Spirituality is the soul of India. Our country is a splendid land which embraced every religion, every faith that landed on its shores. Not only did it receive and adopt numerous religions, India is the birthplace of some of the significant religions of the world – Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism. It is this religions diversity, however, that has been used to cause strife and dissent among the Indians. Some of the most sacred sites [...]Read More
Ram Janmabhoomi is one of the major pilgrimage centres for the Hindus of India. This is a vast complex where there are remnants of an old temple. This temple is believed to be the site of a palace where Lord Ram was born. Another part of the complex houses a mosque that was built here during the Mughal era. If one is willing to look beyond the bitter communal disputes and politicking that has taken [...]Read More
Dwarka, the legendary capital of Lord Krishna and the Yadava kingdom, holds an eternal appeal in the minds of devout Hindus and archeologists alike. Located in one of the western-most towns of India, the Dwrkadeesh Temple is one of the best-known Hindu temples of India. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims get to this temple each year with the faith that Lord Krishna will bless them with good health and prosperity and grant them spiritual [...]Read More
India is a country with diverse religions, cultures and beliefs. There are plenty of religious places or specifically temples in the country where diversified rituals, traditions and sometimes superstitious beliefs are practiced and followed. For some, these places of worship are sacred while for others they are the places where some miracles occur and wishes come true. Here are some of the unusual temples in India which may interest you: For the bullet lovers and [...]Read More
In our journey through India’s best-known temples, we now take you to one of the most-visited pilgrim shrines in the country – the Badrinath Temple also called the Badri Narayan Temple, dedicated to the Hindu God of preservation – Vishnu. The temple is very highly regarded by the Vaishnavas or Vishnu worshippers and in general by all Hindus. It is the northern most of the Char Dhams – four sacred pilgrimages that all Hindus strive [...]Read More
From our last week’s feature – the Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi, Maharastra, we now take you on a journey up north to one of the best known temples of India. Nestled high up in the pristine town of Kedarnath is one of the twelve jyotirlingas – shrines where the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva is believed to have manifested in the form of Light. It is one of the Chota Char Dham – a circuit [...]Read More
On our next phase of the journey through India’s famous temples we make a stop at the well-known Sai Baba Temple at Shirdi in the state of Maharashtra (approximately 300 km from Mumbai). Sai Baba of Shirdi was a spiritual master, regarded equally by both Hindu and Muslim devotees. Sai Baba chose to make the nondescript village of Shirdi his home. Despite his appearance as a Muslim fakir, he quoted eloquently from Hindu scriptures and [...]Read More
We embark on our series of the best known Indian temples with a magnificent temple from God’s Own Country – the Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple in the land known as Parasurama Kshetra – Kerala. Thousands throng the temple each year; it is one of the most visited Hindu shrines in South India and is dedicated to the Goddess Bhagavathy who is worshipped as Saraswati in the morning, Lakshmi during the day, and Durga in the evening. [...]Read More
While most of us are aware of the Khajuraho temple, not many of us know that we have a similar temple in Assam. In fact, the erotic sculptures in the Madan Kamdev temple have made it known as the Mini Khajuraho of the Northeast India. This temple, just 40 km away from Guwahati, is situated atop a hill by the name of Dewangiri in Kamrup district. The Madan Kamdev temple is a place of utmost [...]Read More
There was no fragrance of flowers and incense. There were no bell chimes or columns of devotees awaiting their turn to seek blessings. It was still a temple complex. This Shaiva and Vaishnava temple complex is without the deities. It was an empty nest of aging sculptures in Kiradu (Hatama in Rajasthan), near Indo-Pak border. The sand and wind have disfigured faces of many of these masterpieces created in Solanki style. Some of the faces, [...]Read More
