Circumambulation

Circumambulation is the act of moving around a sacred object.

Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice. In Islam, circumambulation is performed around the Kaaba in Mecca, in a counter-clockwise direction. In Judaism and Christianity,while not an act of worship, one has the circumambulation of Jericho by the Israelites in the Book of Joshua. The Jewish faith uses circumambulation during Hoshanah Rabbah at the end of the Festival of Sukkot. In the Catholic Church, a priest sometimes circumambulates an altar while icensing it with a thurible not for the sake of circumambulation but because one needs to get around the altar to do so - incensing the altar is in the tradition of the priestly rites of Moses and Aaron. At some Catholic shrines it is also a tradition to circumambulate around the cult object of the place, usually relics of a saint or an image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. Often this is performed three times, as a reference to the Trinity.