Pilgrimage, the journey to a distant sacred goal, is found in all the great religions of the world. It is a journey both outwards, to new, strange, dangerous places, and inwards to spiritual improvement. Throughout the world the idea of pilgrimage is understood and accepted as a natural activity. Pilgrims move invisibly in huge numbers around the world: the pilgrimage to Mecca can attract almost two million travellers a year, while the vast tide of men andwomen that flows to the Ganges at Prayaga for the great festival held every twelve years numbers over fifteen million - more than the entire population of one of the world's greatest cities. This is the first book to offer a survey of pilgrimage traditions in all the great religions of the world. It outlines the history and nature of the different ideas and rites of pilgrimage, and brings together some of the common themes which emerge in the process. These reveal a surprising consistency of practice, often down to small details, among pilgrims of widely differing beliefs and times. RICHARD BARBER's books includes Tournaments, The Knight and Chivalry, andbiographies of the Plantagenets Henry II and the Black Prince, as well as two classic Arthurian books, Arthurian Legends and King Arthur Hero and Legend.