Pilgrimage, Tourism and Leisure: A Tribute to Ishwar Modi

Abstract

This article written in honour of Ishwar Modi, a renowned teacher of sociology at the University of Rajasthan, explores the relationship between three concepts—pilgrimage, tourism and leisure. Although these categories may be seen as overlapping, and an individual may consider his pilgrimage as an example of touring the unknown lands with an objective to have leisure, in theoretical terms, each one of them has its own defining properties. If religious submission is central to pilgrimage, tourism and leisure may be viewed as non-religious pursuits, although certain types of tourism may be religious as well. In fact, the idea of religious tourism may be taken up for defining pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is not a secular practice, notwithstanding the loose use of this term by an individual.