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Every religion has a region where it originated. Hinduism emerged in the area that is now called India. For Hindus, a city of great importance in India is called Benares, the city of Shiva. Shiva is one of the great Hindu gods. Many people travel to Benares on pilgrimage as an act of devotion to show their love for Shiva and other gods.
The city of Benares has more than 2,000 temples, and people often travel from one pilgrimage site to another for weeks or months, visiting different holy places, cities, buildings, and natural structures.
Jerusalem could be considered the Most Holy Place in the world. All three monotheistic religions have historical claims to the city and countless numbers enter Jerusalem on pilgrimage every year. Temple Mount, also called Mount Moriah, is usually considered the most holy site for Jews, and it is equally significant for Christians. For many Muslims, it also holds special power in the tradition of Islam.
For followers of Judaism, it is believed to be the site where God gathered the dust to create Adam, the first man. It is the place where Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his first son, Isaac. It was also the location of the first and the second Jewish temples. Many Christians understand Temple Mount to be the place where Jesus spent much of his ministry.
Many pilgrims travel to another holy site nearby called Calvary or Golgotha. Followers believe that this was the location of Jesus’ condemnation, crucifixion, and burial.
Many pilgrims come to travel this “way of sorrows,” as it’s called. The pilgrim undergoes a symbolic identification and comes to terms with the suffering of Christ. These are also commonly called the stations of the cross.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in the first centuries after Christ’s death and has gone through many transformations. What hasn’t changed is the belief that this was, indeed, the site of Jesus’ last hours, his burial, and Resurrection. The Church has always remained on the ground of these holy events.
Jerusalem has significance for Muslims as well because their prophet Muhammad is believed to have traveled there before returning to Mecca, his birthplace and the site of his revelation, in what is now Saudi Arabia. For Muslims, Mecca is the most holy city. It is here where the Kaaba is located, which Muslims believe to have first been constructed by Abraham, patriarch of the three monotheistic faiths, and his second son, Ishmael. The Kaaba was a site of pilgrimage in Mecca before Islam, and it said that Muhammad restored the worship at this location to the one God.
During the Hajj, six million pilgrims come to Mecca' to circumambulate the Kaaba. The circling of the Kaaba represents the unity of believers and their collective faith in one god. Turning seven times counterclockwise in worship represents this commitment.
Performing the pilgrimage of the Hajj is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. If one can afford it and is physically able, one must perform the Hajj at least once before dying.
Source: THIS TUTORIAL WAS AUTHORED BY TED FAIRCHILD FOR SOPHIA LEARNING. Please see our Terms of Use.
