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Anthropological Studies On South Asian Pilgrimage: Case Of Buddhist Pilgrimage In Sri Lanka, Premakumara De Silva

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Anthropological studies relating to South Asian pilgrimage have been of several types. Interest in the field can be traced back to at the time when Victor Turner was writing on this subject (notably, the works of Vidyarthi, 1961, 1979; Jha, 1985, 1995; Bhardwaj, 1973 and; Bharati, 1970). Among the relevant ethnographies for South Asia there are a number of studies which mainly concentrate on describing a pilgrimage centre or sacred place. In general, the emphasis of these studies is on priests, the organization of the pilgrim centres, and other occupants of the pilgrimage centres; in other words, they are more …