Panchakroshi Yatra

A circular journey (yatra) in which pilgrims circumambulate the outer boundary of Kashi (the largest of the three
concentric ritual areas contained in the
city of Benares) and visit 108 shrines
along the way. The journey’s length is
reckoned at five kroshas (roughly ten
miles), hence the name. The journey
measures out the boundaries of the
sacred city, and thus pilgrims symbolically circle the entire world. Although
the best known Panchakroshi Yatra is in
Benares, and the name is most commonly associated with this place, many
other sacred sites (tirthas) have similar
pilgrimage routes, and this process of a
circular journey around a sacred spot is
a common ritual motif.