Holy sites for the devout traveller  

After witnessing the massive influx of joyous international pilgrims to Australia for Catholic extravaganza World Youth Day recently, you may have considered your own pilgrimage abroad.
  
The following suggestions present some of the world's greatest physical and spiritual wonders that will almost certainly enrich the memory bank of the most devout - or debauched - traveller.
  
You might even see the Pope (again).

Lourdes, France:
  
It has been 150 years since a 14-year-old local girl claimed a beautiful woman appeared to her in Lourdes' remote Grotto of Massabielle and identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception."
  
The faithful believed her to be the Virgin Mary and since that moment she appeared 17 more times and Lourdes became the most visited pilgrimage shrine in the Christian world.
  
Between March and October each year the town's population of 15,000 swells to around five million, as pilgrims come to drink or bathe in the grotto's spring water which is believed to possess healing properties.
  
There have been 67 recognised miracles attributed to the grotto, the last involving a 41-year-old Italian woman who is said to have overcome severe heart disease.
  
As 2008 is the 150th Anniversary of the Apparitions, the south-western French town is expecting bumper crowds of around eight million.
  
Pope Benedict XVI will be amongst them, gracing Lourdes from September 13-15.
  
Australasia Marketing Manager for travel wholesaler Globus, Christian Schweitzer, says the company has already witnessed a spike in the number of faith-based tour brochures requested from their website since World Youth Day.
  
"We've subsequently seen a spike in people ordering that brochure," he says.
  
"Pope Benedict XVI has been wonderful for the marketing of our brand."

Mecca, Saudi Arabia:
  
As the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed and where God's message was first revealed to him, Mecca is Islam's most holy city.
  
Five times a day, the world's more than one billion Muslims turn towards the Kaaba - a stone structure at the centre of Mecca's Grand Mosque - to pray.
  
All Muslims who are financially and physically able to do so must undertake the Hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.
  
Hajj occurs in the 12th month of the lunar Islamic calendar and according to the Saudi Government's Ministry of Hajj, over 2.1 million hajjis, or pilgrims, flocked to the western Saudi city to meet their religious obligation in 2006.
  
To properly fulfil Hajj, hajjis must undertake a series of rituals which include walking counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba and sacrificing an animal to feed the poor.
  
The Saudi Arabian government limits the number of pilgrim visas during Hajj and non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca at any time.
  
Amer Yassine, Senior Consultant at Lakemba Travel Centre in Sydney's south-west, says their agency alone would sell 700 trips to Hajj every year.
  
"Hajj is the biggest religious pilgrimage in any religion around the world," Yassine says.
  
"(Hajjis) go there for about 21 or 22 days and it's made for the purification of the human soul.
  
"To go and forget their worldly life, work, and just devote yourself to God, remembrance of God."

Western Wall, Jerusalem:
  
Also known as the Wailing Wall, the Western Wall is all that remains of the Second Temple, a Jewish holy site that was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
  
Jews believe that when the Messiah comes the temple will be rebuilt at the same location, currently occupied by Islam's Dome of the Rock mosque which was built there in the 7th century.
  
The actual wall itself about 500 metres long, however most of it is concealed either underground or behind residential buildings.
  
The exposed section for worship, around 50 metres long and 20 metres high, is faced by a large plaza which functions as an open-air synagogue with chairs to sit and contemplate and stands to place one's Torah.
  
Thousands of Jews visit the wall daily, often leaning forward to kiss or rest their foreheads on the stone and leaving written prayers in its crevices.
  
It is not uncommon to see Bar and Bat Mitzvah's in progress and some army units also conduct their induction ceremonies there.
  
Miriam Rosenman, Senior Travel Consultant at the Israel Travel Centre in Sydney's east, says despite its popularity, the Western Wall is accessible to those of all faiths.
  
"It would be crowded probably on Jewish holiday periods, around Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, (but) it's very approachable, there
is never that many people there, there's no difficultly to get to the wall," she says.
  
"You're not bound to go, it's just that Jews want to go because its a very emotional experience.
  
"It's interesting that even people who aren't religious would go to the wall."

Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah, The United States:
  
Symbolic centrepiece of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Salt Lake Temple is the world's pre-eminent Mormon house of worship.
  
The temple's construction was announced in 1847 just days after Salt Lake City was founded by Mormon pioneers and took 40 years to complete.
  
Located in the city's centre block, Temple Square, the massive granite edifice is the largest of the faith's approximately 130 temples scattered around the world.
  
While many of Temple Square's attractions are open to the general public, entry into the Salt Lake Temple itself is restricted to members of the church who are deemed worthy of a "temple recommend".
  
Marianne Walters, Director of Public Affairs for the NSW and ACT branches of the LDS Church, says about 500 of Australia's approximately 117,000 Mormons travel to Salt Lake City every year, not only to visit the temple but to participate in the biannual general conferences which are held in the 21,000 seat Conference Centre.
  
"That fills to capacity with people standing in line outside hoping that there will be some spare seats," Walters says.
  
"They come from all across the United States and from all parts of the world to attend the general conferences.
  
"It is for most people, if they make it at all, a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Utah and to see where the Church's headquarters are."

Bodhgaya, India:
  
Considered the most important of four main Buddhist pilgrimage locations, Bodhgaya in India's north-east is where Buddha attained enlightenment around 2,500 years ago.
  
Home to the Mahabodhi Temple which has its origins in the 3rd century BC, it is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in brick, still standing in India.
  
Believed to mark the exact spot where in front of the Bodhi tree Buddha attained enlightenment, the temple was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002.
  
And although the original Bodhi tree died long ago, a descendent propagated from its branches stands at the western end of the temple instead.
  
CK Bhuravarjhula, Operations Head at Ausindia Holidays sends around 60 people a year on his two week In The Land of Buddha tour, which traverses northern India and Nepal.
  
"That is the most popular one that we have, which attracts a lot of Chinese, Koreans, Japanese Vietnamese and of course, Indians," he says.
  
"Ideally if you are a full on ardent Buddhist follower you would need at least three weeks, (but) this is the best of the buddhist sites."

If you go:
  
Globus' 10-day Lourdes & Shrines of France tour starts from $2529 excluding airfares. Visit www.globus.com.au.
  
Ausindia Holidays 14-night In The Land Of Buddha tour starts from $2069 excluding airfares. Visit www.ausindiaholidays.com.au   

For more information on visiting the Salt Lake Temple, log on to www.lds.org.
  
The Israel Travel Centre's 8-day Israel Spendours Tour starts from $US875 excluding airfares. Visit www.israeltravelcentre.com.au

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