In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a very long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred area or shrine of importance to innate faith. Members of every major religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.

Unlike some other religions, Hindus are not required to undertake pilgrimages during their lifetime.[1] However, most Hindus go on such journeys to numerous iconic sites including those below:

India

Varanasi known as Kashi is one of the holiest pilgrimage sites

[2]

Kodlamane Shree Vishnumurthy Temple
Tirupati temple
Shakumbhari devi,right side Bhima and Bhramari left side Goddess Shatakshi
Very ancient and too much old Temple of Shakumbhari devi is near Saharanpur UP

Char Dham (Famous Four Pilgrimage sites): The four holy sites Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath (or alternatively the Himalayan towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri) compose the Chota Char Dham (four small abodes) pilgrimage circuit.

Kumbh Mela: The Kumbh Mela (the "pitcher festival") is one of the holiest of Hindu pilgrimages that is held every three years; the location is rotated among Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik, and Ujjain.

Old Holy cities as per Puranic Texts: Varanasi formerly known as Kashi, Prayagraj also known as Prayag, Haridwar-Rishikesh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Kurukshetra, the Land of Bhagavad Gita in Haryana and Ayodhya.

Old Temple cities: Puri, which hosts a major Vaishnava Jagannath temple and Rath Yatra celebration; Katra, home to the Vaishno Devi temple; Tirumala - Tirupati, home to the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple; Madurai Meenakshi and Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Sri Rangam; Dwarkadhish Temple - Dwarka, home to Dwarkadhish form of Sri Krishna; Radharani Temple - Barsana, dedicated to Sri Radha, Sabarimala, where Swami Ayyappan is worshipped; Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala; Guruvayur temple at Guruvayur. The oldest of these temple pilgrimages is the Pandharpur Wari which is said to be in tradition from the past 800 years.

New Pilgrimage Centres: Three comparatively recent temples of fame and huge pilgrimage are Belur Math, the hub of the worldwide Ramakrishna Movement in West Bengal, Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Kolkata; Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari; Sri Ramana Ashram at Tiruvannamalai; and ISKCON temples in Ujjain, Bangalore,[3] Patna, Tirumala, Vishakapatnam, Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai. Ramakrishna Mission Swami Vivekananda's Ancestral House and Cultural Centre, the birthplace of Swami Vivekananda is also another popular destination.

Shakti Pitha: An important set of pilgrimages are the Shakti Pitha, where the Mother Goddess is worshipped, the two principal ones being Kalighat and Kamakhya.

Jyotirlingas: Other set of important pilgrimages are the Jyotirlingas, where lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Shiva Lingas. There are twelve Jyotirlingas in India. The twelve Jyotirlingas are:

Sri Lanka

Mauritius

Trinidad and Tobago

Suriname

Pakistan

Katas Raj Temples are said to date from the times of the Mahabharata.

Nepal

A view of Pashupatinath Temple
Bindhyabasini Temple , Pokhara , Nepal
Ambikeshwari Temple is a Shaktipeetha which is supposed to have emerged due to the falling of right ear of Satidevi according to the Swasthani Purana.

China

Lake Manasarovar

Indonesia

Cambodia

Angkor Wat

Malaysia

Batu Caves

United States

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Hindu pilgrimage sites.

References

  1. ↑ Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs - Hinduism See drop-down essay on "Hindu Practices"
  2. ↑ "Hindu Temple Pilgrimage". Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  3. ↑ "ISKCON temple in Bangalore". Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  4. ↑ "Ganga Dhaaraa Teerath: Water is Life: TriniView.com". www.triniview.com. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  5. ↑ "Exchange Village Mud Mandir". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  6. ↑ "Moose Bhagat Hindu Temple". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  7. ↑ Bissessarsingh, Angelo (November 6, 2016). "The Moose Bhagat Mandir". guardian.co.tt. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  8. ↑ "Shiva Mandir". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  9. ↑ "Balka devi Temple". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  10. ↑ "Hanuman Temple". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  11. ↑ "Triveni Mandir". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
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