Important Holy Places
There are thousands of holy places throughout India. Some have more spiritual significance than others, and the benefits and spiritual advancement for a person going there is increased. There are four dhamas, or kingdoms of God, which are Badrinath, Rameswara, Pun, and Dwarka. There are seven sacred cities known as the Saptapuris (Mokshapuris), which are Ayodhya, Mathura, Mayapuri (Haridwar), Kasi (Varanasi), Kanchi (Kanchipurarn), Avantipuri (Ujain), and Dwarka The seven most sacred rivers are the Ganges, Yarnuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, and Kaveri. There are four Kumbha-melas at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik.
There are eight self-manifested holy places (Svayarn Vyakta Ksetras), out of a list of 108 major Vishnu temples (108 Vaishnava Divya Desams), which are Sri Rangam, Tirumala, Sri Mushnarn, and Thotadri in South India; and Shalagram, Pushkara, Naimisaranya, and Badrinath in North India.
The most important holy places for Gaudiya Vaisnavas are Vrindavana, Mathura, Pun, and Mayapur. Other important holy places are Dwarka, Ay-odhya, Kurukshetra, Naimisaranya, Nasik, Ujjain, Rameswaram, Gaya, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, Badrinatha, Varanasi, and Prayaga. Vrindavana and Mathura are important because Lord Krishna appeared here and spent his childhood there. Dwarka is important because Lord Krishna lived there.
The Himalayas are considered a holy mountain range. The Himalayan Range is about 2500km long and 350km wide, and there are hundreds of peaks over 20,000 feet high. |
