The word "pilgrimage" is defined as a long journey or search of great moral significance, sometimes to a sacred place.

For the five million Baha'is worldwide, pilgrimage to the Holy Land-specifically to the cities of Haifa and Akka in northwest Israel-is a sacred obligation that they strive to fulfill at least once in their lives. Baha'is go on pilgrimage to connect with the spiritual and administrative heart of their faith.

Every two weeks from October through July, more than 200 Baha'is from around the world arrive in Haifa to participate in the nine-day pilgrimage program. They pray and meditate at the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, and the Shrine of the Bab, the Forerunner of Baha'u'llah. They also visit historical sites associated with Baha'u'llah's 20-year imprisonment in the area, meet with members of the Universal House of Justice, the nine-member governing body of the international Baha'i community, and participate in discussions about the worldwide activities of the Baha'i community.

For Baha'i pilgrims, the highlight is the visit to the resting places of the Founders of their Faith.

"As I walked the long gravel walkway toward the Shrine of Baha'u'llah," said Michael Gerard, a Chicago-area Baha'i who went on pilgrimage in June 2006, "I was filled with all kinds of emotion. Walking to this shrine is walking toward the Mouthpiece of God for this age."

Baha'u'llah was exiled from his native Persia in 1852 and arrived in the prison-city of Akka in 1868. He passed away in 1892 and was interred at Bahji, an estate just north of Akka. For Baha'is, His Shrine is the holiest place on earth. At Baha'u'llah's instruction, the spiritual and administrative center of His Faith was permanently fixed in the Haifa/Akka area.

The Bab was martyred in 1850 in Tabriz in Persia (now Iran), and his remains were hidden by Baha'is until it was possible to bury them in 1910 on Mount Carmel in Haifa. The Shrine of the Bab, which contains his remains, is a majestic building with a golden dome set amid beautiful gardens overlooking the Bay of Haifa.

Pilgrimage "reminds us of why we became Baha'is in the first place," said Tim Perry in a recent article in his hometown newspaper in Duncanville, Texas. "We recognize Baha'u'llah as the manifestation of God for this day. His message of unity is transforming the world, little by little, day by day."

For Karen Kazemzadeh, one of five local Baha'is on pilgrimage with Perry, seeing relics belonging to the founders of the Faith and other early followers of the religion, gave her "a new appreciation for our history as well as deepening our sense of how the Baha'i Faith is evolving throughout the world. Having been on pilgrimage a number of times, she says "it is always a profound experience; one never grows tired of it."

Michael Gerard admits that "before you go on pilgrimage, there's a tiny part of you that imagines everything you've heard or read about the Faith are just stories in a book, so being there makes it real. You can't help but feel further consecrated."

Mr. Gerard says the lush, landscaped gardens that surround the shrines create an "environment of reverence and peace."

Mike O'Neal, a Baha'i from Savannah who kept a diary of his pilgrimage, wrote: "I will leave this area of the world more convinced than ever that we are one human family because of what we have seen here. We are very happy to be coming back to our homes . . .today, but we understand better than we did that the whole earth is our home as well."