7 Temples That Have An Ancient Story To Tell; Hit These With Your Gang

1. Puri: To see the story of Sun god from childhood to old age in its carvings

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Abhay Parmar shares, “A marvelous piece of architecture; This is an old 13th-century temple and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The carvings and stone sculptures in the temple are remarkable. The temple symbolizes 12 pairs of exclusively architectured gigantic wheels as 12 months of a year and 7 horses dragging it as seven days of the week. The architectural construction is of highest quality showing the knowledge and expertise the ancient people had. An interesting fact is the iron bars are lying out in open for a long time and are still not rusted. On each side of the temple, sculptures of Sun God are displayed showing from childhood to teenage, middle and old age of Sun God. A good place to experiment with different angles of photography. A visit is recommended during a bright Sunny day, however best time to visit is during Konark Dance festival.” Read Full Review

2. Udaipur: The story behind Maharana Udai Singh and the marble temples

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Rizwanuddin Rafiq adds, “The credit for this beautiful lake must go to the Nomadic Gypsies. Lake Pichola was built by nomadic gypsies in 1362 who were tribesmen during the period of Maharana Lakha and they were encouraged by the King for this water harvesting. It is a freshwater artificial lake having an area of 696 hectares, about four km long and three km wide and depth varying from 14 to 28 feet. ...Maharana Udai Singh, impressed by the charm of this lake with the backdrop of green hills, founded the city of Udaipur on the banks of the lake and also enlarged the lake by constructing a stone masonry dam in the Badi pol region on the shore of the Lake...Lake's surroundings and small islands within the lakes were developed and many bathing ghats, palaces, marble temples” Read Full Review

3. Pushkar: To know the story behind the formation of Pushkar Lake

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Pritesh Mehta shares, “Pushkar Lake - A very sacred place for Hindus; The Pushkar lake is surrounded by many important Hindu temples and 52 Ghats where pilgrims descend to take bathe in its sacred waters. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake and legend of Lord Brahma. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma. This lake was created when a lotus dropped from his hand into the valley and a lake emerged there. The main attraction of Pusher is the Pushkar Lake. Their water is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. It is a very sacred place of Hindu. It is really a very good place for spiritual people.” Read Full Review

4. Mysore: To know about the missing sculptures of the Hoysala dynasty

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Lekha Nair adds, “Somnathpura is almost 35kms from Mysore. We visited this place on our way back to Bangalore from Mysore. ...The Chennakesava temple was built by Hoysala dynasty in the 13th century. This temple had 3 idols - the main idol was taken by British people & is now kept in some museum there. The three idols were Keshava, Venugopala & Janardhana. Keshava idol is missing...Each sculpture of lion was supposedly different from the other! There were sections of Mahabharata & Ramayana also- though not as much in detail as in Kailasa of Ellora. The shikhara is a combination of north & south architecture - again a specialty of Hoysalas. ” Read Full Review

5. Jodhpur: To know historical connection between Bhim Bhadak cave temple and Mahabharatha

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Nitish Varshney adds, “A nostalgic spiritual place; Hills and temples are two places that are incomplete without each other. Same goes for Bhim Badak Cave Temple. ...Bhim Bhadak is extraordinarily attractive and it's a complete bliss to be here...The Bhim Bhadak Cave has been named after a historical story from the time of Mahabharat. It is said that Pandavas when were in danger, took shelter at this cave. Bhim belongs to the name of one of the Pandavas and Bhadak in Rajasthani language means cave. Since then, this whole place is known as "Bhim Bhadak" Read Full Review

6. Warangal: To explore the ancient inscriptions of Jain pilgrim center

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Rizwanuddin Rafiq shares, “An ancient Jain pilgrim center; Jain Temple is also known as Shri Shwetambar Jain Tirath, Kulpak is situated in Kolanupaka, Telangana State, close to the Alir Railway Station, about 85-90 Kms away from Warangal via NH-163. As Kolanupaka was one of the prominent centers of Jainism from early times since 4th-century or even maybe before. Kolanupaka flourished as a Jain center during the Rashtrakutas period. This temple was build in 10th-century and Shikhar Bandhi Jain Temple means with a dome. About 20 inscriptions found in the excavation close to the temple and a column of honour with an inscription of 1175 AD, and an inscription of 12th-century describe that Meghachandra Siddhanta Deva who exercised the Santhara a practice to die by reducing the food intake gradually, all these inscriptions confirm that it was a Jain Pilgrim centre.” Read Full Review

7. Madurai: To know the folklore behind the guardian of Madurai Meenakshi temple

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HolidayIQ Reviewer Arun Rajan adds, “Ancient temple in the bottom of a hill; An ancient temple located at the foot of a beautiful hill. I was lucky on the day I went, there was no crowd and it was peaceful without any disturbance and people. The temple was built long back and has a great history. Also, it is believed that lord Karuppasamy is guarding the temple. You have to pay a visit to him before going inside the temple. Though I could not get Alagar darshan since they have closed the main door of the lord alagar as they are performing some rituals. The main Lord alagar doors will be open to the public after this August.” Read Full Review