As humans, we lead a life full of struggle and strife. During trying moments, we might knowingly or unknowingly indulge in actions that may be sinful. After a certain time, the wrong actions start weighing us down, and our conscience prods us to atone for our sins. That is when we consider visiting a teertha, where we can go and ask for forgiveness. Such a spiritual journey is termed as a pilgrimage or teertha yatra, which is one of the distinguished facets of Hinduism. Though, undertaking a religious journey is not mandatory in this religion, still a number of Hindus visit the teerthas every year in search of peace and enlightenment.
Most of the teerthas are located in calm and secluded places surrounded by the pristine beauty of nature. These places may be near a water source, a mountain or a forest. Their environs are further sanctified by the presence of the holy men and their regular mantra chanting. Such places provide immense peace to the soul.
Hindu Pilgrimage —The Teerthas takes you on a mental journey to such spiritual places in India. The book discusses in detail Chaar Dhaam, Himalayan Chaar Dhaam, Sapt Puri, Dwadash Jyotirlingam, Panch Sarovar, Sapt Sarita, Divya Desam, Shakti Peetha, Yatras and also some of the famous temples in India. Enhanced with vivid and exclusive pictures, the book brings the places alive and inspires one to make a pilgrimage to these holy shrines.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and studied in New Delhi, India, Sunita has been a prolific writer since childhood, having published her first poem at the age of eight. While studying Human Nutrition in conjunction with the Indian traditional wisdom of Ayurveda, she began writing on health and nutrition, and then went on to writing on general fitness, psychology, beauty and parenting.
Sunita has worked as an editor with The Times of India Group, starting the path-breaking supplement, The Saturday Times. She founded and edited The Eternal Solutions, a monthly magazine on wellness. She began writing for children in 1988, having written 36 books based on traditional Indian wisdom till now, and more to come.
With nearly a thousand articles published till date, Sunita has also aired a number of programmes on radio and television as well. Her versatility with handling media can be seen in the numerous books, multimedia CD ROMs, audio CDs and short films that she has created in the last two decades. Some of her products are: History of India, Encyclopaedia of India, Healing Rhythms of Indian Classical Music, On the Footsteps of Buddha, and Ramayan for Children.
Sunita Pant Bansal has published three of her books under the banner of Pustak Mahal. Hindu Pilgrimage —The Teerthas is her fourth book with us, and the first under the imprint Hindoology Books.
CONTENTS:
Teertha
Chaar Dhaam
Badrinath
Jagannath Puri
Dwarka
Rameshwaram
Himalayan Chaar Dhaam
Yamunotri
Gangotri
Kedarnath
Badrinath
Sapt Puri
Ayodhya
Mathura
Haridwar
Varanasi
Kanchipuram
Ujjain
Dwarka (Refer to page no. 20)
Dwadash Jyotirlingam
Somnath
Mallikarjuna
Mahakaleshwar
Omkareshwar
Kashi Vishwanath
Baidyanath
Kedareshwar
Nageshwar
Ghrishneshwar
Triambakeshwar
Rameshwar
Bhimashankar
Panch Sarovar
Mansarovar
Pushkar
Bindu Sarovar
Narayan Sarovar
Pampa
Sapt Sarita
Ganga
Yamuna
Saraswati
Narmada
Godavari
Kaveri
Sindhu
Divya Desams
Muktinath Temple
Venkateshwara Temple
Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Ranganathaswamy Temple
Varahalakshminarasimha Temple
Shakti Peetha
Mahalakshmi (Kolhapur)
Ambaji (Gujarat)
Mangala Gauri (Gaya)
Kumari (Kanniyakumari)
Kalighat (West Bengal)
Bhavani (Maharashtra)
Kamakhya (Assam)
Yatras
Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra
Amarnath Yatra
Panch Kedar Yatra
Vaishno Devi Yatra
Sabarimala Yatra
Alandi-Pandharpur Yatra
Some Other Famous Temples
Dakshinaarka Temple
Konark Temple
Modhera Temple
Surya Pahar Temple
Suryanaar Temple
Suryanarayanaswamy Temple
Brahmanya Dev Temple
Guruvayur Temple
Meenakshi Temple
Mahabalipuram Temple
Adi Kumbheshwar Temple
Kamakshi Amman Temple
A List of Other Important and Popular Temples in India
AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK
TEERTHA The word teertha comes from ‘tri’ in Sanskrit, meaning to get rid of all sins, which is a step towards the attainment of final nirvana or moksha. So a place or a person that helps us in getting rid of our sins is considered to be a teertha or a place of pilgrimage.
According to Padma Purana, our teachers (gurus) and parents are also teerthas, as they provide us with the light of knowledge to cleanse our ignorance and hence lead us on to the right path, towards the moksha.
As humans, we lead a life full of struggle and strife. During trying moments, we might knowingly or unknowingly indulge in actions that may be sinful. After a certain time, the wrong actions start weighing us down and our conscience prods us to atone for our sins. That is when we consider visiting a teertha, where we can ask for forgiveness. Such a spiritual journey is termed as a pilgrimage or a eertha yatra.
According to the Kashi Khanda of Skanda Purana, the teerthas may be divided into three categories — the Sthawar, Jangam and Manas teertha.
Sthawar teerthas are those places in the Indian subcontinent that have religious or spiritual importance, like the sources of the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna, mountain peaks like Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, cities like Vrindavan, various forests, ashrams etc.
Jangam teerthas are the seers, sages and enlightened spiritual masters.
Manas teerthas are our own attributes like truth, forgiveness, kindness, charity, patience and knowledge. They are considered the best of all as they alone help us to purify our inner selves, our character and guide us in the right direction of self-realisation and moksha.
Most places of teerthas are located in calm and secluded places surrounded by the pristine beauty of nature. We develop spiritual inclination by going to a teertha, which purifies us of our material desires.
All desires, material and sensual, lead us away from moksha. They entangle us in a vicious web of misery and pain. Teerthas provide peace to our otherwise restless soul.
Teerthas have a unifying effect on people. The divisions of caste and creed vanish as we pray with the others. In fact when people of different religious faiths celebrate at a teertha, they treat each other as equals, which is the right thing to do. So if we go on a teertha yatra often, the chances of unrest in the society would lessen. Teerthas teach us tolerance towards other people.
The unity in diversity is evident in the major fairs and festivals held at the various teerthas across the Indian subcontinent. The Indian art, culture and traditions are best showcased in the Indian teerthas. People from all over the world visit India to witness the spiritual enthusiasm, at the time of the Kumbh Mela.
The places of birth of religious and spiritual masters and those where they attained nirvana are also considered as teerthas. Some such places in India include Ayodhya, Mathura, Kashi, Gaya etc. The places where one is supposed to conduct the rites of passage, the rituals for birth till death, also fall in the category of teerthas.
Kashi, Kailash, Mansarovar are considered Nitya teerthas as they are believed to be naturally endowed with spiritual powers since time immemorial. So are the rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri, which are also considered as Nitya teerthas.
Places where the gods have descended as avatar (incarnation) or have in any way performed miracles are known as Bhagwadiya teerthas. Ayodhya, Mathura and Rameshwaram are Bhagwadiya teerthas.
The places of birth, enlightenment and penance of the seers and spiritual masters are known as Sant teerthas.
This book attempts to take you on a virtual journey to various teerthas spread over the length and breadth of India. The teerthas are discussed in the book under the categories discussed here.
1. Chaar Dhaam: Chaar is four and dhaam means abode. So chaar dhaam are four abodes or dwelling places of God. According to our scriptures, Lord Vishnu descended in the east at Jagannath Puri, in the west at Dwarka, in the north at Badrinath and in the south at Rameshwaram. Hence these sacred places are together known as chaar dhaam.
2. Himalayan Chaar Dhaam: Apart from these, the Indian State of Uttarakhand also has Himalayan chaar dhaam, which are Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. It is believed that the pilgrimage to Himalayan chaar dhaam absolves you of all the sins of your past.
3. Sapt Puri: The seven holy cities (puri) are Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanchipuram, Ujjain and Dwarka.
4. Dwadash Jyotirlingam: There are twelve lingams of Lord Shiva in India. They are known as dwadash jyotirlingams. They are located at Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleshwar, Baidyanath, Omkareshwar, Bhimshankar, Nageshwar, Kashi-Vishwanath, Triamba-keshwar, Kedarnath, Rameshwar and Ghrishneshwar.
5. Panch Sarovar: These are the five holy lakes in India where taking a dip washes away your sins. They are Mansarovar, Pushkar, Bindu Sarovar, Narayan Sarovar and Pampa.
6. Sapt Sarita: Though the Vedas and Puranas mention more, but seven Indian rivers are considered the most sacred ones in the country. They are Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. There are many temples on the banks of these rivers where people can go and pray to cleanse their sins.
7. Divya Desams: There are one hundred and eight Divya Desam temples of Lord Vishnu. It is said that Alwars (saint poets) sang their verses at these places.
8. Shakti Peetha: There are fifty-one Shakti Peethas of Devi (Goddess) throughout the country.
9. Yatras: These are the spiritual journeys which the pilgrims undertake to a special teertha. Some of the famous yatras include Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, Amarnath Yatra, Panch Kedar Yatra, Vaishno Devi Yatra, Sabarimala Yatra and Alandi-Pandharpur Yatra.
10.Some Other Famous Temples: These include the seven Sun Temples and five other famous temples.
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