It is said that God is everywhere, however, humans often seek the presence of the omnipresent being in places of worship - some considered more sacred than others.
As pilgrims walk through the sweltering heat, navigating expensive hotels and meticulously planned itineraries, one question arises: has the pilgrimage been overtaken by religious tourism?
It is said that God is everywhere, however, humans often seek the presence of the omnipresent being in places of worship - some considered more sacred than others.
Religious faith can find solace in the stillness of a forest or the vastness of the ocean, just as it can in a mountaintop temple or the Kaaba for Muslims or the Vatican City for Christians or Bodh Gaya for Buddhists.
As pure and otherworldly as faith may be, it gets maligned with the human theatrics - with politics, with class and hierarchy and with the business of tourism that proliferates around it.
What was once a personal journey has now become entangled in the hassle of booking visa appointments and endless negotiations with travel agencies.
Hajj - the holiest pilgrimage practice for Muslims across the world - is on its last leg this week. More than 1.5 million foreign devotees are in Saudi Arabia to make the pilgrimage in 2025. Last year too, there were 1,611,310 pilgrims from outside the country.
Saudi Arabia - the birthplace of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad - profits off pilgrims who make this journey. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is crucial that every Muslim must perform it at least once in their lifetime if they are healthy enough and can afford it.
However, the amount of money it brings into the government바카라s coffers is nothing short of extraordinary.
Saudi Arabia earns around $10-15 billion each year from the Hajj, Le Monde diplomatique mentioned, and another $4-5 billion from the roughly eight million people who perform the Umrah - an optional pilgrimage to Mecca allowed year-round except during Hajj, with a surge in visitors during Ramadan.
The Mecca Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that about 25-30% of private sector income in Mecca and Medina comes from these pilgrimages. After oil, pilgrimage is the country바카라s biggest source of government revenue, as per Le Monde diplomatique.
As pilgrims dressed in white walk through the sweltering heat, navigating expensive hotels and meticulously planned itineraries, one question arises: has the pilgrimage been overtaken by religious tourism?
In Outlook Magazine바카라s March 21, 2025, issue, 바카라The Pilgrim's Progress바카라, we explore the concept of tourism in the 21st century as a form of consumerism, and the relationship that exists between tourism and religion - a complex one which cannot be viewed from a binary perspective.
Amir Ali in How Hajj Became a Billion-Dollar Industry, writes about the city of Mecca itself and the precincts of the Masjid al-Haram or the Grand Mosque that encloses Islam바카라s holiest site바카라the Kaaba. The place has acquired the sheen of capitalism, made possible by the mighty petrodollar wealth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
바카라The hajj and the umra have become, like many aspects of the world we live in, a part of the larger neo-liberalisation of daily life and the conspicuous consumption of travel.바카라
As for India - which witnessed the Maha Kumbh Mela just this year - a temporary city was set up at the confluence of holy rivers in Allahabad for devotees to arrive and take a dip in the sacred water.
In 바카라Behind The Rise Of Religious Tourism In India바카라, Snigdhendu Bhattacharya mentions how pilgrimage was one of the world바카라s early reasons for travel.
바카라It was associated with hardship and dedication to reach sacred sites, often distant ones, for spiritual benefits. Over time, it became increasingly involved with comfort and leisure, which are major aspects of secular forms of tourism such as travels to natural or cultural sites.바카라
The Spiritual Disconnect In Today바카라s Commercialised Pilgrimages is explored by Savita Jha, who writes how 바카라the paradigm shift in attitude and behaviour driven by commercialisation, mass tourism, and infrastructural expansion has led to the lowering of the sacred as the guiding central principle for the pilgrimage.바카라
Done for personal salvation, pilgrimage is considered a phenomenon that is greater than life. That being said, in an age shaped by social media, state control, and leisure-driven travel, it has transformed into a spectacle - often pulling the pilgrim further away from the very salvation they seek.