Pilgrimage

A Pilgrimage used to be a journey for seeking something for the soul.  It had a sanctity attached to it and would be undertaken only when certain conditions were satisfied.

The intention or desire to embark on  such an expedition,  yes, an expedition as journeys undertaken even 75 years ago were not mere trips  that could come  on a mere whim!   With very limited facilities for transport, any journey would have been quite arduous.

                In India until recent times, selling cooked food was considered against Dharma.  There were houses built for the travelers to rest in all the Pilgrim centers and routes.  These rest houses were called Chathrams  and building them was considered a noble deed.

So, without the assurance of Reserved Accommodation and such creature comforts, or even food, long distances had to be covered on foot with numerous lakes and water bodies for water, trees on the roads for company.    But even journeys undertaken in groups had to contend with robbers and murderers.  So there was very little option for individuals or very small groups attempting a pilgrimage on their own.

Shastras had imposed elaborate purification standards for the pilgrimages. Therefore, the whole experience of preparing for a holy trip,  travelling on foot with only God in mind, performing charitable acts en route,  singing bhajans and listening to scriptures , meeting different people , passing through different places, a pilgrimage was meant to be  a journey of discovery , including self discovery culminating in the darshan of the deity. 

Such devotees who come to the temples,after a physically challenging journey and with a mind conditioned to higher consciousness would have added  to the sanctity of the place.  True there would have been exceptions, but this was the general scenario.

Now having given up on everything else, people think it is only the darshan that matters and bribe their way to the sanctum. I try to picture a pilgrimage to Rameswaram  as done in the olden days even a century ago, when India’s population was only 25 percent of what it is now, the place would have been far less crowded and certainly less dirty. A pilgrim, after weeks if not months of travel, and with a mind attuned to make a fresh start after absolving all sins, would have found the ritual bath in the Sethu sea and the 27 theerthams  truly meaningful and cleansing.   With a sense of having been reborn, he or she would have walked to the Sannidhi praying to Sri Ramanathaswamy for a more fruitful life.

From Kashi to Rameswaram, Tirupathy, Palani, Srirangam, Madurai and numerous other Kshethrams all over India have become sacred due to these Pilgrims over the centuries.  Their thoughts, conduct and prayers have added to their holiness.

Contrast this with the scenario as seen on a typical day today.  People come in hordes, in trains, buses, cars, vans and every other conceivable mode of transport.   Not all of them with God in their minds.   Many of them watch movies on their way, play all kinds of songs  at a deafening tone.   Throw garbage, dirty the place and do everything to pollute the pilgrim centre. No devotee who considers a place sacred would dirty it.  But people do it all the time these days without a second thought.

The rituals are observed without any meaning, without time to apply conscious thought, with one person having to make way for the next person waiting.  The priests now have a reputation of swindling gullible people conducting rituals en masse.

Is it any surprise that tickets are issued for Darshan , bribes are given and taken for special Darshans and Prasadhams?  There need not be any doubts that purity of thought and action are mandatory for anything to be Holy.

The need of the hour is not to develop more pilgrim centers into holiday destinations.  The awareness that Darshan alone is not the purpose of a pilgrimage needs to be emphasized.  This should help reduce corruption in our temples.  It would also help people approach temples with more reverence more peace, and bring about cleanliness and sanctity.