The
River Ganga or mother Ganga as it is commonly called, is sacred to all people from
Kashmir
to Kanyakumari. The common man looks up on the Himalayas as an abode of
the gods. Saints and sages long for a loving contemplation on God in its holy caves.
The whole expanse of the country is strewn with
temples and shrines and a pilgrim after treading hundreds of miles enters
the 'sanctum sanctorum' (inner Shrine of the temple) with a sense of fulfillment. A pious
Hindu
remembers the holy rivers or the sacred mountains in his daily prayers.
In every village, city or
locality, there is a place where Hindus go for worship and pilgrimage. There are sacred rivers, seas, Puris, mountains and temples which are places of
pilgrimage.
Four
Dhaams.
There are four Dhaams of greatest
importance for pilgrimage. In the four directions of India viz Kedaranath
- Badrinath in the North, Rameswaram in the South, Jaganath Puri in
the East and Dwarika in the West.
Important centres of pilgrimage,
for the followers of Shiva are the twelve most sacred Lingas known as the Lingas
of Light (Jyothir Linga). These twelve are also called Dwadash Jyothir Lingas
and are
-
Kedaranath
-
Visveswar or Amreswar
-
Baidynath
-
Sri Omkareswar or Amreswar
-
Mahakaleswar
-
Somnath
-
Nageswar
-
Triyemveswar
-
Bhim Samkara
-
Dushmeswar
-
Malikkarjun
-
Rameswaram
Sankaracharya
maths
Adi Sankaracharya established four
maths in four directions of India, These are (1) Jyoti Math in Garhwal (U.P) (2)
Govardhan Math in Jagan Nath Puri (Orissa ) (3) Shringeri Math in
Karnataka (4) Sharda Math In Dwarika
(Gujarat)
Sacred Confluence of Rivers
(Parayags)
Wherever sacred rivers meet, such
confluence places are considered sacred by the Hindus. They are usually
important places of pilgrimage. These are (1) Tirath Raj Parayag, where
Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet (2) Dev Parayag, where Alaknanda and Bhagirathi
meet. This is the main parayag among the five rivers in the Himalayas. (3) Rudra
Parayag,
Alaknanda and Mandakini confluence. (4) Karan Parayag, where Alaknanda and Nanda
meet, (5) Vishnu Parayag where Vishnu Ganga and Alaknanda meet (6) Suraye
Parayag
: Alsarrangini and Mandakini meet here (7) Indra Parayag, here Bhagirathi and
Vyas Ganga meet. (8) Soma Parayag : Soma river and Mandakini Confluence here (9)
Bhaskar Parayag : this is on Kedarnath road 3km away from Bhatwadi (10)
Hari Prayag Bhagirathi and Hari Ganga meet here (11) Gupt Parayag : Neel Ganga and Bhagirathi
meet here (12 ) Shyam Parayag : Shyam Ganga and Bhagirathi confluence at
this (13 ) Keshav Parayag where Alaknanda and Saraswati confluence.
Except Tirathraj Parayag, all other
parayags are in the Uttarakhand of the Himalayas, on the way to Kedarnath,
Badri Nath, Gangothri and the Yamnotri.
Sacred Rivers
They are Ganga (Ganges), Yamuna,
Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Cauvery and Sindhu.
In addition to these, Sariyu and
Payasivini (Mandakini ) in the north and Krishna river in the south.
MOUNTAINS
Himalayas in the North,
Vindhyachal (where Dasratha of Ayodhya joined in Sambra war, as an ally of
Divodasa), Mohindragiri (Orissa), Malayandil (Malayr Parvat) in Karnataka,
Sahadari Parvat range in Maharashtra, Revtak Parvat in Gujarat and Aravali range
in Rajasthan where Haldighat battle took place.
Sapt Puris
(Seven Holy Places)
-
Ayodhya
(Rama, Laxman's birth place
)
-
Mathura (Krishna's childhood )
-
Haridwar ( Har ki puri of
the Ganges )
-
Kashi (Varanasi)
-
Kanchi or Kanchipuram ( most
ancient and celebrated golden city, worshipped by Saivites and
Vishnivites )
-
Dwarika
-
Ujjain
(Avantika )
Five Sarovars (sacred pools/tanks)
Mentioned in Puranas
-
Bindu sarovar at Bhubaneswar in
Orissa
-
Narayan saarovar in Ran of
Kutchh in Gujarat
-
Mansarovar in the
Himalayas
-
Pushkar sarovar near Ajmer in
Rajasthan
-
Pampa sarovar in the south of
Tangbhadra in Karnataka
