1968/07/01 by David E. Sopher · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Socioeconomic Development in Asia #Religious Tourism and Spaces #Diaspora, migration, transnational identity #Pilgrim #Circulation (fluid dynamics) #Ancient history #Geography #History #Archaeology #Mechanics #Physics
paper · doi:10.2307/212564
openalex publication_date 1968/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
r T HE complex of Hinduism, established throughout India and embraced by most of its population, lacks the formal organization of religion in the West. Common forms and a sense of community have been maintained by means of largely informal, autonomous circulatory flows. One such circulation is the movement of religious practitioners and propagandists; another, far greater in volume, is the pilgrim traffic to Hindu holy places. Much has been written about Hindu holy places and pilgrimages,' but geographical analysis of this circulation is rare.2 Compilation of the scattered facts about the range and frequency of pilgrim travel3 or the number and origin of pilgrims to particular shrines4 might be useful, but this has not been attempted here. Instead, this study is devoted to a spatial analysis of Gujarati pilgrim traffic. Larger questions are also touched on-how pilgrimages may widen the horizons of country folk and serve to integrate regions such as Gujarat as well as the whole of India.5 Material was collected by asking adult Hindu males in selected Gujarati villages and in Ahmedabad to provide a history of their adult pilgrim and other travel experience; and a sampling of pilgrims was made on three