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places across India are the spots where different pieces of the body
of Goddess Sati, fell when carried by an anguished Shiva distraught by
her death. These are the Shakti pithas. The most popular are
Amarnath in the Himalayas in Nthern India, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh,
Puri in Eastern India, Vrindavan in Uttarpradesh and Kanya Kumari in
Southern India. Each lays claim to a portion of Satis body for
instance, Kamakhya in Guwahati Assam which safeguards her Yoni.
Kalighat in Calcutta which has her little toe Jwalamukhi in Kangra
Himachal Pradesh which has her tongue her navel lies at Puri Orissa in
the Jagannath temple and her throat at Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir.
Each of the tirthas contains one form of goddess Sati and a
corresponding form of Lord Shiva. Hence Sati goes by the names of
Vimla, Uma, Jai Durga, Gayatri, Kali, Jayanti, Shivani and so on as
Shiva goes by the forms of Kala Bhairva, Iswara, Trisandheshvara,
Jagata, Nakulisha and so on and so forth.
The seven sacred Cities
in India bestow salvation on its pilgrims. Visited by millions of
pilgrim travellers each year, each of these cities is dotted with
temple and lie by a river stream or pond; revered for their sacredness
too.
The seven sacred cities are Varanasi, Mathura, Haridwar,
Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Kanchipuram in
Tamilnadu and Dwarka in Gujrat.
Situated by the Ganga, Varanasi (Shivas earthly abode) is revered the
most, all the great sacred sites in India are in this city in a
miniature form. Make a pilgrimage there, do the Yatra around the city
and visit each of the miniature sites and you have actually been every
where as even prescribed by the priests.
Stand on any spot on the banks of the Ganga with hands raised in a
namaskara and turn slowly on your axis and you would have completed
the ancient Sadhu pilgrimage of over 3,000 miles around the outer
river stretches of the Ganga.
The sacred city of Mathura is the land of Krishna's devotees.
The pilgrimage circuit of Mathura Vrindavan covers nearly 290 km and
traverses - Gokul where Krishna lived as a child, Chirghat where
Krishna stole the gopies clothes, Ranakund lakes ,which Krishna
created, Jawakban where Krishna decorated Radha's feet with red color.
And of course Vrindavan, where Krishna played with the gopies. The
Krishna devotees move from one place to another immersed in love for
Krishna.
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