The Western part of India is blessed with a long coastline of Arabian Sea and full of beauty of Mother Nature. When we talk about the West India Pilgrimages, the most favorite states that come in our mind are Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. These respected and religious states are continually visited by a number of Devotees and tourists from across the world. These states are home of some very important pilgrimage sites of every religion.
Religious sites in West India are a link of different religion like Hindu, Buddh, musliams and various other religions. The devotees of different religion have their temples in this region. The temples of west India are not only important for their religious virtues but they attached to the history and also represent the true value of Indian heritage of art and architecture.
These ages-old temples are belongs to the different time periods and stands straight under the sky. The fascinating work of pillars and columns of these masterpieces are richly designed which provide them a different identity and made these life less stones alive.
Maharashtra, the commercial capital of India has a royal heritage of art and culture and home to a number of religious and pilgrim sites.
Ashtavinayaka Temples – these temples are the group of 8 important temples in Maharashtra and all the eight temples are devoted to Lord Ganpati ( Ganesha). The name of the temples are ¬- The Mayureshwar Temple in Moregaon,
The Siddhivinayaka Temple in Siddhatek, The Balleshwar Temple in Pali, The varadavinayak Templ in Mahad, The chintamani Temple in Theur, The Girijatamek Templei n Lenyandari,The Vighnahar Temple in ozar,The Mahaganapati Temple in Ranjangaon.
Haji Ali Mosque – It is located in the middle of the sea, in the Southern part of Mumbai.
The body of the saint Sayed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari is kept in a tomb inside a silver frame with all the 99 name of Allah.
– This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and situated in a small village near Nasik. The temple is one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Shiva and also the origin of the pious River Godavari.
Shirdi – located in the north east of Mumbai. Shirdi is a place where Sai Baba (a saint of extraordinary powers)
spends a long time of his life. The other places to see at Shirdi are Samadhi Mandir, Dwarkamai, Kandoba, Gurusthan and Lendi Baug.
The Maha Kumbhmela also celebrated after every 12 years at Nasik, also famed as the Grape wine capital of Maharashtra and situated on the banks of River Godavari.
Ajanta and Ellora caves are situated in Maharashtra. The temples of these caves known as the landmark in the evolution of temple architecture in India. These are the great example of Indian rock-cut architecture. The temples of Ajanta cave tell the importance of Buddhist religion and Ellora cave temple belongs to Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religions.
Apart from these the other temples which considered as the pride of Mumbai are Elephanta Cave Temple, Kailasanatha Temple and Mumbadevi Temple etc.
Goa is known for its beaches; on the other hand its pilgrimage sites including churches, temples and even mosques will fill your heart with belief and faith in God. Goa is a grand religious site for Christians as there is a number of magnificent Churchs. Some of the popular churches are –
Church of St Francis of Assisi – dedicated to St. Michael the Church is situated at velha Goa. There is a huge statue of Jesus on the cross and St. Francis of Assisi. We can also find the statue of St. Peter and St. Paul. In ancient time it was a palace of the Archbishop.
Basilica of Bom Jesus – it is the first Church of India where you can see the status of small Basilica. The painting inside the Church tells the tales of the life of St. Francis Xavier. In the church there is a pious tomb of St. Francis Xavier and the most surprising thing is that the body of St. Francis was escorted to Goa after 150 years of his death.
Church of St. Andrew – this well known Church of Goa is situated at Velha viilage, covering around 2-km distance. It was named over the Patron St. Andrew, the Apostle. The most remarkable feature of this church is the 31 statues of the saints, in the starting the statues were 65.
Goa is dominant by a large population of hindus and a number of temples also including –
Shri Shantadurga Temple – Shri Shantadurga Temple is situated at Kavlem the temple id devoted to ‘Santeri’
(Shantadurga Dev ). This is the largest and biggest temple of Goa.
Shri Bhagvati Temple – this temple is situated at 7 kms from Pemem. It is a complex of temples having 5 temples (Shri Sateri, Shri Dev Ravalnath, Shri Dev Bhivangi Panchakshari & Brahma). The most notable feature of Shri Bhagvati temple is its two ‘Deepstambhas’.
Shri Mahalaxmi Temple – this temple is located at Bandode village, Ponda. Temple is dedicated to Goddess Mahalakshmi. There is a Sabhamandap inside the temple having 18 images of Goddess Mahalakshmi and some wooden images of Lord Vishnu.
Gujarat is a colorful state and its colours can be seen in its pilgrim destinations. This beautiful state is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi well renewed for its sunny beaches, Silk sarees, silver jewellery, Kutch fabric, delicious food like Thepla, Dhokla, Khandvi, Handvo. Apart from all these things the Gujarat is also known for its most admirable pilgrimage sites like-
The most admirable pilgrimage site in Gujarat is the temple of Somnath. Palitana a pilgrimage site of Jains, consists 863 temples. Pavgadh the temple of goddess Mahakali and Bhadrakali. Akshardham, dedicate to Lord Swaminarayan. Dwarka, temple of Lord Krishna. Bhadreshwar temple, Bhrigu Rishi Temples, Gangeshwar Temple and many more.
Akshardham Temple – this worldly famed temple is located at Gandhinagar, Gujarat and belongs to the Hindu Swaminarayan Group. There are 73 patterned and 63 partially carved pillars inside the temple. This temple is also a educational hub, entertainment and a place of enlightenment.
Bala Hanuman Temple – Bala Hanuman Temple is situated at Ahmedabad, on the south side of Lake Ranmal. This temple has obtain a place in Guiness Book of World Records for the unbroken reciting of the “Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Ram” since August 1st, 1964.
Mount Girnar – this is the holy place of Jain community and situated in a hill of Junagadh. On this hill around 16 Jain temples and some Hindu temples also nestled.
Sun Temple – The famous Sun Temple is located at Modhera, Ahmedabadthis temple is similar to the Konark Sun temple.
Somnath Temple – this majestic temple is situated near Veraval.
It is the most religious temple of hindus and devoted to Lord Shiva contains the Jyotirlinga. This is one of the twelve most important shrines of Shiva.
Some pilgrimage sites are Ahmed Shah’s Mosque at Bhadra Fort, Rani Sipri’s Mosque in the southeast of Ahmedabad etc.
So make a plan to come and visit the many pilgrimage sites of West India including several beautiful temples and to view the beauty of their architectural splendor, fascination for work of artists.
