Plot Synopsis

SACRED JOURNEYS is a six-part series highlighting some of the world's most challenging religious pilgrimages, as "New York Times" best-selling author Bruce Feiler travels with Americans on six historic journeys. Each episode focuses on a different chapter of ancient history revealed through the personal stories of contemporary explorers who set out on the same profound journeys that people have taken for a thousand years or more. Feiler takes a pilgrimage to these six locations: Lourdes, France, where they bathe in sacred waters with wounded soldiers from around the world in a moving search for healing and reconciliation; southern Japan, where they trek with Buddhist pilgrims on an 800-mile, 88-temple journey as they seek personal salvation and renewal; Jerusalem, where they follow the trail of pilgrims from the three Abrahamic traditions as they ground their faith in one of the holiest cities on Earth; Mecca, where they go behind closed doors of the Hajj in a rare, intimate look at pilgrims making the trip of a lifetime; India, where they plunge into the Ganges during the largest human gathering on earth, the Kumbh Mela, which takes place every 12 years; and Nigeria, where they dance at water's edge with African-Americans at a spectacular Yoruba festival where they reclaim their religious roots.