Devotion
Katha
Sacred Places
The six sacred abodes of Lord Murugan across Tamil Nadu, celebrated in Sangam literature and Thiruppugazh hymns as sites of cosmic victory and grace.
Eight Shaivite temples across Tamil Nadu where Lord Shiva displayed his cosmic valor to defeat ego and mortality, granting liberation to pilgrims.
The Ashta Vinayaka circuit links eight Swayambhu Ganesha temples around Pune, beginning and ending at Morgaon.
The Ashtadasha Shakti Peethas are eighteen Maha seats of the Divine Mother named in a hymn attributed to Adi Shankaracharya.
The Braj Chaurasi Kos Yatra is the 84-kos pilgrimage circuit around the land of Krishna's lila, through Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan, Barsana, and Nandgaon.
The Chhota Char Dham circuit in the Garhwal Himalayas unites Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath into one sacred Himalayan pilgrimage said to dissolve karma.
Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata, founded by Rani Rashmoni in 1855, is the seat of Maa Bhavatarini and the home of Sri Ramakrishna's sadhana.
The five white marble Jain temples of Mount Abu, built between the 11th and 15th centuries, are revered for devotion, Navkar worship and Aparigraha.
Gaumukh, the glacier snout where the Bhagirathi Ganga emerges, and Tapovan meadow below Mount Shivling, a Himalayan pilgrimage of tapasya.
At this Delhi haveli, the child Eighth Guru consecrated well water into Amrit to heal epidemic victims, giving rise to the healing Sarovar pilgrims visit today.
Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib in Sirhind, Punjab, marks where Guru Gobind Singh's two young sons and grandmother were martyred for refusing to renounce their faith.
Hemkund Sahib, at 4,632 meters in Uttarakhand, marks the site described in Guru Gobind Singh's Bachitar Natak where he performed his prior-life penance.
Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib marks where Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji gave his life in 1675 to defend freedom of conscience, honored today with Gurbani Kirtan and Langar.
Haridwar, ancient Mayapuri, is where the Ganga enters the plains. Har Ki Pauri and Brahma Kund mark the spot where amrita fell.
Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh is revered as the birthplace of Shantinatha, Kunthunatha, and Arahnatha, and the site of the first alms to Rishabhadeva.
The Kashi Pancha Kroshi Yatra is a five-day, fifty-mile parikrama around Varanasi, with halts at Kardameshwar, Bhimchandi, Rameshwar, Shivpur and Kapildhara.
Vaishali and Kesariya in Bihar remember the founding of the Bhikkhuni Sangha, the Ratana Sutta and the Buddha's farewell gift of his alms bowl.
Kundalpur in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, is a Digambara Jain pilgrimage with the 15-foot Bade Baba image of Rishabhanatha and many hill temples.
Nine sacred samadhis of Dvaita Vedanta saints in the Madhvacharya lineage, enshrined on a Tungabhadra island near Hampi.
In the Nallamala forests of Andhra Pradesh, Ahobilam holds the nine Nava Narasimha shrines where Lord Narasimha appeared to protect Prahlada.
Nine Divya Desam temples on the Tamirabarani river, each a form of Vishnu presiding over one of the Navagrahas, the nine cosmic planets.
Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh is a Narasimha mahakshetra whose hill shrine, Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha, accepts offerings of sweet jaggery water.
The Pancha Aramas are five Shiva kshetras in Andhra Pradesh, sanctified by fragments of the Atma Lingam broken when Kartikeya defeated Tarakasura.
In Chamoli's Garhwal Himalayas, Pancha Badri links five sacred Vishnu abodes: Vishal Badri, Yog Dhyan Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Vridha Badri, and Adi Badri, bestowing moksha through His timeless grace.
Across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, five Pancha Bhuta Sthalam temples reveal Shiva as Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space, a sacred circuit that harmonizes the seeker and leads to liberation.
Pancha Dwaraka is a pilgrimage to five Krishna shrines in Gujarat and Rajasthan: Dwaraka, Bet Dwaraka, Dakor, Nathdwara and Kankroli.
Pancha Kedar links five Himalayan Shiva shrines in Garhwal: Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar and Kalpeshwar, linked to the Pandavas.
Pancha Prayag marks five confluences of the Alaknanda in Garhwal: Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Devprayag, where the Ganga is born.
The Pancha Sabhas are the five sacred dance halls in Tamil Nadu where Lord Shiva as Nataraja performs His cosmic dance of creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment, and grace.
The Pancharanga Kshetrams are five sacred temples along the River Kaveri where Lord Vishnu reposes in cosmic yogic slumber upon the serpent Adisesha, said to purify karma and grant liberation.
Pavapuri's lotus-lake Jal Mandir marks Mahavira's nirvana, and nearby Rajgir holds hills where he taught. A guide to the Jain pilgrimage in Bihar.
Gridhrakuta, the Vulture Peak at Rajgir in Bihar, is where the Buddha stayed during rains retreats and where Mahayana tradition sets the Heart and Lotus Sutras.
Sankissa in Uttar Pradesh is where the Buddha returned to earth from Tavatimsa Heaven after teaching the Abhidhamma to his mother.
Sammed Shikharji in Jharkhand is the holiest tirtha in Jainism, where twenty of the twenty-four Tirthankaras attained eternal Moksha through a 27-kilometer barefoot pilgrimage.
Shravasti, on the Rapti in Uttar Pradesh, holds Jetavana, the monastery where the Buddha spent twenty-five rainy seasons and gave most of his teachings.
Uttarkashi, the Soumya Kashi of the Himalayas, is a quiet seat of Shiva tapasya on the Bhagirathi, with the Kashi Vishwanath temple and its great trident.
The Himalayan cave of sage Vasistha above Rishikesh, a quiet Ganga-side place for meditation, with the nearby cave of Arundhati.
Jataka Tales
Jataka No. 479: After Ananda plants the Jetavana Bodhi Tree, this tale tells how King Kalinga's elephant dies rather than cross its sacred ground.
A king builds an entire lake just to lure a teaching from a golden goose, and the goose-king's own deputy refuses to abandon him the moment the trap closes.