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Religious Centers |
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A wonderful way to see
Rajasthan is to
visit its many pilgrimage centers and temples, many of them close to
places of important tourism interest. Monsoon (India)
Tours as
Tour Operators for Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur and Bikaner in Rajasthan (India),
provides facilities for such kind of religious tours. |
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HINDU PILGRIMAGE |
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Of the literally
thousands of temples, a few have come to be known as major pilgrimage
centers, and include the following. |
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OSIAN, JODHPUR : The ancient town
of the Thar desert, was a flourishing trading centre between the 8th
& 12th centuries. Today, it is a desert oasis with sixteen Brahamanical and Jain temples.
Beautifully sculpted and designed,
most of these have stood the onslaught of time.
The largest of these are Sachchiya Mata Temple and Mahaveer Jain
temple, which are both functional. This medieval town is surrounded
by rows of sand dunes on its western end. While in Osian, watch
lovely sunsets and enjoy camel rides. |
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 SHRI
RAMDEV TEMPLE, RAMDEVRA, JAISALMER :
The majestic Shri Ramdev Temple at Ramdevra, Runicha,
13 kms from Pokhran in Jaisalmer district, houses the shrine of Ramdev. He is believed to have been incarnated on earth for the
benefit of humanity and was born in the house of Ajmalji in the Tomar
Rajput family.
Fairs are held here twice a year when people flock to the temple and
chant the glory of Ramsa Pir, so that their prayers may be
answered. Many cultural events are also organized during the fair. |
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DESHNOKE-KARNI MATA TEMPLE, BIKANER :
The little town, on the road to jodhpur, is known for the shrine of
Karni Mata, a charan woman who is said to have possessed spiritual
powers. She blessed Rao Bika, the prince from jodhpur, who founded
Bikaner and was the tutelary deity of the erstwhile ruling family of
Bikaner. |
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The temple is unique as the rats, called
'kabas', are venerted here and the shrine is a sanctuary for them. It
is believed that these Kabas carry souls of future Charans (Deepawats)
who inhabit the region. Held sacred, they roam freely in the temple
precincts. It is considered highly auspicious to sight a white Kaba. |
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BRAHMA TEMPLE, PUSHKAR : Though he may have no other temple sacred to his memory,
Brahma seems to have take full advantage of the only one where prayer
offered to him.
Not only did he perform a yagya or ritual fire ceremony here, he
also dropped a |
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lotus from his hands to create the lake where people bathe before
offering him prayers.
A silver turtle at the entrance of the marble temple of the symbol of his means of transport (the gods had
various animals on which they moved along there heavenly paths.
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SHRINATHJI TEMPLE, NATHDWARA : A
Krishna temple with an image carved from a single block of black
marble, Nathdwara has a history that is only a few centuries ago.
Faced by Aurangzeb's persecution, Goswami Dev carried this particular
idol from Mathura in a chariot, seeking to bring it to Udaipur.
However, a Wheel of the chariot got stuck in the sand and toil as they
would, the people could not pull it out. Seeing it as an act of divine will, it was decided that the image of the lord would be
consecrated on the very spot, and so the temple of Shrinathji came to
be. |
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EKLINGJI TEMPLE, UDAIPUR : The founder of the Mewar dynasty that ruled from
Chittaurgarh, Bappa Rawal had a miraculous dream in which he prayed before an image of Shiva which resulted in the removal of a problem that had been troubling him in his waking hours. He resolved then to built a temple to Shiva, and so the complex had its genesis, 24 km north of Udaipur. |
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GOVIND DEVJI TEMPLE, JAIPUR : The
family temple for the Kachhwaha's of Jaipur, and open to the public,
the idols in the temple, brought here from Vrindavan, are believed to
have been carved by Vajranath, one of the greatest sculptors of the
time, and grandson of Krishna. No wonder, the Krishna image has such
a bewitching countenance. |
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Hindu Pilgrimages |
Jain Pilgrimages | Islamic Pilgrimages |
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