Vaisnava.cz - India - Holy Places

Andhra Pradesh
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Tirupati
Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple on the Tirumala hill near Tirupati is one of the most important and visited Vishnu temples in India. Ahovalam
Appearance place of Lord Nrsimhadav.

Gujarat
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	Dvaraka Krishna's capitol; place of Lord Krishna's departure from material world.		Baroda Sri Sri Radha Syamasundar; Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra; Sri Sri Gaura Nitai.
	Somnath The place where the members of Yadu dynasty fought among themselves and where moon-god build golden temple for Siva.		Dakor Ranchorji temple (Krishna who fled from the battlefield).

Haryana
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Delhi
The former Indraprastha, the residence of Pandavas, is said to be at the location of present capitol of India in New Delhi.

Maharashtra
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	Elora Cave temples and monasteries. Kailash temple - the biggest carved stone building in the world.		Nasik The place where Sri Ramacandra lived for some time in exile, Ravana kidnapped Sita here and the bones of famous people from India are dropped and dissolved in Ramakund lake.
	Pune Sri Sri Radha Krishna; Sri Sri Gaura Nitai; Srila Prabhupada.

Orissa
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Bhubaneswar
The capital of Orissa with the temple of half Visnu and half Siva, Hari-Hara Lingaraja, is to be visited before going to Jagannath Puri.

Jagannathatha Puri
The city of Puri — also called Nilacala and Sri Ksetra — is considered equal to Vrindavana and Navadvipa, the
birthplace of Lord Krishna and Chaitanya.

Rajasthan
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Mount Abu
Dilwara Jain Temples have beautiful carvings with scenes from Lord Narasimha's and Lord Krishna's pastimes.

Jaipur and Karoli
"Town of victory" with the fort where the original 5000 years old Govindaji Deity from Vrindavana is now being worshiped.

Tamil Nadu
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	Srirangam Temple at Srirangam is the foremost of the eight self-manifested shrines of Lord Vishnu and it is also considered the most important of the 108 main Vishnu temples.		Madurai The highly impressive Meenakshi Temple is the main reason why pilgrims came to Madurai. Meenaksi was Lord Visnu's sister, who gave her in marriage to Lord Siva.
	Rameswaram The island in Indian Ocean, on which the old town Rameswaram is situated, is connected to many pastimes of Lord Ramacandra.		Kanchipuram It is said that "Ka" (Brahma) "anchi" (worshiped) Lord Vishnu at this place and that is why the city was given the name Kanchipuram.
	Kumbakonam In this old South Indian city, which got its name from demon Kumbakarna, we can find many temples mostly dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Lord Ramacandra.		Mamallapuram The old town, also known as Mahabalipuram "the great town of king Bali", is situated on the shore of Bay of Bengal in South India.
	Cidambaram Cidambaram is a home of famous Shiva Nataraja Deity, the "Celestial Dancer", which became the model for many other forms of Shiva around the world.

Uttar Pradesh
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	Gokul Mahavana - Gokul is a place on the opposite side of Yamuna river where Krsna performed His childhood pastimes until He was three years old.		Raval and Dauji Raval is the birthplace of Srimati Radharani and nearby village of Dauji is the home of ancient Deity of Lord Balaram, Krisna's elder brother.
	Vrindavan Small town on the bank of Yamuna river where Krsna performed His rasa-lila pastimes is among all holy places the most sacred one.		Govardhan The Govardhan Hill that was lifted by Krsna's hand for protection of inhabitants of Vrindavan is one of the three things that remained in Vraja from the times of Krisna's pastimes 500 years ago.
	Krisna Balaram Mandir An ISKCON temple in Vrindavan built by Srila Prabhupada is situated in Ramana-reti area where Krisna and Balaram performed Their pastimes.		Varsana The residence of Maharaja Vrsabhanu, the father of Srimati Radharani. Many pastimes of Radha and Krishna took place in this holy place in Vraja.
	Radhakunda The pond of Srimati Radharani near Govardhana Hill in Vraja is for Gaudiya-Vaishnavas the most sacred place on Earth.		Varanasi Varanasi is said to be the oldest inhabited city in the world.The Ganges, which normally flows southeast, reverses its course and flows north for a while at Varanasi, which is considered very auspicious.

Uttaranacal
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	Hrisikesh Hrisikesh, a small town lying on the banks of upper part of river Ganges, is very peaceful place. Since it is suitable for yoga studies and meditation, one can find many ashramas there.		Haridwar Town on the west banks of river Ganges. "Haridwar" literary means "Gate to Lord Hari" and it is one of the seven most sacred places in India.
	Gangotri Small town located 23 km from Gomukh, most famous source of river Ganges. King Bhagirat performed penances here to bring Ganges river to Earth.		Gomukh The most famous source of river Ganges high in Himalayas. On the way to Gomukh is beautiful sight on Mount Sivling, gigantic siva-lingam.