ABSTRACT
Religions are grounded in geography, so too the religions of India. Their ritual life takes place in homes, temples and on the streets, in cities and villages, and in a variety of landscapes. Their key mythological and historical events are often thought to have occurred in these landscapes and their sacred figures are believed to have travelled in them. Travel is a normal activity in the modern world, and so is pilgrimage travel. The number of people travelling to India’s pilgrimage places has increased enormously over the last 150 years. The building and expansion of the railway system altered the patterns of pilgrimage throughout India. Pilgrimage in India has probably always had a strong economic dimension. Economy has influenced the growth, development and decay of pilgrimage places. Competition for ritual clients and their economic resources lies at the foundation of the dynamics of pilgrimage and has been important for the rise and fall of pilgrimage places.
