12 sacred sites from around the world each one holy to their respective religion like the strange Rat Temple or Kiyomizu Shrine\r
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5. Church of the Holy Sepulchre\r
This is considered to be the most holiest site for christians and is constructed on the site of Jesus supposed tomb also in the city of Jerusalem. It was from this location where Christians believe Jesus was buried and then resurrected. The church has been a major site of pilgrimage since it was built in the fourth century. Despite being damaged by fires and earthquakes, its been repaired quite a few time and an extremely sacred place of worship. The pilgrims come also to see a holy relic called the stone of unction which is believed to be the spot where Jesus was prepared for burial. Inside, a shrine lays over the entrance to the cave where jesus was believed to be buried that you see in this photo..\r
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4. Lourdes, France\r
Located on the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains in southwestern France, this city is home to many pilgrimages to people following the Catholic faith. In 1870, Its here where a peasant girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous allegedly saw the Virgin Mary at least 28 times. The Basilica Rosary is somewhat small but with impressive architecture and surprisingly does not contain the tomb of Bernadette On the 11th of February over 45,000 pilgrims visited this small city of about 15 thousand people and 6 million tourists from all over the world come here. The apparitions took place in a cave known as Massabielle and Bernadette was only 14 at the time. The Catholic Church acknowledged her visions as legitimate. The ones who do decide to make the journey here, hope to witness miracles and even be cured from illnesses or injuries. \r
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3. Sahasralinga\r
This pilgrimage site is located about 10 miles from the Sirsi Taluk in the district of Uttara Kannada of the Karnataka state in India. Due to Shalmala river drying it up, it exposed thousands of these rocks carved in the language Sanskrit. Historians claim that these rocks were carved by orders of Sadashiva Raya who was the King of Sirsi during the end of the 17th century. These carvings were to honor the hindu god Shiva who is responsible of the creation, upkeep and will be responsible for the destruction of the world. The sheer quantity of the carvings is simply astounding and offer followers of the Hindu faith a place for their prayers.\r
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2. Varanasi Along the Ganges\r
Considered to be the most holy site in the Hindu religion, Varanasi lies along the sacred Ganges River in India and is the spiritual capital of India. The river itself is considered to be a personified god Ganga Every morning, people wake up and wash their clothes in this river as well throw their dead relatives here as a sacred but not sanitary price. Thousands of pilgrims each come here to attend religious ceremonies. Open cremations along banks of this river are a common occurrence that burn non stop and which is believed to grant people eternal salvation. The pollution has gotten out of control and has fecal matter content 3 times the safe level for bathing. Despite this, about 60 thousand people swim and even drink the water here each day, Hindus consider it to be a the most pure of all waters.\r
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1.Kaaba, Mecca\r
15 million visitors partake in whats known as one of the 5 pillars of Islam known as the Hajj, or sacred pilgrimage, making it by far the most holy and sacred place in the world. Islam requires each muslim to visit this city who is financially capable at least once in their life and is the largest pilgrimage in the world. This is considered to be the holiest place for muslims and The one point 6 billion followers of this religion face to the direction of Mecca Saudi, Arabia each day to pray. The population of the city can triple in size each year during the hajj. Camps are constructed to shelter the pilgrims. So whats so special about this black cube? According to tradition it was built by the son of Abraham, Ismail built in year 2000 BC and contains a meteorite. It used to be a pagan house of worship until the prophet Muhammad arrived cleared out the icons they had been used it and made it into the house of god. The grand mosque can house hundreds of thousands of people.
