Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh The Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple is one of the Jyotirlingas, one of twelve Hindu temples of particularly special importance to the deity Shiva. It is traditionally the second temple of the list, though not necessarily in either importance or in order to be visited. Per the Jyotirlinga legend, Shiva appeared on the spot as a beam of light. More … [Read more...]
KANCHI KAILASANATHA TEMPLE
Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu The city of Kanchipuram is one of Hinduism’s seven sacred cities. It bears this distinction for several reasons. One of these is because of the presence of the Kanchi Kailasanatha Temple. This temple, where multiple deities are revered, is believed to be the oldest intact temple in India, making it one of the nation’s most important historical and … [Read more...]
EKAMBARATHABAR TEMPLE
Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu The city of Kanchipuram is one of Hinduism’s seven sacred cities. It bears this distinction for several reasons. One of these is because of its location as an important event in the legends of Shiva and Parvati. According to tradition, it was here that Shiva tested Parvati’s faithfulness, and where he eventually married her. The Ekambarathabar Temple, … [Read more...]
CHARMINAR MOSQUE (MASJID CHARMINAR)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh The Masjid Charminar, also known as the Mosque of the Four Towers, is the most famous and beautiful mosque in southern India, and one of the world’s most unique religious structures. It was built to commemorate Hyderabad’s miraculous deliverance from the plague in the 16th century, and is revered as the city’s symbol both by Muslims and Hindus. … [Read more...]
HAJI ALI DARGAH
Mumbai, Maharashtra The Haji Ali Dargah, or Shrine of Haji Ali, is Bombay’s most famous mosque and the city’s most recognizeable building. Built on a small island that separates Mahim Bay from the Arabian Sea and accessible only by a single causeway that is submerged at high tide, the Haji Ali Dargah still manages to receive millions of visitors every year. Thanks to its … [Read more...]
PARADESI SYNAGOGUE
Ernakulam, Kerala Of all of the places in the world that Jews settled in pre-Roman times, no location is so unlikely or improbable as distant India. And yet, a Jewish community in India did exist as early as the 6th century BC, as surely as there were Jews in Mesopotamia, Persia, Central Asia, Yemen, Ethiopia and North Africa. While the exact time and means of their … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF BOM JESUS
Goa, Goa While Chennai and the Tamil Nadu province boast India’s oldest Christian communities, it was in Goa that European Christianity made its first real major appearance in the Subcontinent. After the Portuguese established Goa as their primary commercial center in India, Catholic missionaries soon followed. By the time Francis Xavier arrived, Goa was already the … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF ST. THOMAS
Chennai, Tamil Nadu The Basilica of St. Thomas in India is one of the most important churches in Asia and yet one of Christanity’s least well-known major shrines. This is due in large part to geography, as it is strange to think that a small Christian enclave thousands of miles to the east of the Holy Land and Europe is in possession of one of only a handful of known … [Read more...]