Hindu Pilgrimage
Char Dham Names
Char (4) Dham names in India are Badrinath, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri, and Rameswaram (as defined by Adi Shankaracharya). Char Dham Yatra is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimages in India. Hindus believe that visiting these four places helps achieve salvation, and every Hindu should do Char Dham Yatra at least once in a lifetime. What is Char Dham? Char means four in Hindi and some other Indian languages. Dham means a shrine, abode, or a holy place. Char Dham is a group of four holy shrines in India. Three of which are related to Lord Vishnu, and Rameswaram is…
Ashtavinayak – The Eight Forms of Lord Ganesha
Ashtavinayak is a group of eight forms of Lord Ganesha. These eight Ganeshas are located in eight temples in Maharashtra around Pune and Mumbai. These eight temples are very popular in Maharashtra, and thousands of devotees visit these temples every year. Many tour operators arrange tours to visit these temples. Who is Lord Ganesha? Lord Ganesha is a Hindu god who has the head of an elephant. Hindus worship him at the start of every auspicious work. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. He killed many demons and freed humanity from their clutches. Lord Ganesha has…
Online Live Darshan
In practice, most of the Hindus are idol worshippers. Hindus believe that by doing the Darshan (seeing/touching the idol of a particular deity) they get the grace of the particular deity. Though there are many Hindu temples across India, some temples of deities like Tirupati Balaji, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Vithoba of Pandharpur, Kashi-Vishweshwar, etc. have more importance than the other temples. Millions of devotees visit these temples every year. With the advent of technology, in particular, the Internet and computer, now it is possible to have live Darshan of the idols at the most famous temples across India while…
Swami Swarupananda of Pawas
Shri Swami Swarupanand was a great Hindu saint born in Pawas, a small village near Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. His original name was Shri Ramchandra Vishnupant Godbole. His mother’s name was Rakhmabai Vishnupant Godbole. Shri Swami Swarupanand was born on December 15, 1903. In his childhood, he was known as “Appa.” He was very active, inquisitive, and intelligent. Since childhood, he was fond of devotional songs. His grandfather taught him different Hindu mantras. Thus, he was born and brought up in a well-cultured family. He completed his education up to 5th standard in Pawas and Ratnagiri. Then he went to Mumbai to…
Shri Swami Samarth of Akkalkot
Shri Swami Samarth was a great miraculous Hindu godman who lived in Akkalkot village in Maharashtra, India, for about 22 years. Akkalkot became very famous after his stay there. Shri Swami Samarth is believed to be the third full incarnation (Purnaavatara) of Lord Dattatreya and had miraculous powers like healing the ill people, exorcising, knowing the future and the past, etc. There is no definite information available about the past of Shri Swami Samartha but his devotees were able to collect some information regarding him. The Story of Swami Samarth: Birth of Shri Swami Samarth: The ground broke into two…
Tuljabhavani
Tuljabhavani is an important goddess of Hindus. She is Kulaswamini (family female deity) of all Maharashtrians in India. The main temple of Tuljabhavani is situated in the Usmanabad district in the Tuljapur Subdistrict of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the three and a half Shakti Peeths (Saadetin Shakti Peeths). The mountain in which it is located is known as Yamunachal. Tuljapur is about 45 km away from the nearest city, Solapur. Tuljabhavani Temple is a very big temple made up of big black stones. The entry gate is named as Shahaji Maharaj Entry Gate, who was the father of…
Narmada Parikrama
Narmada Parikrama is a Hindu pilgrimage where the devotee has to complete a round of the river Narmada, which is a highly revered river by Hindus. The Narmada is also known as Reva. This tradition has been ongoing since the last thousands of years and there is no tradition of Parikrama around any other river other than the Narmada. Parikrama means to go around a thing or a person in a clockwise direction starting from a point and stopping at the same point. Some people do Narmada Parikrama for spiritual reasons while some people do it to accomplish some earthly things…
Prati-Pandharpur
The word Prati here means the replica. Prati-Pandharpur is a place near Pune which is being constructed as the replica of Pandharpur. There is a handful of Prati-Temples around Pune like Prati-Balaji and Prati-Shirdi. Pandharpur is a very famous pilgrimage in Maharashtra, India. Lord Vitthala who is considered as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the main deity in Pandharpur. Millions of people visit Pandharpur every year. Prati-Pandharpur is being constructed to give the same look and feel of Pandharpur by Baba Maharaj Satarkar who is a famous speaker on Dnyaneshwari and is well known for his devotion to Lord…
Shegaon – Hindu Pilgrimage
Shegaon is a popular Hindu pilgrimage. It is famous for a great Hindu saint, Shri Gajanan Maharaj. Shegaon is located in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, India. It is very well connected with the main cities like Nagpur, Pune, and Mumbai. Initially known as a Hindu pilgrimage, it has now developed into a tourist spot with the construction of “Anand Sagar,” a project spread over 330 acres of land, which includes a beautiful garden, marble temples, a beautiful lake, restaurant, meditation centers, play park for children, fountains, and beautiful sculptures. The climate of Shegaon is very hot during summer averaging between…