimages have any significant role for Hindu and their religion is discussed. It does seem though, to me, that without the aspect of pilgrimage, the Hindu religion would still function quite noramally because although the pilgrimage sites give darsan, they do not seem to be able to assist people with their day to day problems, whereas holy men do. First though we need to know exactly what darsan means to Hindus. Darsan means seeing in Hindu religion and when people go to a temple, they say they do not go to worship but rather for darsan - they go to see the image of the deity. The pinacle act of Hindu worship, is to stand in the presence of the deity and to look upon the image with their eyes, so as to see and be seen by the deity. The deity is believed to actually be within the image, and beholding the deity image is a form of worship where through the eyes one gains blessings. A pilgrimage is a religious journey; people undertake pilgrimages so they can worship at special places which are connected to their religion. Journeying to holy places of pilgrimage are generally carried out as acts of faith and devotion in accummulating religious merit or to atone for sins. Pilgrimages are also regarded by Hindus as a religious duty from which darsan can be attained. There are thousands of pilgrimage sites - tirthas (sacred, fords or crossings) in India, where many places of pilgrimage are renowned for their divine images. And it is the darsan of these divine images that are sought , because the darsan is believed by Hindus to be far greater and significant than that which can be granted and given by holy men i.e. sadhus. It entails then, that holy places of pilgrimages are an extension of additional darsan, of which can be given and received by travelling on a pilgrimage. For example, pilgrims go to the sacred hill of Tirupati for the darsan of Sri Venkatesvara, an ancient icon believed to be a form of Visnu. According to legend, the Lord came to bless a particular devotee who was faithful in his duties towards his parents. The devotee took no time out from his duties to greet the Lord properly, and so threw a brick for him to stand on which impressed Krsna, and so Krsna has stood there ever since. It is important, however, to understand that Hindus do not only travel as pilgrims for the darsan of divine images but also seek thedarsan of the pilgrimage places themselves, which are believed to be the natural places of where gods have dwelled. For instance, the river Ganga also known as the Ganges is said to have flowed in heaven before she agreed to come to earth. Siva caught Ganga in his tangled hair to break her fall, and from his head she flowed down through the Himalayas, so legend goes. And this is why in Hindu hymns, the Ganga is praised as a liquid form of Siva's divine energy. The Ganges is the holiest river of all , where all Hindus desire to bathe in this river, for it is believed by Hindus to wash away all their sins. No sin is too heinous, and no character too black to be washed away by the waters of the Ganges. Essentially, all water used in rituals by Hindus is symbollically transformed into sacred water by summoning the presence of Ganga and other sacred rivers. Every great river is supposed to hold the divine essence, and its waters held to cleanse people from all moral guilt and contamination. On the whole, pilgrimages are very significant to Hindus due to being able to, by and large, eradicate all their sins and wrong doing by bathing in the water of holy rivers. There are difficulties that have to be endured when undertaking a pilgrimage, however, Hindus believe it is well worth it. As an extreme example, for hundreds of years some tirthas were the final goal of many pilgrims, who committed suicide there in order to be released from the cycle of rebirths. Hinduism generally considers suicide a crime, but at certain places, it can become an act of liberation, though this is not the norm for pilgrims.( Klostermaier , K , 1989 , p 312 ) A