Travel for religious purpose

Ashoka Samrat

During the middle ages, travel for religious purpose assumed a significant importance. The pratice for travelling for religious purpose became a well established custom in many parts of the world. By the end of the Middle ages, a large number of pilgrims were travelling to the main shrines in Europe and elsewhere. The adoption and spread of Christianity subsequently led to numerous pilgrims making their way to the holy land. So deep and strong was the hold of faith that the ritual of pilgrimag flourished over the centuries. It becames a great unifing force and the pilgrimages strengthened religious bonds. The pilgrimages also provided the necessary impetus for a stay at home agrarian agrarian society to break out of its narrow geographical confines and visit places associated with religion. It also served as a powerful means of forging unity and understanding between peoples from widely different regious.In India, pilgrim trave assumed a great importance. Emperor Ashoka the Great, travelled a great deal in his eagerness to spread doctrines of Buddha. Ashoka and his entourage first travelled to Nepal starting from Patliputra and then ventured to Lumbini Gardens, the land of Buddha's birth, on to Kapilvastu, the place where Buddha spent his childhood. From here, he went to Sarnath, where Buddha spent many years of his life and finally to Gaya, where Buddha got enlightenment. Through his travels, Emperor Ashoka had special memorials set up each port and also rest houses where travellers could rest.

Lord Gautam Buddha

 Harsha was another emperor who was greatly influenced by the Buddhist scriptures. He built institutions and Dharamshalas for the travellers. Rest houses wehre built in towns and villages. Numerous monsteries and temples were aslo built for the pilgrims.

The powerful influences of a crusanding religion that slowly penetrated a foreign land such as Christianity Europe and later in America and Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism in Asia took places to permit an assimilation and perpetuation of very distinctive languages, literature, art , architecture, philosophy and forms of government. Religion thus played and continued to play a crucial part in travel.