Religious Tourism at Sikh Holy Places in South Asia

Although the Sikh tradition has discouraged many forms of pilgrimage as frivolous, wasteful, and spiritually ineffective, Sikhs travel to many localities that bring them enlightenment and satisfy their desires to draw closer to their Gurus. Sikhs visiting the seats of Gurus ( gurdwaras ) constitutes the main thrust of religious tourism in Sikhism, as traveling to sacred sites as pilgrimage is often conceptualized in other faiths but is not part of Sikh traditions. This chapter examines various facets of Sikh religious tourism, and the heritage of faith associated with the Gurus and the places where their seats were established. A key feature of Sikh travel is offering volunteering and community service at these holy places—a form of volunteer tourism that is somewhat unique to South Asia’s other faith traditions. The chapter also highlights the emerging trend of diasporic travel to traditional sites, such as the Darbar Sahib (present-day ‘Golden Temple’) of Amritsar, and new kinds of large-scale heritage attractions that are being built to commemorate the Sikh Gurus and Sikh culture.