“I think there is no place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy temples.”
Overview
GAYA-BANARAS(KASHI)-PRAYAGRAJ-AYODHAYA-AGRA-MATHURA-VRINDAVAN-DELHI
Northern India is home to several famous historical landmarks and sites of religious importance. Among them is Banaras, Kashi. Kashi which is considered to be so pure that a dip in the Ganges River allegedly erases one’s sins. The city’s other claim to fame lies in its being the subject of hundreds of legends from local folklore and Hindu scriptures. Gaya and Bodhgaya Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with Buddhist and Hindu. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment the Bodhi Tree.
Since antiquity, BodhGaya has remained the object of pilgrimage and veneration both for Hindus and Buddhists. Gaya is a holy city beside the Falgu River, in the northeast Indian state of Bihar. It’s known for 18th-century Vishnupad Mandir, a riverside temple with an octagonal shrine. Another respected site is Prayagraj, which has sacred site of Triveni Sangam where the three sacred river Ganga, River Yamuna and mythical River Sarasvati confluence. A place of religious importance and the site for historic Kumbh Mela held in every 12 years.
Ayodhya is considered as being the birthplace of Lord Rama and setting of epic Ramayana. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. Ayodhya (Awadhpuri) has been regarded as first one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus. Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River, Agra’s notable historical period began during Sikandar Lodi’s reign, but the golden age of the city began with the Mughals. Agra was the foremost city of the Indian subcontinent and the capital of the Mughal Empire under Mughal emperors Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
Under Mughal rule, Agra became a centre for learning, arts, commerce, and religion, and saw the construction of the Agra Fort, The Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favorite empress. The Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The name Agra is explained by different derivations, it was derive from Hindu History claiming that the Sanskrit word agra which means the first of the many groves and little forests where Krishna frolicked with the gopis of Vrindavan. The term Agravana hence means grove forest. Mathura is birthplace of Krishna, which is located at the Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex. It is one of the Sapta Puri, the seven cities considered holy by Hindus, also called Mokshyadayni Tirth.
The Kesava Deo Temple was built in ancient times on the site of Krishna’s birthplace (an underground prison). Mathura was the capital of the kingdom of Surasena, ruled by Kansa, the maternal uncle of Krishna. Vrindavan is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childhood days in this city. Vrindavan has about 5,500 temples dedicated to the worship of Krishna and his divine consort Radha. It is one of the most sacred places for Vaishnavism tradition.
Vrindavan is a significant part of the “Krishna pilgrimage circuit” which also includes Mathura, Barsana, Gokul, Govardhan, Kurukshetra, Dwarka and Puri. Delhi The topography of the medieval fort Purana Qila on the banks of the river Yamuna matches the literary description of the citadel Indraprastha in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata; however, excavations in the area have revealed no signs of an ancient built environment. From the early 13th century until the mid-19th century, Delhi was the capital of two major empires, the Delhi sultanate and the Mughal Empire, which covered large parts of South Asia. All three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the city, the Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, and the Red Fort, belong to this period.
Swaminarayan Akshardham The main attraction of the Swaminarayan Akshardham complex is the Akshardham Mandir. It rises 141-foot (43 m) high, spans 316-foot (96 m) wide, and extends 356-foot (109 m) long.[8] It is intricately carved with flora, fauna, dancers, musicians, and deities. The Akshardham Mandir was designed by BAPS Swamis and Virendra Trivedi, a member of the Sompura family.
It is entirely constructed from Rajasthani pink sandstone and Italian Carrara marble. Based on traditional Hindu architectural guidelines (Shilpa shastras) on maximum temple life span, it makes no use of ferrous metal. Thus, it has no support from steel or concrete.
