Rethinking pilgrimage today

Prayer, Performance, and the Smartphone

Dr. Vidisha Gupta

oshinmahajan3@gmail.com

As pilgrims step into the water of the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela festival, around them, hundreds of smart phones are raised to capture the moment. The religious ritual becomes a live video broadcast, captured through cameras and shared via the internet. It is not anymore restricted to those who are in attendance in person; it is also simultaneously witnessed by a faraway crowd online. Hence, one may wonder: does faith become performance when it becomes visible? the difference between the pilgrim and the tourist in traditional settings was always well defined: the pilgrim engaged in worship, while the tourist was only seeking satisfaction of curiosity. However, today, distinctions between the two groups have been rendered almost obsolete to the extent that one cannot tell where the pilgrim ends and the tourist begins. This has been accomplished through the process of mediation, movement, and performance of religious travel experiences at events like Kumbh Mela, the Hajj pilgrimage, or Camino de Santiago.

According to this perspective, today's pilgrims are not only tourists but performative tourists at that. It is clear from the infrastructure surrounding modern pilgrimage. Like any other kind of tourism, the process of pilgrimage is organized via online travel booking services, guided tours, travel packages, and user ratings. The journey, which used to be arduous and risky, often becomes optimized to perfection. Even the most traditional pilgrimages can be booked ahead of time and are meticulously documented through travel guides and apps. Whereas the body of the pilgrim was traditionally understood to be resilient and ascetic, it now moves along routes constructed with comfort in mind. And while this does not necessarily negate faith, it certainly changes its expression.

At its core, the change that we are observing can be described as aesthetic and affective. The pilgrimage now takes place amidst a high degree of involvement into visual culture. In the context of the Kumbh Mela, for example, the participant would come across not only with bodies submerged in the Ganga, but also with cameras focused on the event of immersing themselves in the river. During Hajj, while there are restrictions in place, the more subtle shift towards performance takes place through smartphones, which make it possible to document and circulate images. When it comes to the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim is equally likely to post updates and selfies than spend time in reflection. Such changes can also be seen in the virtual darshan practices in India, the Buddhist pilgrimage routes in Southeast Asian countries, and even smaller regional shrines that are now more visible via travel vlogs, YouTube channels, and/or content by influencers. The performative aspect of pilgrimage is thus not limited to pilgrimages that are well-known throughout the world but is increasingly a larger part of modern sacred travel.

What is fascinating is not simply that pilgrims carry cameras, but that photography itself has become part of the ritual. The process of capturing an event, choosing a picture, adding a caption to it, and then sharing it through various online sites may be seen as part of the pilgrimage process. Pilgrimage does not stop upon reaching the holy site; it continues to the virtual world.

Of course, such performativity does not necessarily have to be viewed simply as a shallow aspect of contemporary pilgrimage experience. Instead, it might serve as evidence of change in how one defines spiritual experience. While earlier it was defined mainly in terms of internal transformation that happened due to the act of pilgrimage, today, many individuals try to obtain recognition of their experience. Through photograph, through post, and through captions, these become ritual acts that enable one to participate and be recognized within a global community of seekers.

In doing so, the pilgrim also becomes aware of being observed. Sacred spaces increasingly operate within what tourism scholars describe as the "tourist gaze," where places acquire meaning through acts of seeing and being seen. Today's pilgrim is no longer merely a traveller seeking transcendence but also a participant in a broader economy of visibility.

On top of that, pilgrimages are happening in the context of the attention economy. Visibility is increasingly measured through likes, comments, shares, and reposts. There is still satisfaction in the spiritual aspect of it, though it may be accompanied by some public recognition. As a result, the modern pilgrim addresses two audiences at once - one divine and another virtual.

This change brings about a number of issues, first and foremost, the mediation of the pilgrimage leads to its democratization. The use of the latest digital technology increases the chances that people will be able to plan their trips, meet other pilgrims, and express themselves in a way that was previously impossible. This type of tourism becomes more available, more transparent, and more diverse as well. For example, the Camino pilgrimage can now include not only faithful Christian people, but also secular pilgrims, artists, and even those who seek personal development.

However, this makes the pilgrimage vulnerable since it can now become a commodity, which is one of the core aspects of tourism. Sites are visited in accordance with check-lists, rituals occur within a schedule that provides enough time for photographs. The problem lies not in whether tourists are present in the sites traditionally associated with pilgrimage because historically and currently, tourists always were there, but whether there has been a complete shift in this notion.

At the centre of this debate lies the question of authenticity. Mediation is often considered by critics as diminishing religious experience and turning devotion into a spectacle. But what is authentic has always been a relative term. Maps, guidebooks, photographs, and transportation technologies have all influenced pilgrimage in its history. The smartphone may therefore represent not a break from tradition but its latest adaptation.

Calling contemporary pilgrims "performative tourists" is not a statement about the lack of sincerity on the part of these travellers. Rather, it reflects the idea that sincerity itself becomes mediated. Taking photos during pilgrimages does not make pilgrims any less sincere or devoted. It only means that one way of experiencing faith is made visible. The fact that a person is sharing his pilgrimage experience on social media platforms does not exclude the real transformation taking place in him or her. However, this transformation is expressed in certain performative forms.

This is connected to the issue of ethics and power, as well. Whose image of the sacred do we want to project when sharing photos and videos of our travels? In fact, the photo of a ritual often has little connection to its cultural context. In many pictures of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage, the religious context is completely lost due to its spectacle-like character. This raises an uncomfortable question that is not completely accurate in this scenario. Is a pilgrimage somehow considered incomplete if it is never photographed or shared online? The response may indicate how deep social media has penetrated into our idea of meaningful experience. Similarly, pilgrimages associated with Hajj often become sites of worship and curiosity depending on the point of view of those observing.

Thus, perhaps the task at hand is not to mourn the loss of an untainted pilgrim archetype, but to consider what pilgrimage means in the realm of mediation. The dichotomy between the roles of pilgrim and tourist tells us less than we think. The notion that devotion and curiosity, or transformation and experience cannot coexist is misguided. Often, these characteristics coincide. One might set foot on the Camino de Santiago as a tourist, but emerge with a feeling of spiritual regeneration. In this context, one can engage in the rituals of religion at the Kumbh while simultaneously capturing them on film. There is an overlap of roles here because it is difficult to establish clear demarcations due to the nature of human psychology.

One of the major impacts of such a shift is the emergence of something that could be referred to as "the pilgrim tourist", an individual who seeks spiritual fulfilment, self-discovery, cultural experience, and digital participation simultaneously, the two may not appear contradictory to these tourists. Indeed, religion, curiosity, self-discovery, and expression through the digital media can often go together. Photographs and maps do not kill sacredness but alter the way in which it is performed.

In this respect, the real question posed by this development is not whether pilgrims turn into tourists, but what it means in terms of our spiritual understanding. Does photographing and disseminating sacred spaces diminish it in any way, or perhaps give it something new? Does performance make pilgrimage meaningless, or does it open up new groups of people?

These are likely to be further accentuated by emerging technologies. The borders between "real" and "virtual" presence and participation are becoming increasingly fuzzy as rituals are livestreamed, virtual reality pilgrimages are created, AI travel planners are developed, and digital religious communities are formed. With the movement through the sacred landscapes, the movement through the digital networks may be the future of pilgrimage.

It may be a flawed quest to find a truly 'pure' and 'virgin' form of pilgrimage. Pilgrimage has always been able to adjust to the evolving social reality. Today, these realities are smartphones, social media platforms, digital maps and global audiences. Modern pilgrim carries his prayer in one hand, camera in the other. This co-existence represents that spiritual experience continues to change as an era when faith is not only practiced but visible, captured and shared.

(The author is Assistant Professor)