Importance of Visiting Holy Places.
The SrimadBhagavatam states: "The sacred lakes like Puskara and places where saintly persons live, like Kurukshetra, Gaya, Prayaga, Pulahasrama, Naimisaranya, the banks of the Phalgu River, Setubandhu, Prabhasa, Dwarka, Varanasi, Mathura, Pampa, Bindu-sarovara, Badarikasrama, the places where the Nanda River flows, the places where Lord Ramacandra and mother Sita took shelter, such as Citrakuta, and also the hilly tracts of land known as Mahendra and Malaya all of these are to be considered most pious and sacred.
Similarly, places where RadhaKrishna Deities are worshiped must all be visited and worshiped by those who want to be spiritually advanced. One who intends to advance in spiritual life may visit all these places and perform ritualistic ceremonies to get results a thousand times better than the results of the same activities performed in any other place. Srila Prabhupada states: "Places of pilgrimage yield a special advantage for a devotee in quickly advancing his spiritual life. Lord Krishna lives everywhere, but still it is very easy to approach him in Holy places. These sacred places are called Dhamas. There are four main Dhamas in India.These four dhamas, or kingdoms of God, represent the planets of the spiritual sky, which consists of the brahmajyoti and the Vaikunthas. These are Badarikasrama, Dwaraka, Rameswara and Jaganath Puri.
Dhama refers to a place where one can immediately contact the Supreme Lord. To go to Badarikasrama one has to pass through Haridwar. Similarly, there are other holy places of pilgrimage, such as Prayaga (Allahabad) and Mathura, and the topmost of them all is Vrindavana. Unless one is very advanced in spiritual life, it is recommended that he live in such holy places and execute devotional service there. In India there are many temples throughout the country. Devotees may take advantage of them and go see the Lord at Jagannatha Puri, Vrindavana, Prayaga, Mathura, Haridwar and Vishnu-kanci (Kanchipuram). Hindus visit these holy places for perfection of spiritual realization.. |
