ABSTRACT
Some Hindu pilgrimages are procession rituals and involve a large number of people walking together for many days. The most significant places of pilgrimage are associated with important sacred narratives of gods and goddesses. The enormous number of pilgrimage sites in Hinduism reflects the large number of gods, goddesses, gurus and saints, traditions and organizations, and the fact that the sacred narratives about the activities of gods and goddesses took place on earth, thus creating innumerable sacred sites. Conceptions of sacred space are found in many religions, and connecting sacred narratives, rituals, institutions and persons to the sacred sites is probably one of the fundamental ways that religions function. Pilgrimage places can be designated variously as sacred space, divine space and salvific space, and these words refer to different properties of the pilgrimage places. Before modern transportation made travel easier, a pilgrimage on foot could take many weeks or even months and promoted ascetic values.
