Most famous pilgrimage destinations in Asia

Share

Asia is the birthplace of the world's major religious traditions and contains the most significant concentration of sacred destinations, pilgrimage routes and holy cities anywhere on earth. The continent's pilgrimage landscape spans Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Sikh and Shinto traditions among others, with sites of profound devotional importance distributed across an enormous geographic area and drawing hundreds of millions of pilgrims annually within the continent alone.

The infrastructure around the most visited sacred destinations is vast and well developed, with accommodation, transport and support services built around pilgrimage traffic at a scale that dwarfs most secular tourist destinations. Less visited pilgrimage routes and shrine complexes offer a contrasting experience where the devotional atmosphere is less diluted by visitor volume and the relationship between landscape and sacred significance is more immediately legible.

Crowd management at the most significant sites during peak religious festivals requires serious advance planning, with accommodation booking out far in advance and access to inner shrine areas restricted or time-controlled. Dress codes and behavioural protocols vary considerably by tradition and site and advance research is essential to avoid causing offence or being refused entry. Your money goes a long way across most of the continent making extended pilgrimage itineraries practical on modest budgets.