Spiritual & Pilgrimage

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Temples, ghats and the timeless soul of Bharat.

328places34statesOctober–March

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Things to do

Individual sights and experiences, rather than whole places to stay.

Dilwara Temples (Mount Abu)

Vimal Vasahi Temple

The oldest of the Dilwara temples, built in 1031 by Vimal Shah — a Jain minister to the Solanki king Bhima I — and dedicated to Adinath, the first Tirthankara. It is the earliest of a group that grew between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, and the one that set the pattern: pure white marble worked into concentric rings of dancers, musicians and elephants across the central dome, and pillars carved individually rather than repeated. These are active Svetambara pilgrimage temples managed by a religious trust, not monuments, so visiting hours and dress are set by the temple rather than by the tourism department.

Varanasi

Kashi Vishwanath Temple

One of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, at the heart of the new corridor.

Malayattoor

St. Thomas Hilltop Shrine

The Vatican-recognised hilltop church reached by a forest climb.

Kedarnath

Kedarnath Temple

The ancient stone Jyotirlinga temple of Lord Shiva amid snow peaks.

Mehsana

Modhera Sun Temple

An eleventh-century temple to Surya on the bank of the Pushpavati, built under Bhima I and Karna I of the Chaulukya dynasty. It has not been used for worship for a very long time and is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India, which is why you can walk through all of it. Three parts: the shrine hall, the assembly hall in front of it, and the kunda — a stepped tank with small shrines set into every tier, running down to the water. The carving on the exteriors and pillars is the reason to come, and the tank is the reason to come early.

Ellora Caves

Kailash Temple (Cave 16)

Cut downwards out of one piece of hillside in the eighth century until a complete two-storey temple stood clear of the rock — nothing was added, only stone taken away. Ellora closes on Tuesdays. Walk up the side path for the view down into it.

Deoghar (Baidyanath Dham)

Baidyanath Temple

The Jyotirlinga of Shiva at the centre of the Shravan kanwar pilgrimage.

Valsad

Tithal Sai Baba Temple

A prominent spiritual temple complex resting directly on the beach rocks of Tithal. Built using high-quality stone masonry, it features a grand prayer hall housing a beautiful white marble icon of Sai Baba that overlooks the crashing ocean waves.

Ranakpur Jain Temple

Chaumukha Adinath Temple

Chaturmukha Dharana Vihara, the four-faced temple — begun in the fifteenth century by Dharna Shah, a local Jain merchant, and dedicated to Adinath, the first Tirthankara of the present cycle. It is one of the largest Jain temples in India and the principal Svetambara pilgrimage site in this part of Rajasthan. The count everyone quotes is 1,444 marble pillars, and the claim that no two are carved alike holds up better than most such claims. Four entrances face four directions onto four images of Adinath. A working temple: leather off at the gate, and hours for visitors are set by the trust.

Bhimashankar

Bhimashankar Temple

The hill Jyotirlinga temple of Shiva in the Sahyadri forests.

Murudeshwar Beach

Shiva Statue & Temple

One of the world's tallest Shiva statues beside a sea-facing temple.

Mangala Gauri Temple

Vishnupad Temple Front

A riverside temple three kilometres out, built over a stone footprint held to be Vishnu's. Pilgrims come here for ancestral rites; non-Hindus are not admitted to the inner sanctum.

Bhramaramba (Mallikarjuna) Temple

Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple

The adjacent sacred Shiva shrine, allowing pilgrims to touch the Jyotirlinga stone directly during scheduled public darshan hours.

Ganpatipule Beach

Ganpatipule Ganesh Temple

A swayambhu Ganesh temple right beside the beach.

Varanasi

Kashi Vishwanath Mandir

The golden-spired Jyotirlinga temple of Shiva. The approach to it has recently been rebuilt as a wide, barrier-free pedestrian corridor.

Hemkund Sahib

Lakshman Temple

A small temple beside the lake at Hemkund, marking where Lakshman is said to have meditated. At 4,600 metres, so do not linger.

Porbandar

Kirti Mandir

The house where Gandhi was born in 1869, and the small museum built beside it for him and Kasturba. Inside are objects he used, life-size portraits of the two of them, old photographs and a library of his writing and of books about his thinking. The ancestral home itself is entered through the museum — narrow rooms, steep stairs, and a marked spot on the floor. It is modest by design, and the contrast with the Statue of Unity three hours away is worth sitting with. World leaders have made the trip; most visitors need about half an hour.