The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1828 page)

to Buddhists), and
K
i
are the major sites on the Ga
g
(Ganges); and of these, K
i exceeds all. Indeed, to make pilgrimage and die in K
i means that the burden of karma and the necessity for rebirth are removed by
iva
himself. Places of pilgrimage are called in India t
rthas (‘fords’), and the pilgrimage is t
rtha-yatra. In the
T
rtha-yatra
section of
Mah
bh
rata
, a description is given of the whole of India as a place of pilgrimage, mapping out an itinerary in a clockwise direction.