VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA A DISTINCTIVE CULTURAL MAGAZINE OF INDIA (A Half-Yearly Publication) Vol.38 No.2, 76th Issue Founder-Editor : MANANEEYA EKNATHJI RANADE Editor : P.PARAMESWARAN PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA (This is the edited reprint of the Vivekananda Kendra Patrika with the same theme published in February 1974) EDITORIAL OFFICE : Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan Trust, 5, Singarachari Street, Triplicane, Chennai - 600 005. The Vivekananda Kendra Patrika is a half- Phone : (044) 28440042 E-mail : [email protected] yearly cultural magazine of Vivekananda Web : www.vkendra.org Kendra Prakashan Trust. It is an official organ SUBSCRIPTION RATES : of Vivekananda Kendra, an all-India service mission with “service to humanity” as its sole Single Copy : Rs.125/- motto. This publication is based on the same Annual : Rs.250/- non-profit spirit, and proceeds from its sales For 3 Years : Rs.600/- are wholly used towards the Kendra’s Life (10 Years) : Rs.2000/- charitable objectives. (Plus Rs.50/- for Outstation Cheques) FOREIGN SUBSCRIPTION: Annual : $60 US DOLLAR Life (10 Years) : $600 US DOLLAR VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA CONTENTS 1. Acknowledgements 1 2. Editorial 3 3. The Temple on the Rock at the Land’s End 6 4. Shore Temple at the Land’s Tip 8 5. Suchindram 11 6. Rameswaram 13 7. The Hill of the Holy Beacon 16 8. Chidambaram Compiled by B.Radhakrishna Rao 19 9. Brihadishwara Temple at Tanjore B.Radhakrishna Rao 21 10. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry Prof. Manoj Das 24 11. Kaveri 30 12. Madurai-The Temple that Houses the Mother 32 13. Palani 36 14. Kanchi: The Golden City of Temples 38 15. The Temples of Kanchi 42 16. Adyar the Flaming Centre A.Kannan 52 17. The Six Abodes of Muruga 56 18. Vadalur as a Place of Pilgrimage Ooran Adigal 63 19. Kumbakonam City of Hoary Shrines B.Radhakrishna Rao 66 20. Sri Ramanasramam 69 21. Srirangam-The Abode of Lord Ranganatha B.Radhakrishna Rao 73 22. Ananthasayanam B.Radhakrishna Rao 75 23. Sivagiri P.Parameswaran 78 VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA 24. Pilgrimage to Sabari Mala B.Radhakrishna Rao 81 25. Chottanikkara 86 26. Kaladi B.Radhakrishna Rao 87 27. Kodungallur 90 28. Guruvayur: Kerala’s Sacred Abode of Lord Krishna B.Radhakrishna Rao 92 29. Udupi Tradition, Antiquity, History and Culture Dr.P.Guru Raja Bhat 95 30. Srirangapatna B.Radhakrishna Rao 102 31. Gomateshwara of Dharmasthala B.Radhakrishna Rao 104 32. Sri Dharmasthala Kshetra B.Radhakrishna Rao 107 33. Pilgrimage Around Mysore Compiled Feature 111 34. Sringeri 117 35. Hampi, the Capital of old-time Vijayanagar 119 36. Melkote B.Radhakrishna Rao 123 37. Manthralaya K.R.Raghothama Rao 125 38. The Seven Sacred Hills of Tirupati ‘Satya’ 131 40. Sri Kalahasti 136 41. Some Select Shrines of the Andhra Region 139 42. Shrines on the Banks of Godavari 145 43. The Undying Glory of an Undying City Satya 152 44. The Miracle Sage of Prasanti Nilayam 153 45. Mahanandi B.Radhakrishna Rao 154 46. Sri Kurmam 156 47. Goa 158 48. Two other Well-Known Spots 159 VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA 49. Pilgrimage Centres in Maharashtra L.K.Gatne 160 50. Shirdi of Sri Sai Baba T.Kesava Rao 168 51. Gujarat’s Somnath and Dwaraka Compiled Feature 176 52. Girnar and Satrunjaya Harihar Singh 181 53. Vindhyachal 184 54. Three Beautiful Holy Centres of the North Hari Mohanlal Srivastava 185 55. Madhya Pradesh Pilgrim Spots in the Heart of India 187 56. Khajuraho 193 57. Abu (Temples of Dilwada) H.Bhisham Pal 199 58. Pushkar-The Purifier 203 59. Varanasi 206 60. Gaya A Compiled Feature 211 61. Prayag 214 62. Chitrakut 218 63. Ayodhya or Saket 222 64. Mathura-Brindavan 225 65. Uttarkhand Shrines 230 66. Rishikesh 236 67. The Gateway to Other Heights 238 68. The Forest Academy of Rishikesh 241 69. The Mother Mountain at the Peaks 243 70. Amarnath A Pilgrimage to Faith 245 71. The Abode of Siva In Snowy Peaks 248 72. The Pilgrimage Range of Kurukshetra A Compiled Feature 251 73. Pashupathinath 253 74. Muktinath 254 75. Pilgrim Centres in Tripura 255 VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA 76. Assam, the Peerless Sri B.K.Barua & Sri V.S.Murthy 261 77. The Ramakrishna Leelasthanas as Pilgrim Centres of Modern India Swami Bodhaswarupananda 263 78. Tarakeswar 278 79. Navadvip Bhakti Prajnan Yati Maharaj 280 80. Rajgir 285 81. Lord Jagannath of Puri Compiled Feature 286 82. Konark 291 83. Sri Ramanuja as a pilgrim Prof. M.R.Sampat Kumaran 298 84. Pilgrimage In Tamil Nadu A.Subramanian 304 85. Two Little Known Temples 307 86. Nayanmars and Saivite Centres of Pilgrimage N.Murugesa Mudaliar 309 87. They bear the Imprint of the Lotus Feet of Lord Buddha 316 88. Jain Pilgrim Centres A brief resume 327 89. The Linga and its Ioci 332 VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA Acknowledgements e acknowledge with thanks the Works, Tirunelveli. following sources from which we Wwere privileged to draw part of (v) A Search In Secret India by Paul our material for the present issue: Brunton, (c) Messrs Rider and Company, (I) The Discovery of India by 178-202, Great Portland Street, London. Jawaharlal Nehru for which (vi) The Temples of India by Prof. Manoj permission was kindly granted by Das. printed with the kind permission of our Prime Minister Smt. Indira the Publishers, India Book House, Education Gandhi. Trust, Bombay-5. (2) From Man to God Man by Sri Ananta Narayan. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Sri (3) The Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja S Ramakrishnan, Executive Secretary, by Dr. V. Raghavan, for which Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for the kind permission was accorded by the permission accorded to us to draw choice President, Sri Ramakrishna Math, material from the following publications. Mylapore. (4) Yatra Marga Darshi by Sri R. V (a) Immortal India Vols I to IV by J.D.Dave. Venkateswarulu, President, S. S. R. (b)Temples and Legends of Nepal by N. S. Sangam, Guntur Roy Chaudhury. (5) A Guide to Kanchi by Dr. M. K. (c) Temples and Legends of Maharashtra Srinivasan. by M. S. Mate. (d) Temples and Legends of Assam by Other books that have been of invaluable B.K. Barua and H. V. S. Murthy. use in the compilation of the Journal are: (e) Indian Travel Diary of a Philosopher by Count Hermann Keyserling. (i) Complete Works of Sister Nivedita whose (f) Lord Ayyappan - The Dharma Sasta by copyright vests with the Ramakrishna Pyappan. Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girls’ School, (g) Kartikeya the Divine Child by Ratna Calcutta. Navaratnam. (ii) Tulsidas by Chandra Kumari Handoo, There are several other books and Orient Longman Limited. periodicals which provided us useful (iii) The Voice of the Mother by E. source-material such as : Bharadwaja, Matrusri Publications Trust, (I) Iswara Darshan by Swami Tapovanji Station Road, Bapatla. (A.P.), South India. Maharaj. (iv) By-ways of Blessedness by James (2) Wanderings in the Himalayas also Allen (c) South India Saiva Siddhanta by the same author. 1 VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA (3) Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold. (12) The Message of the Himalayas by (4) Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. Swami Sambuddhananda. (5) Temples of North India (Revised Edition) Publications Division, We are grateful to the Bharat Sevashram Government of India. Sangh for the help they have rendered in (6) Know Madurai by T. V. Sundaram collecting and sending us material from Iyengar and Sons. various Pilgrim Centres of India. (7) The Sikhs by Dr. Gopal Singh and In addition to these we have pleasure in Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan. stating that we have drawn sketches (8) Buddhist Shrines in India, copied from: Publications Division, Government of (1) Hindu Viswa Souvenir, 1966. India, Patiala House, New Delhi-I. (2) Know Madurai, Mjs. T. V. Sundaram (9) The Tirtha Ank by Gorakhpur Press, Iyengar and Sons. Gorakhpur, India. (3) Temples of North India (Publications (10) Lekhana Kaveri Vols. I and II by Division, Government of India). Rashtrothana Parishad. (4) Illustrated Weekly of India, 24th (11) Illustrated Weekly of India, July 30, December, 1972. 1972, December 26, 1971, July 22, (5) Tenth Agama Silpa Vyasa. Bharatha- 1973, April 2, 1972, April 16, 1972 Folk-Lore Festival Sadas, Madurai. and June 3, 1973. 2 VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA EDITORIAL PILGRIM CENTRES OF INDIA ilgrimage in India is a great and spots hallowed by tradition, shrines on glorious tradition. The Aitareya mountain-tops, selected areas for PBrahmana has it that” happiness is purificatory baths in perennial rivers and not for him who does not travel”. Pilgrimage at confluences of waters, cave-temples invests travel with sublime meaning and and temples in celebrated cities, renowned purpose. Apart from the obvious fact that no less for their historical associations than it is one of the modes of worship for the for their epic memories, broadly classified men of faith, deepening and strengthening as Sthalas, Tirthas and Kshetras. These the religious sentiment, it is also an sacred spots have an “aura” of their own, “expression of love for the Motherland” and and its impact is felt by every earnest “expands the geographical consciousness” Pilgrim. The rarified atmosphere in them is of the Pilgrim. It provides an incentive, if evidently charged with super-natural power not inspiration, for those that are un- generated by the intensity of “ tapas” and accustomed or un-prepared for travel to the strong, subtle vibrations of spiritual emerge from their narrow isolation and thoughts of Saints and Sages, who are “grow beyond fetters of time and space,” believed to have lived and moved in and sharing in a fuller life of understanding, around the spots.