Every route on one map
The yatras, parikramas and rivers drawn as they run. Tap a route to read it.
YatrasParikramasSacred riversSacred mountains
Yatras
पंढरपूर वारीPandharpur WariEvery Ashadha the padukas of Sant Jnaneshwar leave Alandi and those of Sant Tukaram leave Dehu in silver palkhis, and lakhs of warkaris walk about 250 km beside them, singing abhangas, to reach Bhagwan Vitthal at Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi.Wari since the age of Sant Jnaneshwar
कैलासमानससरोवर यात्राKailash Mansarovar YatraThe pilgrimage across the Himalaya into Tibet to bathe in Lake Mansarovar and walk round Mount Kailash, Bhagwan Shiva’s abode.Ancient pilgrimage
चतुर्धाम यात्राChar Dham YatraFour dhams at the four edges of Bharat: Badrinath in the Himalaya, Jagannath at Puri on the eastern sea, Ramanathaswamy at Rameswaram in the south and Dwarkadhish at Dwarka in the west.Tied to Adi Shankaracharya
उत्तराखण्ड चतुर्धामChota Char DhamYamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, the sources of the Yamuna and the Ganga and two of the holiest shrines of Shiva and Vishnu, walked from west to east in the Garhwal Himalaya.Ancient tirthas
अमरेश्वर यात्राAmarnath YatraA walk to a cave at about 3,880 metres in the Kashmir Himalaya, where a linga of ice forms each year, the place where, the katha says, Bhagwan Shiva told Mata Parvati the secret of immortality.Named as Amareshvara in Kalhana’s Rajatarangini
शबरिगिरि यात्राSabarimala Mandala YatraAfter 41 days of vratam, pilgrims in black or blue carry the irumudi on their heads up the forest paths to Bhagwan Ayyappa at Sabarimala and climb the eighteen holy steps.Ancient shrine
कावड यात्राKanwar YatraIn Shravan, kanwariyas in saffron fill pots with Ganga water at Haridwar, Gaumukh or Sultanganj and carry them on a bamboo pole, on foot, to pour on Bhagwan Shiva at their own temples.Old custom
श्रीजगन्नाथ रथयात्राJagannath Rath YatraOnce a year Bhagwan Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra leave the temple at Puri on three huge wooden chariots, built new every year, and are pulled by the crowd down the Bada Danda to the Gundicha temple.Ancient festival
कुम्भपर्वKumbh MelaThe great bathing festival held in turn at the four places where, the katha says, drops of amrit fell from the kumbha churned out of the ocean.Bathing at Prayag described by Xuanzang in 644 CE
द्वादशज्योतिर्लिङ्ग यात्राDwadasha Jyotirlinga YatraThe twelve places where Bhagwan Shiva is worshipped as the jyotirlinga, the linga of light, recited every morning by lakhs of Shaivas in the Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram and visited one by one over a lifetime.Listed in the Shiva Purana
शक्तिपीठ यात्राShakti Peetha YatraThe seats of the Devi where, the katha says, the body of Mata Sati fell after Daksha’s yajna.Peethas named in the Puranas and TantrasParikramas
व्रजमण्डल परिक्रमाBraj Chaurasi Kos ParikramaA walk of 84 kos, roughly 250 to 300 km, round the whole land of Shri Krishna’s childhood: its twelve forests, Gokul, Vrindavan, Govardhan, Barsana, Nandgaon and hundreds of kunds and groves, each tied to a leela.Sites mapped by Narayan Bhatt in the Braj Bhakti Vilas, 1553
नर्मदा प्रदक्षिणाNarmada ParikramaThe only great river of Bharat that pilgrims walk all the way round: down one bank from Amarkantak to the sea, across by boat at the mouth, and back up the other bank, some 2,600 to 3,500 km, keeping Narmada Maiya always on the right.Ancient
गोवर्धन परिक्रमाGovardhan ParikramaA 21 km walk round the low ridge of Govardhan, the hill Shri Krishna lifted on one finger to shelter Braj from Indra’s rain.Ancient
उज्जयन्त परिक्रमाGirnar Lili ParikramaA 36 km walk through the forest round Girnar, the ancient Raivataka and Urjayat, the mountain of Guru Dattatreya, Ambaji and the Jain Neminath.Girnar sacred since Ashoka’s edicts at its foot
अयोध्या पञ्चक्रोशी परिक्रमाAyodhya Panchkosi ParikramaThree circles round Shri Rama’s city: the Panchkosi of about 15 km on Dev Uthani Ekadashi, the Chaudah Kosi of about 42 km two days earlier, and the Chaurasi Kosi round the whole Awadh land.Ancient customSacred rivers
गङ्गाGangaGanga Maiya, brought down from heaven by Bhagiratha’s tapas and held in Bhagwan Shiva’s hair, flows about 2,525 km from the Gangotri glacier to the Bay of Bengal, past Haridwar, Prayag and Kashi.Praised first in the Nadistuti of the Rig Veda
यमुनाYamunaKalindi, daughter of Surya and sister of Yama, flows about 1,376 km from the snows of Bandarpunch to meet the Ganga at Prayag, and on her banks in Braj Shri Krishna grew up.Named in the Rig Veda
कावेरीKaveriThe Dakshina Ganga of the south, flowing about 800 km from a spring on the Brahmagiri hills past three island temples of Bhagwan Ranganatha to the sea at Poompuhar, and feeding the rice fields of the Chola country through a dam that has stood for some 1,800 years.Sung in Sangam literatureSacred mountains
कैलासMount KailashA lone snow peak of about 6,638 metres, the dwelling of Bhagwan Shiva and Mata Parvati, holy also to Jains, Buddhists and Bon.Abode of Bhagwan Shiva in the Itihasa and Puranas
अरुणाचल प्रदक्षिणाArunachala GirivalamA 14 km barefoot walk round the hill of Arunachala at Tiruvannamalai, which is worshipped as Bhagwan Shiva himself in the form of fire.Praised in the TevaramBeyond kings and battles
