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The Camino De Santiago De Compostela (Spain) And The Via Francigena (Italy): A Comparison Between Two Important Historic Pilgrimage Routes In Europe, Guido Lucarno

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The Italian section of the Via Francigena, a Medieval pilgrimage route to Rome, has not yet been commercialised to its full potential when compared to the Camino de Santiago in Spain. There are many reasons for this under development. First, there is an absence of a specialised organisation focused on utilising the resources available; a difficulty that could be overcome by the forming a tourism body with the specific charter for developing these resources and attracting tourism. Second, the weight of the cultural heritage of Rome in the contest for religious tourism takes away from the valorisation of other pilgrimage …

Management Practices For The Development Of Religious Tourism Sacred Sites: Managing Expectations Through Sacred And Secular Aims In Site Development; Report, Store And Access, Peter Wiltshier, Maureen Griffiths

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Through a distillation of practices reflective of the extant literature and socio-economic approaches to inclusive development of sites of religious experiences and worship, we posit that there are seven core conceptual approaches to support evolving site management needs. Therefore, developing sites of special significance necessarily requires the dissemination and sharing of both intellectual and practical contributions to meet those needs in a planned and stakeholder-driven approach. Traditional approaches to development emerged half a century ago with a focus on core competencies and the agreed understanding that open and fair competition would raise quality and assure reasonable profit margins. Creating awareness …

Xuanzang And Bodhidharma: Pilgrimage And Peace-Building In Buddhist China And India, Ian S. Mcintosh

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In the study of pilgrimage and peace-building, case studies deemed to be influential in initiating positive change in the world are in the spotlight. A novel example in which people with different ethnicities, cultures and walks of life have come together with a common purpose is associated with the spread of Buddhism from India to China beginning in the early centuries of the Common Era. Unlike other instances of the expansion of a world religion beyond its homeland, the spread of Buddhism along the maritime and overland ‘silk roads’ was not linked to domination or conquest. Rather, it was linked …

Begumpura Yatras: Constructing The Ravidassia Pilgrimage Tradition, Anna Bochkovskaya

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The long-term conflict in the Sikh community involving lower castes - predominantly, Ravidassias, chamar (cobblers/tanners) followers of the medieval saint Ravidas - and Jats boiled into an open confrontation after the Vienna incident (May 2009), when one of the Ravidassia leaders was killed by radical Sikhs in a local gurdwara. In 2010, Ravidassias launched their own religion - the Ravidassia Dharam, set up their own scripture - the Amritbani Satguru Ravidas Maharaj, and proclaimed the ultimate place of pilgrimage for the community - the Varanasi-based Ravidas Janamsthan Mandir that bears the name of Begumpura (a city without sorrow), a term …

Travelling Through Caste, Raj Kumar

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

With its peculiar caste system, India is considered the most stratified of all known societies in human history. This system is ‘peculiar’ as it divides human beings into higher and lower castes and this division is backed by certain religious sanctions based on the sociological concepts of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’. While the higher caste is associated with ‘purity’, the lower caste is associated with ‘pollution’. The people of the lower castes are not allowed to undertake religious journeys and yet are expected to enable the pilgrimages of the higher castes by playing the role of laborers. Radical Bhakti saint-poets like …

The Politics Of Pilgrimage Through The Prism Of Mass Media, Alokparna Das

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage involves the movement of people either as individuals or as groups in search of what can be described as the sacred. Since pilgrimage is an integral part of Indian culture and has significant participation, pilgrimage sites and centres are being used by political and corporate organisations to communicate specific messages. The political relevance of religion in our contemporary world cannot be disputed, particularly in the context of a growing consumerist culture and the divisive tactics of most political organisations. In such a scenario, pilgrimage traditions and centres are periodically taken over by political groups. As a particular pilgrimage tradition …

Political And Merchant Devotees : Multiple Facets Of Pilgrimage To The Medieval Region Of Braj (16th And 17th Centuries), Swati Goel

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Braj is the epicentre of the Krishna cult. The physical representation of the scriptural Braj Mandala as we see it today, however, is a medieval construct. During the 15th and 16th centuries, as a part of religious exercises or in the quest for the land of Krishna, the propagators of various sampradayas (sects) reached the region seeking spiritual solace. This process of rediscovering Braj and the settlement of the various sects was followed by a thronging of the region by merchant-followers and, subsequently, by Rajput rulers from the adjoining kingdoms of Rajasthan and Bundelkhand. The pilgrimage to Braj created an …

Pilgrimage To The Abode Of A Folk Deity, Rajshree Dhali

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage to the shrines of folk deities differ little from pilgrimages to the centres of the institutionalised Gods. However, the historical evolution of a folk cult and the specific socio-cultural context of the emergence and growth of folk deities provides a different dimension to their religious space. This paper examines pilgrimage to the shrine of the folk deity, Goga that attracts followers from across faiths including Hindus and Muslims. The aim of the paper is to explore the double edged religious process at Gogamedi. First, the growing efforts by Hindu Brahmanical traditions to subdue and unsettle divergent traditions of the …

Pilgrimage, Politics And Surveillance: The Temple Of Jagannath And The Colonial State In Early 19th Century Orissa, Ujaan Ghosh

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The temple of Jagannath became central to colonial politics as early as the first year of British rule in Puri. Throughout the 19th century, the temple was an essential concern for British administrators, both in the colony as well as in the metropolis. In this paper, I demonstrate how pilgrimage became a pivotal anchor surrounding which a convoluted narrative of colonial politics played out. I have looked closely at the concept of ‘itinerancy’ associated with pilgrimage, and have tried to explain how itinerancy in the early 19th century became a governmental hazard for the colonial overlords. The constant fear of …

Glossary Of Terms Vol. 4(Vi)

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Religious Tourism In The Hill Of Tepexpan: A New Research Approach - From Dedifferentiation, Víctor Mora-Torres, Rocío Serrano-Barquín, Héctor Favila-Cisneros, Carolina Serrano-Barquín

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This theoretical and methodological paper presents research undertaken to comprehend the social dynamic of religious tourism in a traditional sanctuary located in the Hill of Tepexpan, Mexico. Visitor experience, as tourist or pilgrim, has been little studied in Mexican religious tourism literature, which has focused mainly on quantitative and economics aspects. For this reason, a more holistic and comprehensive way to understand the phenomenon is desirable, especially in destinations that receive a variety of visitors with different practices and motivations.

The Tepexpan Hill Sanctuary has been a sacred place since Colonial times for two ethnic groups: Mazahuas and Otomíes. Their …

Kierkegaard’S ‘Repetition’ And Pilgrimage, Stephen F. Haller

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In 1843, the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard wondered whether it was possible to repeat an experience. He attempted to relive experiences he once had in Berlin by revisiting haunts of his earlier self. After several days, he concluded that his repetition of experience was unsuccessful. Many people make similar attempts at repetition when they make, for example, the pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago multiple times. What could a person hope to gain by this repetition?

What prevents successful repetition, suggests Kierkegaard, is beginning with the end in mind rather than traveling merely to collect random impressions. Repetition fails, argues Kierkegaard, when …

Pilgrimage And Its Dual Functions In Iranian Shiitsm, Zahra Khoshk Jan

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Salvation is the main concern not only for theistic religions but also for atheistic ones, therefore, all of them try to offer doctrines for achieving both salvation and redemption in this world or in another world. Followers of the Twelver Shiism strongly believe in salvation through the Imam. Imamat and Imam, do not just refer to a special person, more than that, they involve a spiritual / worldly doctrine toward a complete and multilateral salvation, and also socio-political leadership. One of the important parts of this doctrine that involves spiritual / worldly salvation is intercession via religious rituals like praying, …

Malta: A Differentiated Approach To The Pilgrim-Tourist Dichotomy, George Cassar, Dane Munro

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism is today considered to be a main player in most countries of the world. A particular sector of tourism, pilgrimage and faith-based tourism, has proven to be crises-resistant. The synergy of this sector is a mixture of religious sentiments, demands and motivations and on the other hand there is the rationality of the tourism infrastructure. This paper argues that the islands of the present republic of Malta have been a pilgrims’ destination from Neolithic times to the present. The islands’ rich cultural, religious and historic fabric offers Roman Catholics, Protestants and participants of the New Religious Movements an opportunity …

Pilgrimage As Tourism Experience: The Case Of The Ignatian Way, Marina Abad-Galzacorta, Basagaitz Guereño-Omil, Amaia Makua, José Luis Iriberri, Ricard Santomà

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Nowadays, millions of pilgrims travel every year to a variety of sanctuaries and religious sites (Robles, 2001). The religious motivation to travel is one of the most ancient motivations and it has been researched from diverse perspectives (Griffin, 2007). It is widely recognised that religious tourist is often a more loyal type of tourist, characterised by a shorter but recurrent stays to the visiting destination (Robles, 2001). However, “religious tourism” is sometimes confusing and difficult to classify (Griffin, 2007), and the dichotomy of secular and spiritual tourism needs further clarification (Nolan and Nolan, 1992; Millán et al., 2010). Data from …

Monitoring The Tourism Impact Of A Cultural And Religious Event: A Case Study In Northern Portugal, Carlos Fernandes, Carla Melo, Marta Cardoso

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The Pilgrimage of Our Lady of the Agony (Romaria de Nossa Senhora d ́Agonia), in the north of Portugal, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. Fernandes and Sampaio (2014) suggest that through the years, this event has served to connect residents and visitors alike with the heritage of the region in which the Pilgrimage has become what is arguably one of the biggest regional icons. However, no field research has ever taken place to confirm these claims.

In 2014, a pilot study was carried out using a questionnaire as a basis to evaluate the impact of this event in various …

Event As Spiritual Pilgrimage: A Case Study Of The ‘Cherish’ Christian Women’S Conference, Ruth Dowson

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In examining an aspect of the eventization of faith (Pfadenhauer, 2010), this article considers an annual women’s conference, ‘Cherish’, a church-led event. Due to the pressures on the space available in its former home in the organising church’s campus, the growth in the event’s popularity has resulted in the church organisers moving the event venue to a commercial arena. The research questions the extent to which this popular conference meets the criteria of the academic characteristics of pilgrimage, and aims to clarify to what extent the thousands of women who attend the Cherish conference experience the event - and their …

Religious Tourism And Italian Sacred Mounts: Experiences Of Networking And Co-Operation At A Unesco Site, Raffaella Afferni, Carla Ferrario

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

A Sacred Mount is a historical holy site and former pilgrimage attraction. It is a devotional complex located on a mountain, and composed of a series of chapels and shrines in which scenes from the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary or the saints are represented through paintings and sculptures. In 2003 the Sacred Mounts of Piedmont and Lombardy were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List being considered as representative of something that can be understood, in part, through visitor interactions with the areas in which they are located (see Di Giovine, 2009:208).

The visitors to Sacred Mounts are: …

Pilgrimage, Spiritual Tourism And The Shaping Of Transnational ‘Imagined Communities’: The Case Of The Tidjani Ziyara To Fez, Johara Berriane

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper aims at analysing the role of the transnational Tidjani pilgrimage to Fez in shaping a sense of belonging among West African adepts and their identification with Morocco. It is based on the assumption that the Tidjani pilgrimage has contributed to the shaping of a religious ‘imagined community’ (Anderson, 1996) encompassing West Africa and Morocco and to the reinforcement of the position of Fez as its ‘socio-cultural centre’ (Cohen, 1992). This paper explores the different historical and political factors that contributed to the evolution and maintaining of the Tidjani pilgrimage practice and to giving sense to it, and analyses …