Hindu Pilgrimages (India) and Religious Functionaries

Abstract

The role of Hindu functionaries (‘religious workers’) is of vital importance in maintaining and continuity of traditions through caring, promoting, and sustaining the religious and pilgrimage rituals and associated festivities, which altogether promote pilgrimage and religious tourism. Such groups include a variety and distinctive types of functionaries, specialized in various activities involved in pilgrimages; they are broadly categorized into two groups, i.e., sacred site operators, and pilgrimage operators. At some pilgrimage places, like Varanasi and Gaya, the specialized functionaries deal with ancestral and post-creation rites. A case study of religious trust, specialized in arranging pilgrimage, reveals that faith is the essential part that has developed and continued in the family tradition for generations. Increasing consciousness to maintain Hindu identity, the pilgrimage is becoming more popular, resulting thereby strong acceptability and support to pilgrimage functionaries. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.