Pilgrimages, Sacred Places and Pathway to “Reconnecting With Your Culture (RWYC)” Vol. 2

The institution of pilgrimage to sacred places is an ancient and continuous tradition in most of the
cultures. Pilgrimage is a sacramental process that symbolises the participation of the pilgrim in the
spiritual realm and actively establishes a reciprocal relationship between the pilgrim and the divine;
that’s how the transformation exists from ‘realisation’ to ‘revelation’. Pilgrimage as a rite of passage
operates liminality, i.e., transitional space between the material world and the metaphysical reality.
Sacred space, a destination in the pilgrimage system, is an extraordinary place where the sacred
is linked to physical reality. The interrelatedness of sacred landscape combines the absoluteness of
space, relativeness of places, and comprehensiveness of landscape, and all these altogether result in
a ‘wholeness’ carrying the inherent and imposed spirit of ‘holiness’, called ‘sacredscapes’.
Ultimately, the wholeness of the landscape creates a theosphere of ‘faithscape’ that encompasses
sacred place, sacred time, sacred meanings, sacred functionaries, and sacred rituals and embodies
both symbolic and tangible psyche elements in an attempt to realise humankind’s identity in the
cosmos.
Within the system of complex interconnectedness and interactions among cultures, heritage, and
landscapes and their resultant attributes—all that are rooted in the past, together, we seek to search
ways, paths, and means that are implied for framing and making a base for the UN Sustainable
Development Goals Target 11.4, focussing on ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development’. Together with community development, nature-based education, and
pilgrimages to reveal the spirit of places are part of the cultural process of transformations.
R W Y C - Reconnecting With Your Culture – is a visionary mission and movement, re-
appraising interconnectedness between Locality and Universality – Holiness (humanity) to
Wholeness (sublimity): Humanism to Spiritualism. The role of culture is vital to developing
perspectives of shared and participatory policies and fostering the development of humanity through
co-sharing ethics, spirituality, and the spirit of place.