Christian Pilgrimage Tourism at Himachal Pradesh is the response of Christian beliefs. Christianity is not aloof from the practice of pilgrimage. Devout Christians make their ways to churches, in order to inculcate in themselves the true spirit of Christianity, and to amend for their errors, which chastises the soul. Christianity journeyed and arrived late in Himachal Pradesh, after the arrival of the British and especially the Portuguese. Hence it was colonial influence that led to the establishment of Christianity in the quintessentially Dravidian and Hindu land-India. In Himachal area the churches are not less than 150 years old. Tall churches-the relics of the British Raj, are to be found mainly in the small hill stations that the British created as summer retreats.
Kasauli
Church at Kasauli is one among them which is still unspoiled and very much as the British left it fifty years ago. The Christ Church is a typically Anglican structure of the period. Its foundation stone was laid in 1844. Well proportioned, its spires, buttresses and gothic arches are framed against the stately deodars.
Shimla
The Christ Church, high and mighty with its tall spire dominates the ridge in Shimla. This imposing structure is visible from as far away as Tara Devi, 8 km away. It was built in 1844, when Shimla was slowly coming into its own as the premier hill station of India; the Christ Church was designed to accommodate the entire Shimla congregation. Various memorials and stained glass windows fill the sombre interior with colour and light.
The first Catholic edifice of Shimla, St. Michael`s Church, was built in 1850, at the western end of the Lower Bazaar. Later additions have made it an unusual piece of architecture. Inside the church are five marble altars, all brought from Italy in 1855 and fine stained glass windows.
St. John Church
St. John Church at Dharamshala is the stone church of St. John lies on a motor savvy road between Mcleod gang and Forsyteganj 8 Km from Lower Dharamshala (Kangra). It has a monument of Lord Elgin, one of the viceroys of India, who died in Dharamshala and was buried here. Amidst the cocooned still wilderness this church stands strong and still.
Dalhousie
Dalhousie (Chamba) is another hill station with a number of old churches. The church near the G.P.O. looks untouched by time. It has an angular roof of inter-leafed hexagonal slates. The Catholic church of St. Francis, built in 1894, is set against a backdrop of tall pines overlooking the Subash Chowk. The churches of Dalhousie are worth visiting. There are four beautiful churches in Dalhousie, which are a beauty in themselves. These are St. Andrew`s Church and St. Patrick`s Church at Balun, St. Francis Church at Subhash Chowk and St. John`s Church at Gandhi Chowk. The churches replicate the aura of peace that reverberates in the hills the location of which presents panoramic views of the plains-and like a long silver line, Ravi River twists and turns below Dalhousie. The spectacular snow-wrapped Dhauladhar Mountains are also visible from this town of awesome natural splendour.
Spiritual inclination is, undoubtedly a salient feature of daily life, in a country like India, where the teeming millions, spread the message of devotion, love and tolerance, in the respect of one religion for the other, and often the participation of one into the spiritual exercise of the other. And in the light of this statement Christian Pilgrimage tourism is an apt example.