This research has the following 2 objectives: 1) To study the history of pilgrimage both during and after the Buddha’s life-time, and 2) To study the traditional transmission of pilgrimage of Buddhists in Thailand.

                 As a result of the research it has been discovered that pilgrimage is a religious journey in search of something with moral or spiritual significance and the right path to liberation from suffering. During the Buddha’s life-time most religious journeys were made in order to propagate the Buddha’s teachings or Dhamma for the benefit of mankind. The prototype of these mission trips were made by the Buddha himself.  Right after the first rain retreat about sixty monk disciples, instructed by the Buddha, went in all directions to spread Buddhism. Later on a large number of Arahants followed suit in mission journeys for the benefit of the mass.

                  After the Buddha’s period King Asoka the Great made religious pilgrimage to most of the places where the Buddha used to stay.  He had pagodas and stone pillars made and established at each of the holy places.  In later periods Buddhists from different lands inherited King Asoka the Great’s pious example by making pilgrimage to the holy sites, especially,         the famous Chinese monk Fa Hien and Xuan Zang made their historic pilgrimages to India and visited most holy places related to the Buddha and constructed by King Asoka the Great.

                 We have also learned about religious pilgrimages under taken by all types of Buddhists as recorded in the early Buddhist texts like the Tripitaka, the Buddhist canon, legend,

archaeological evidence, the commentaries and cultural activities.

                 Thai Buddhist’s had learned and inherited the subject of religious pilgrimage since the time when Theravada Buddhism came into South-East Asia. Out of their faith and devotion to the Buddha, Thai Buddhists, in addition to making pilgrimage to the holy sites at home, went abroad especially to India to worship the four sacred places related to the Buddha, i.e., the place of his Birth, the place of his Enlightenment, the place where he preached the sermon and the place where he passed away.  The Buddha himself recommended Buddhist to visit these places.

                  In Thailand there are many forms of pilgrimage. Buddhist pilgrimage has been integrated with astrology: A person who was born under a star constellation must make a pilgrimage to worship one particular shrine in the year of his birth; this belief and practice exist in Northern Thailand.  The other forms of popular pilgrimage is to visit and worship the Buddha’s footprints, The sacred Buddha images, the charismatic monks, the Buddha image at nine temples and pilgrimage to Buddhist lands like Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

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