THIRD THURSDAY LECTURE - SAINSBURY INSTITUTE

Professor Susan Whitfield (Sainsbury Institute)

About the Talk

Holy sites have probably always been part of the landscape of human belief: springs with healing waters, mountain-top abode of gods , and trees spanning the underworld and the heavens. With the growth of organised religions, humans came to mark important sites with buildings which often dominated the landscape and provided spaces for communal worship. Holy sites significant to the lives of the founders and followers of the religions grew and became a focus for the faithful—pilgrims.

Pilgrimage continues to be part of all religions today and the numbers taking part are staggering: in 2025, over 660 million Hindus to Prayagraj on the Maha Kumbh; 40 million Catholics visiting Rome and Lourdes, and over 21 million Shia Muslims to Karbala. The number of pilgrims to Buddhist and Christian sites in Japan and Britain respectively seem insignificant in comparison, but pilgrimage in these places is also growing, and being promoted by many as much for its physical as for its spiritual well-being.

This talk will consider the medieval context and modern growth of pilgrimage, focussing on pilgrimages on Japan and England. How different are the motives for pilgrims — and for those promoting pilgrimage—now and in the past and between cultures and religions?

Alongside this lecture, we will have a showcase of our associated project ‘Pilgrimage and the Anthropocene’ which will be available to view at the venue. We will also provide more information on our upcoming walk between Norwich and Little Walsingham which will be open to the public. You can find more information on this here.

About the Speaker

Susan Whitfield is Professor of Silk Road Studies at the Sainsbury Institute, currently working on the Nara to Norwich Project. She was previously curator of Silk Road manuscripts at the British Library and Director of the International Dunhuang Project, a collaboration between over 25 institutions worldwide to make archaeological artefacts from the Silk Roads freely accessible online.

In 2025 she walked the Walsingham Way and the Ise Honkaido with colleagues for preliminary research on the Nara to Norwich pilgrimage project.

For her publications and other research interests see silkroaddigressions.com.

To attend in person, please email sisjac@sainsbury-institute.org or call +44 (0) 1603 597507 to book your place.

Doors open at 17:45. Please note that in-person spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. A reception will be held after the talk.