Pilgrim numbers

This page has not been updated since June 2014. 

More than 200 million people go on pilgrimage every year - sometimes for hours, sometimes for days, and some leave home for many months.

It is impossible to get fully accurate figures for the number of pilgrims to most sites as records are not necessarily kept. While the major sites have reasonably accurate estimates of annual visitor numbers, many of these are tourist destinations as well as pilgrimage sites which makes it difficult to identify those coming for spiritual purposes. Figures used for this document are not alway for the same time period due to lack of available contemporary statistics.

That said, however, it is possible to be reasonably confident that the numbers quoted below (and especially the total) are most likely to be an underestimate, given the enormous numbers of shrines and sacred sites that we have not been able to include.

• 30 million pilgrims - Ayyappan Saranam , India (Hindu -estimates for this vary with numbers up to 60 million being claimed)

• 30 million pilgrims – Tirupati , India (Hindu)

• 30 million pilgrims – Amritsar (Sikh)

• 20 million pilgrims – Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico (Christian)

• 15 million pilgrims - Arba’een, Karbala , Iraq (Muslim)

• 14 million pilgrims - Ise, Japan (figure for 2013 from Jinja Honcho, the Association of Shinto Shrines) (Shinto)

• 10 million pilgrims – Kumbh Mela (takes place every three years, with some festivals attracting 10 million and others 50, 60 or 70 million - see below for notes) (Hindu)

• 10 million pilgrims - Nanputuo Temple , Xiamen, China (Buddhist)

• 10 million pilgrims – Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil (Christian))

• 6 million pilgrims – Western Wall , Jerusalem, Israel (Jewish/Christian)

• 6 million pilgrims – Vrindavan, Braj (Hindu)

• 5 Million pilgrims – Dwarka (Hindu)

• 5 million pilgrims – Jasna Gora monastery, Czestochowa, Poland (Roman Catholic)

• 4-5 million pilgrims – Fatima, Portugal (Christian)

• 4 million pilgrims – Lourdes, France (Christian)

• 3 million pilgrims to the Qadiriyyah shrine in Kano

• 3 million pilgrims – Hajj, Makkah (Mecca), Saudi Arabia (Islamic) (including 1.8 million from overseas)

• 2.1 million pilgrims – Wutai Shan (Daoist)

• 2 million pilgrims – Kadhmayn, Baghdad, Iraq (Islamic)

• 1 million – World Youth Day (Roman Catholic)

• 1 million pilgrims – Holla Mohalla Anandapur Sahib, India (Sikh)

• 1 million pilgrims – La Morenata (Black Madonna) Shrine Montserrat, Spain

• 1 million pilgrims – Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India (Hindu)

• 1 million pilgrims – El Rocio , Cadiz, Spain (Roman Catholic)

• 1 million pilgrims – Church of the Holy Sepulchre , Jerusalem (Christian)

• 635,000 Amarnath Cave, Kashmir (Hindu)

• Over 500,000 pilgrims – Taishan (Daoist)

• Over 0.3 million pilgrims – Hua Shan (Daoist)

• Around 0.3 million pilgrims – Qingcheng Shan (Daoist)

• 250,000 pilgrims – Emei Shan (Daoist)

• 250,000 pilgrims – Iona (Christian)

• 200,000 pilgrims – Huzhuan , Shandong, China (Roman Catholic)

• 200,000 pilgrims (or 'incense guests') - Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage Taiching, Taiwan (local traditional sea goddess)

• 180,000 pilgrims (receiving the compostela) – Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain (Christian)

• 150,000 - 200,000 pilgrims – Subukia, Kenya (Christian, Catholic)

• Over 100,000 pilgrims – Taizé , Burgundy, France (Christian)

• 100,000 pilgrims – St Bishoy Monastery, Wadi El Natroun (Coptic Christian)

• 100,000 pilgrims – Walsingham Shrine of Our Lady Norfolk, England UKChristian)

• 43,000 (roughly) pilgrims – Lumbhini (Buddhist)

• 30,000 pilgrims – Lough Derg, Donegal, Ireland (Roman Catholic)

• 27,000 pilgrims – Uman, Ukraine (Hasidic Jews)

• 20-25,000 pilgrims – Etchmiadzin (Armenian Apostolic Christian)

• 10,000 pilgrims – Qufu , Shandong, China (Confucianism)

• 2,500 pilgrims – St Albans, UK (Christian)

Total

Note

Notes on Kumbh Mela numbers