A couple of classes we talked about another pilgrimage known as the pilgrimage to Varanasi or Benares. This type of pilgrimage takes place in India along the Ganges River. Like all of the other pilgrimages we have learned about, this is also a walking pilgrimage. Within this pilgrimage there are five smaller pilgrimages. The largest one is 168 miles in a round trip. The second is 55 miles and takes about 5 days with about 100 or more stopping points. The 3rd trip is 15 miles, which is the entire city of Varanasi or Benares. The 4th is in 72 shrines inside the city. And the last one is in the temple itself called Vishveshvara Temple. This temple is also where all of the pilgrimages start. Inside of the temple there are 72 shrines and you go around to each of these to complete the pilgrimage.
This type of pilgrimage is circular and is related to the view that things don’t have a beginning and end but are born and reborn again and again. They have different axis mundis they worship on this pilgrimage known as, Puja which is an individual God one worships, Vishveshvara, which are the steps that lead down to the Ganges River, and another is a Lingum, which stands for a giant stone penis which is symbolic because it represents fertilization and birth.
So in one class we learned all of the information about what the Pilgrimage to Varanasi or Benares was and what took place and then in one of the next classes we actually got to watch a video on in which helped really lock in the information.
This to me was a very interesting pilgrimages to learn about because it wasn’t like other pilgrimages we had learned about. The people didn’t travel to other places outside of their country to complete this pilgrimage, which was the biggest difference I recognized when learning about this pilgrimage.
When we performed the Hajj as a class, I thought that some of the different things that we did were a little silly. Throwing rocks at pillars?? Walking in circles around a big black box?? After learning about the Varanasi pilgrimage I still had the same attitude and I thought, how the heck is a person supposed to walk 55 miles on foot!! After visiting Trinity Heights, which is like a pilgrimage for Catholics, I was able to have a much, much better understanding of how pilgrims from other religions do what they do. I was able to think about some of the things that I as a Catholic do that would look ridiculous to a Muslim for example. It really helped me to better my opinions when it comes to other people and the things they do for their religion.