Routes of pilgrimage

Temples

1Dwarka; Krishna temple of Dwarkadhish
2 Mt. Girnar; Jain temples and goddess temple of Amba Mata
3 Somnath; Shiva Jyotir linga temple
4 Shatrunajaya; Jain temples
5 Ujjain; Mahakaleswar Jyotir linga Shiva temple
6 Sanchi; Buddhist stupa
7 Omkareshwar; Jyotir linga Shiva temple
8 Nasik; Godavari river Kumbha Mela site
9 Ajanta caves; 29 Buddhist, Hindu, Jain sacred caves
10 Ellora; Buddhist, Hindu, Jain caves and Grineshwar Jyotir linga
11 Mt. Abu; Jain temples
12 Nathdwara; Sri Nathji Krishna temple
13 Pushkar; Brahma temple, Savitri temple on hill, and others
14 Ajmer; Shrine of Mu’in al-din Chishti
15 Ambaji shrine (between Abu road and Palanpur)
16 Amritsar; Hari Mandir
17 Govindval; Sikh temple
18 Anandpur Sahib Sikh temple
19 Vaishno Devi; cave of Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati
20 Amarnath; Shiva cave
21 Leh; Buddhist monasteries
22 Jwalamukhi; Shakti Pitha shrine
23 Kurukshetra; Brahma Sarovara, Sannihit Sarovara, many temples
24 Haridwar; Hari-ki-Pairi Ghat, numerous temples
25 Rishikesh; Laksman Jhula, Neela Kantha Mahadeva temple
26 Devprayag; Raghunath Vishnu temple
27 Karnaprayag; juncture of Alakananda and Pindar Ganga
28 Joshimath; Vasudeva temple, Sankaracharya Math
29 Hemkund; Sikh and Laksman temples at Lake Hemkund
30 Badrinath; Badrinath temple and nearby five Badri temples
31 Kedarnath; Jyotir Linga Shiva temple
32 Gangotri; Goddess Ganga temple
33 Yamnotri; source of holy Yamuna river, Shani Prayag temple
34 Almora; temples of Kasar Devi, Jageshwar, Baijnath, Dwarahat, Bageshwar
35 Mt. Nanda Devi; sacred mountain
36 Vrindavan; numerous beautiful Krishna temples
37 Allahabad; Sangam Bath river site
38 Varanasi / Banaras; numerous temples, ghats and pilgrimage circuits
39 Saranath; Buddhist holy place
40 Kushinagar; Holy site where Buddha passed away
41 Gaya; Vishnupada temple
42 Bodh Gaya; Site where Buddha attained enlightenment
43 Rajagriha / Rajgir; Vulture Peak Buddhist site
44 Baidyanath; Shiva Jyotir linga
45 Mt. Parsanath; Jain temple
46 Tarakeswar; Tarakanath temple
47 Navadip; Dhameswara Shri Chaitanya temple, Devananda Gaudiya Math
48 Tarapith; Shakti Pitha temple
49 Calcutta; Kalighat temple and Dakshineshwar
50 Gauhati; Kamakhya Shakti temple
51 Puri; Jaganath temple
52 Srisailam; Jyotir linga and Shakti Pitha temples
53 Tirupati; Govindaraja and Padmavathi temples
54 Tiruttani; Subrahmanya hill top temple
55 Kanchipuram; numerous pilgrimage temples
56 Tiruvanamalai; Mt. Arunachala and Tiruvanamalai temple
57 Chidambaram; Sabhanayaka Nataraja Shiva temple
58 Swamimalai temple (near Kumbakonam)
59 Srirangam; Sri Ranganathaswami Vishnu temple
60 Palani / Palna; temple of Lord Muruga
61 Madurai area; temples of Minakshi, Tirupparangunram and Paramthirsolai
62 Rameshvaram; Sri Ramananthaswami temple, Gandhamadhana Parvatham Hanuman temple
63 Tiruchendur; Subrahmanya temple of Lord Muruga
64 Kanya Kumari; Kumari Amman goddess temple
65 Trivandrum; Sri Padmanabhaswami Vishnu temple
66 Sabarimala; shrine of Ayappa
67 Ettumanur; Shiva temple
68 Mysore; shrine of Baba Qalander Shah
69 Sravanabelagola; Gomateswara Jain shrine
70 Sringeri; Sharada Devi and Vidyasankara temples
71 Gokarna; Mahaballeswara Shiva temple and Ganapati Ganesh temple
72 Pandharpur; Vitthala Krishna temple
73 Bhimshankar; Shiva Jyotir linga
74 Guruvayur; Krishna temple
75 Deoghar; Vaidyanath Shiva Jyotir linga
76 Khajuraho; Jain and Hindu temples
77 New Delhi; Islamic shrines of Kwaja Nizamuddin Aulia, Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki, Kwaja Naseerudin Charagh-e Dilli
78 Sirhind; Islamic shrine of Sheikh Mujaddid Alfe Thani
79 Gulbarga; Islamic shrine of Khwaja Gesudaraz
80 Udipi; Krishna temple
81 Kukuteshvara; Shiva temple
82 Kolhapur; temple of Lakshmi/Amba Bai
83 Gangasagarar / Sagar Island; Kapil Muni temple
84 Amarkantak; hill top temples and source of Narmada river
85 Patan; Jain temples
86 Vadanagar; temple of Hatkeshvara Shiva
87 Chamba; Lakshmi Narayan temple
89 Nagor; Dargh Sharif temple

What breath is flowing upon the pilgrim’s soul, leading him to meditate, at least once in his life, in those primeval places, offering their long journey to the Gods? In those sacred places, the fervour of truth seekers concentrates. For thousands of years sometimes, they have come along to walk in the steps of a first God or of a first awakened man who was born there.

Amongst the numerous holy cities of India, Ayodhya is the birth place of Rama, and Mathura is the birth place of Krishna. Along with the cities of Varanasi, Haridwar, Dwarka, Ujjain and Kanchipuram, they are the seven most important “tirtha”, i.e. places of passage between our world and the divine worlds for the pilgrims. Dwarka, Badrinath, Rameshwaram and Puri are revered as being the four cardinal points of India. Haridwar is at the sources of the sacred river, Ganges; and Varanasi (previously Benares) is the place where the Buddha received illumination.
And us, children of the civilisation and of “progress”, will we have enough hope to undertake this quest of the invisible, whatever the meditation place we may choose?
Will we know how to take the pilgrim’s stick and be filled with the most important, for a moment destitute of everything that made our life, and released of our daily agitation?

]“Whatever the place your heart is attached, leave it, and find another place.
“If you take root, even into the best place, it will become a world of attachment.
“Do not stay here, nor there.
“Look for the ultimate place.”