I should start my answer with an example I think. Mahakumbh in India is an occasion inviting a holy dip into the Sangam(confluence of 3 Indian rivers) ,that can wash away the sins committed during the lifetime of a person. At present this grand event is going on in India in Allahabad.This event takes place every 12 years in cities of Nasik,Ujjain,Haridwar & Allahabad.Tourists from all over the world visit this event to feel the joy of sacred bath along with the religious fervor of indian people. Around 10 to 30 million people congregate here & u can urself feel the intensity based on these numbers.
Now as per definition, rituals r the beginners gateway to enter into the deep waters of religion in search of spirituality.Many so called modern guys consider all these rituals meaningless & useless.They mark rituals as an exploitative weapon to fool the society at large & they r not wrong in totality if u observe history. But then why the people r attracted inspite of modern developments in science & philosophy? Well,there can be multiple reasons behind it but the basic reason is that they still don't find rituals useless & meaningless because their belief systems r strong enough to tackle any attack of modernity.They wholeheartedly believe that they r going to benefit from it & the divine blessings will surely come to them sooner or later.
What I believe is rituals r alright but staying in them throughout life ignoring the higher & spiritual element of religion is the incomplete understanding of religion. There r many stampedes in India especially at such religious gatherings where the administration finds extremely difficult to manage the crowd effectively & more than people r willing to risk their life for the sake of religious reward from the unknown master.
Change is an essential element of time & here is the requirement of merging out culture with modern understanding & development. Both of them together can only be relevant for future generations.
I think many of my European & American friends find it little awkward & interesting but this is the reality of modern india.
Do give ur opinions about the topic & share some of ur rituals which u feel about & the way u connect through them...!