Open the gates to Nirvana!!!

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Open the gates to Nirvana!!!

Open the gates to Nirvana!!!

The time is right for a journey to a higher place, to a state of mind where aesthetics are paramount. India is blessed with several places of pilgrimage spread across the vast vicinity of the sub continent. Refresh your soul this holiday; visit the best pilgrim centres the nation has. HolidayIQ has singled out some of the most visited religious and spiritual places. Thanks to our members for their reviews. Maybe you too could take a trip to enlightenment!

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Vaishno Devi by HimanshuG from Delhi

Pic: HimanshuG

If there is one place that combines scenic beauty with divine experience, Vaishno Devi has to be it. Set among majestic mountains, the Vaishno Devi shrine attracts tourists from across the world. The 13km trek from Katra town to the cave among towering peaks adds an adventurous element to the divine beauty of the place. And if you plan well, you just might be able to witness the Aarti and take back a unique spiritual experience like none other. Like most pilgrim towns in India, Vaishno Devi has an excellent infrastructure - The trek path starts near the Katra bus station and has enough picture-perfect peaks. The shrine board does an excellent job of maintaining security and cleanliness and the plethora of shops ensure that you can take back an assortment of goodies from walnuts, pendants, gemstones to round off your spiritual journey in style. And yes, for the athletic ones, the trekking paradise Patnitop is just a couple of hours away

In many ways, it is a complete vacation - a spiritual experience, a trek, beautiful valleys and great shopping all rolled into one irresistible package. Being in Jammu and Kashmir, one can always travel to Patnitop or even Srinagar to experience the best of Himalayan beauty. The base is Katra, which is 3 hours from Jammu town. Jammu is well connected with the rest of the country by train and flight. Try night buses from North India. Flights from Delhi are frequent so are the tourist buses. It is quite some distance from Delhi, and the traffic can get chaotic in katra, so it can be a pain for those who wish to drive up. The trip would not be complete if one doesn't check out Patnitop or Jammu as well. Lastly, time your ascent. Lucky ones may get the 2 hour aarti, while others may get stuck waiting for it to finish - and it does snow there at times in winter!!

Popular Vaishno devi Hotels

Pic: Preeti

The Badrinath Temple is considered the holiest of pilgrimage places for Hindus. It is one of the four pilgrimage places called Chardham. The place is called Badrinath because of the wild berries found here. It is a five-metre-high complex built like a cone with a small gilt bull and spire. The temple is situated on the banks of the river Alaknanda in Uttarakhand with the Neelkanth peak forming a beautiful backdrop. We decided to go to Kedarnath and Badrinath by road as the scenic beauty is spectacular. We drove for about 150kms to Tilwara and it took us about 8 hours. The maximum drive was through the ghats and the roads though narrow were quite decent. We reached Tilwara about 5pm and halted for the night. Two passengers halted at Tilwara to go to Kedarnath by helicopter as they could not go by horse or palki to the temple and the other 6 drove on to Gaurikund where they took a night halt. The halt at the temple for darshan is 1 hour so the helicopter passengers get a priority for darshan. The flight takes about 15- 20 minutes to Kedarnath and the view is breathtaking. From Gaurikund you can either trek to the temple or take a Palki ride that takes about 5 hours to reach and costs 2050/- per person. The horse ride takes 4 hours and costs approximately 600 /- per person. The return journey takes a little less time. It is said that a person must first go to Kedarnath and then Badrinath.

The road journey has beautiful sights on the way. We took an enchanting 4 km ride on the world's most highest and longest ropeway to Auli from Joshimath and a round trip cost us Rs 400/- per person. But it is sight which one will not forget for years to come as you get a magnificent view of great Himalayan peaks like the Nanda Devi, Kamet, Mana Parvat and Dunagiri. Nature's beauty in its best form can be seen here. From Auli we went back to Joshimath by cable car and then drove to Badrinath. Badrinath temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The entrance of the temple is quite modern and colourful. The main temple of Badrinath along with four other temples or Badris forms Panch Badri. The other Badris are situated closely. There are natural thermal springs Tapt Kund and Surya Kund on the bank of Alaknanda River where we took a dip before visiting the temple. It is said that one must take a dip before going to the temple. These springs are said to be having medicinal properties, Tapt Kund is also considered a holy experience.

View photos of Badrinath

Popular Badrinath Hotels

Pic: Sumit

Shirdi is a place where you should keep the element of 'bhakti' foremost in your mind. We only visited the main temple at night for the evening Aarti at 8.30 pm. The most sought after darshan though is the one early in the morning called the 'Kakkad Aarti' that happens at 4.30 AM. Still, waiting in the queue took us an hour before we reached. Remember we had gone over during a weekend, so perhaps there was extra rush. Weekdays would be better. There was plenty of singing and chanting of Jai Sai Ram all along which helps you get into the mood of the place. The Darshan experience though was very good and not rushed as compared to some other temples of large following like Tirupati or Jagannath Puri. Almost all restaurants and hotels have the 'Sai' prefix to them. You'll find good vegetarian food restaurants right outside the entrance to the main temple complex. 'Pao bhaji' is one of the hot selling items here in all restaurants. You'll also find hot milk being served by the street side at nights, which reminds you of the Ganga ghat in Haridwar. The food experience is just about ok though. And dessert, well I relished the prasad laddus which are sold in packs of three (for Rs.5 a pack) in the temple complex. There are plenty of Sai Baba idols, pictures, bhajan CDs/ cassettes available in almost all curio shops but none that came across as anything special.

Do not carry mobile phone with cameras or cameras with you into the temple complex, as you would have to deposit them in the complex. Best would be to leave them at the hotel. Don't forget to sing along 'Jai Sai Ram' in the queue and come back with remembrance of the saint in your heart and mind.