In the years of lore, what would people do during vacations? Travel the world? Chill on a hill? Rest in the west?
Maybe, but mostly no. They would often use the few weeks a year of downtime to head for their pilgrimages.
Today? Even the few pilgrimages are spent little on the Lord and mostly on taking selfies and reels of the way to the place. Hundreds of phone-cameras abound everywhere, with the focus being on the screen, rather than on the idol.
Swami Sivananda said the following about pilgrimages:
... If, after the pilgrimage, you prove that you have been purged of all sins... that you have been filled with spiritual vibrations of the sublime atmosphere you have sojourned in, and if you live a pure life of righteousness, devotion, truth, love... you have been liberated. The pilgrimage has served its purpose.
How do our own pilgrimages look like?