PILGRIMAGES AND OUR CONSCIENCE: ARE WE TRYING TO WASH SINS INSTEAD OF CHANGING OUR BEHAVIOUR?

 India has always believed in punya (good merit) and pāpa (wrongdoing). We believe our actions have consequences. But today, a strange pattern is visible: Indians go on more pilgrimages than ever, yet our everyday ethics often seem weaker. This raises a difficult question — are we using pilgrimages as a way to escape responsibility for our actions?

In ancient India, punya did not mean buying forgiveness. It simply meant living a good, truthful, responsible life. Pilgrimages were meant to help people slow down, think about their actions, and reconnect with moral values. Over many centuries, as temples grew into large economic centres, the focus slowly shifted. Visiting a holy place became more important than living a holy life.

This is also connected to how Indians understand karma. Many Indians see life as a balance sheet — wrong actions leave a mark, and good actions can reduce that mark. This made people believe that going on a pilgrimage could help “balance” their mistakes. In contrast, Western religions emphasise confession and forgiveness, not collecting merit. So Western societies never developed such a big pilgrimage culture.

But when people start treating pilgrimages like spiritual shortcuts, problems follow. Every year, accidents claim the lives of many pilgrims — stampedes, bus crashes, landslides, overcrowded roads. These tragedies expose how badly many pilgrimage routes are managed, and how commercial everything has become. Sacred places often look more like marketplaces than spaces for reflection.

A wise teacher once said: “A person who lives honestly, harms no one, and follows values has no need for pilgrimage.” Many Indian saints — like Basavanna and Kabir — expressed the same idea. They warned that a journey cannot clean a heart that refuses to change.

The real issue is not the pilgrimage itself. The issue is why we are taking it. If we think a visit to a temple can erase a lifetime of irresponsible behaviour, then we are fooling ourselves. When rituals become more important than ethics, society moves in a dangerous direction. Pilgrimages should help us become better human beings — not allow us to avoid our moral duties.

India does not need more people travelling to holy places.
India needs more people living by values in daily life.

Only then will our pilgrimages truly mean something.