Tīrthas and Kshetras of Bhārata

Kanakhala, near Haridvāra in Uttarakhand, is the place of Daksha's yajña, where Satī gave up her life and Vīrabhadra destroyed the sacrifice.

Kāñcīpura, also Kāñcī, is the great Śakti-kshetra of South India and one of the seven mokshapurīs, the abode of Kāmākshī at the Kāmakoti Pīṭha.

Kanyākumārī is the tīrtha at the southern tip of Bhārata-varsha where three seas meet, and the home of the Devī as the eternal virgin Kumārī.

Kokāmukha is the Vaishṇava kshetra where Bhagavān Vishṇu released his Varāha form after lifting the earth and slaying Hiraṇyāksha.

Kośala Tīrtha lies within Indraprastha and holds both Kośalas. Its waters free even those who touch them without meaning to, like the brāhmaṇa Mukunda.

Kubja-kāmra, or Kubja-āmraka, is the kshetra where Bhagavān Vishṇu lives for all time beneath a bent mango tree, with thirteen sub-tīrthas.

Lakshmaṇācala is a hill sacred to Lakshmaṇa, where he did tapas and worshipped Bhagavān Śiva; the Nārada Purāṇa lists it among the Śaiva tīrthas.

Madhuvana, also called Viśrānti Tīrtha, is a holy grove within Indraprastha where śrāddha frees six generations of ancestors at once.

Maulisthāna is a tīrtha on the bank of the Sindhū river where Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha became present on his own, after the tapas of Hārita and Līlāvatī.

Māyūreśvara Kshetra is where Bhagavān Gaṇeśa appeared as Māyūreśvara and where Paraśurāma received the paraśu; it is Morgaon, the first Ashṭavinayaka shrine.

Māyūreśvara-purī is the city of Māyūreśvara, Gaṇeśa's Tretāyuga avatāra, at the meeting of the Bhīmā and Kṛshṇā rivers; once Sindhu's capital.

Mudgala Āśrama is the hermitage of the ṛshi Mudgala in the south, where Agastya gave two divine kāṅkaṇas to Kuśa and Lava, the sons of Rāma.

Nāgakuṇḍa is a sacred pool at Pushkara that Brahmā made for the weary nāgas; it is the place of the Nāgapañcamī vrata on Śrāvaṇa śukla pañcamī.

Nigamodbodhaka is a holy tīrtha within Indraprastha, set up by Bṛhaspati, where knowledge of the Vedas rises in those who bathe.

Jāpyeśvara is a tīrtha near Naimishāraṇya where Nandī did japa, and where the five rivers of Pañcanadī meet near the Japyeśvara Śivaliṅga.

Pavana-pura, the city of Vāyu, is a tīrtha where Śākalya's five disciples were freed from the pāpa of brahmahatyā, as the Vāyu Purāṇa tells.

Plakshāvataraṇa is a tīrtha on the Śatadru (Sutlej) river where the Gaṅgā's underground waters rise and join the river, named in Lomaśa's pilgrimage account.

Prabhāsa is a tīrtha on the western coast of Bhārata in Saurāshṭra, Gujarat, where the Sarasvatī meets the sea and the Somanātha Jyotirliṅga stands.

Pravāḷa Kshetra is the holy site where Kārtavīryārjuna and Śesha each did tapas and received gifts from Bhagavān Gaṇeśa, and where two Gaṇeśa mūrtis stand.

Prayāga is the Triveṇī saṅgama, where the Gaṅgā, Yamunā and the hidden Sarasvatī meet, called Tīrtharāja, the king of all tīrthas.

Pushkara is the foremost of all tīrthas, the lake of Bhagavān Brahmā, where bathing, dāna, japa and śrāddha bring great puṇya.

The ṛshi Raikhya does tapas at Gayā, hears from Sanatkumāra how piṇḍa-dāna there frees the ancestors, and is taken by Bhagavān Vishṇu to the world of the siddhas.

Rāma Tīrtha is the bathing tīrtha on the Sarayū at Ayodhyā, made holy by Bhagavān Rāma and named by him the foremost of all tīrthas.

Revā Tīrtha is the holy ground on the Narmadā, whose old name is Revā, and the setting of the Suvrata Upākhyāna in the Padma Purāṇa.

The Saptajana Āśrama was the āśrama of seven ṛshis, where Bhagavān Rāma paid homage on the way from Ṛshyamūka to Kishkindhā.

Saptasrotas, the place where the Gaṅgā divides into seven streams in the Himālayas, is where Dhṛtarāshṭra and Gāndhārī ended their lives in yoga.

Satya Mandira is the name of the rebuilt holy city of Dharmāraṇya, with Dharmeśvara, Gaṇādhipati, Sūrya and Svayambhū in the four directions.

Saukaraka is the kshetra on the Bhāgīrathī Gaṅgā where Bhagavān Varāha raised Bhūdevī, with seven tīrthas and great promised merit.

Siddhāśrama is the forest āśrama of Viśvāmitra Maharshi, where Rāma guarded his yajña, and where Bhagavān Vishṇu once did tapas as Vāmana.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa names Siddhāśrama the holiest place in Bhāratavarsha, where Rādhā performed the Gaṇeśa pūjā on Vaiśākha Pūrṇimā.

Sītā Kuṇḍa on the south bank of the Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) is a warm spring that rose where Sītā took her oath and went down into the earth.

Somanātha is the Jyotirliṅga of Bhagavān Śiva at Prabhāsa Kshetra on the western coast of Bhārata, set up after Candra's tapas.

Śrīkāḷahasti is a Śiva kshetra on the Svarṇamukhī river in Andhra Pradesh, home of the Vāyu-liṅga and named for a spider, a serpent and an elephant.

Śrīśaila, also called Śrīparvata and Śrīśailam, is the sacred hill on the Kṛshṇā river in Andhra Pradesh, seat of Mallikārjuna Jyotirliṅga and of Bhramarambā.

Śūrpāraka is the first tīrtha Paraśurāma set up on the strip of western coast Varuṇa gave back from the ocean, near present-day Nala Sopara in Maharashtra.

Tryambakeśvara is a Jyotirliṅga of Bhagavān Śiva near Brahmagiri in Maharashtra, at the source of the Godāvarī, linked to Gautama Maharshi.

Vadhūsarā, also called Dīpodama, is the tīrtha where Paraśurāma won back the teja that Rāma's arrow had taken from him, told in the Mahābhārata.

Vardhani Tīrtha is a holy tīrtha in Dharmāraṇya, named for the apsarā Vardhani, whom Dharma blessed after Indra sent her to disturb his tapas.

Yamunādvīpa is the island on the Yamunā where Ambā entered the fire after twelve years of tapas and was reborn as Śikhaṇḍī.

Sapta-sāgara Tīrtha, the tīrtha of the Seven Oceans, is named in the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa near Mataṅga hill and the southern forest.

Aghamarshaṇa Tīrtha lies at the foot of the Vindhya mountains. Here Daksha Prajāpati prayed to Bhagavān Vishṇu and received his vara.

Ambikāvana is a sacred grove in the Kurudeśa with a shrine of Ambikā. Nanda and the gopas went there on pilgrimage after the events at Govardhana.

Arūṇācala is the sacred hill of Bhagavān Śiva, the place of the first jyotir-liṅga and, in the Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā, his foremost kshetra.

Aviyoga Vāpī is a sacred tank at Pushkara where Rāma performed the śrāddha for his father Daśaratha and Sītā saw Daśaratha rise to higher worlds.

The Ayodhyā Māhātmya of the Skanda Purāṇa names more than thirty tīrthas, kuṇḍas and holy spots in Ayodhyā, with their origins, festivals and phala.

Badarikāśrama is the eternal āśrama of Nara and Nārāyaṇa in the high Himālaya, one of the four dhāmas and one of the most sacred tīrthas of Bhārata.

Bharata-Kūpa is a sacred well near Citrakūṭa, named by Atri Maharshi after Bharata, who poured into it the tīrtha waters he had brought for Rāma's coronation.

Cakratīrtha is the sacred lake near Naimishāraṇya where Bhagavān Kalki bathed and where the frightened Vālakhilya ṛshis took shelter.

The Candrabhāgā is a sacred river of the Sindhu region. On its bank stands Sāmbapura, or Mitravanā, where Bhagavān Sūrya lives for ever in his Mitra form.

Cintāmaṇi Kshetra, called Pārinena-nagara in the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, is present-day Theur near Pune, where Maṅgala set up the Cintāmaṇi image of Gaṇeśa.

The Dharma Vāpī is the sacred tank of Dharmāraṇya, made by Dharma on the word of Bhagavān Śiva, and the place where the Dharmeśvara Liṅga stands.

Dharmāraṇya, also called Satya Mandira, is a holy forest and city in Bhārata-varsha, sanctified by the tapas of Dharma.

Gaṇeśakuṇḍa is a tīrtha on the Narmadā, formed when the infant Gajānana touched the river in Dvāpara Yuga.

Gaṅgādvāra, the gate of the Gaṅgā near present-day Haridvāra, holds five holy tīrthas where a bath ends rebirth.

Gautamāśrama is the āśrama of Gautama Maharshi on Brahmagiri hill, at the source of the Godāvarī, near Tryambakeśvara.

Gayā is the foremost pitṛ-tīrtha in Bhārata, where Bhagavān Vishṇu abides as Gadādhara and a single piṇḍa frees the ancestors.

Gokarṇa is a sacred Śaiva kshetra on the western coast of Bhārata, in present-day Karnataka, home of the Mahābalīśvara liṅga of Bhagavān Śiva.

Haridvāra, also called Gaṅgādvāra, is the tīrtha where the Gaṅgā leaves the mountains and first reaches the plains of Bhārata.

Hāṭakeśvara is a tīrtha of Bhagavān Śiva in his golden form, in the Saptago-dāvarī region, named in the Vāmana Purāṇa.

Hṛttāpaśamana is a sacred tank near Kāñcī, in the Rāmanāthapura region, whose name means the tīrtha that calms the anguish of the heart.

Jvāleśvara is a self-manifested Śivaliṅga on the Narmadā at Amarakaṇṭaka, born where Bhagavān Śiva stilled the flames of the burning Tripura.

Kālañjara is a sacred kshetra in the Vindhya range where Parameśvara slew Kāla to protect his devotee, the rājarshi Śveta.

Kāmākshā, also called Kāmākhyā, is the supreme Śakti-pīṭha of Bhārata, on the Nīlācala hill in Kāmarūpa, present-day Assam, where Satī's yoni fell.