Most beautiful temple in India

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Bhuvaneshwar : Land of temples and capital of Orissa.

Lingaraj temple : The 54 m high temple is surrounded by more than 50 smaller temples, dates from 1090 to 1104. The granite block representing Tribhuvaneshwar (Lord of three worlds), is bathed daily with water, milk and bhang (marijuana). The main gate has statues of two mustachioed yellow lions. Closed for non-Hindus.

Vaital mandir (temple) : This 8 century double storey Kali temple was a centre of eroticism and bloody sacrifice.

Parsurameshwar mandir : It is a collection of 20 smaller temples of which Parsurameshwar mandir is the well preserved. It has lively bas-reliefs of jolly elephant and horse processions, and Shiva images.

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Mukteswar, Siddheswar & Kedargauri temples : Mukteswar temple is near Parsurameshwar mandir. This 10 century temple is one of the most ornate temples in Bhubaneshwar. The ceiling carvings and stone arch are particularly striking but the beautiful ached torana in front, clearly showing Buddhist influence. Siddheswar (Lord Ganesh) is in the same compound, while Kedargauri mandir is over the road.

Raja Rani mandir : The temple is famous for it's ornate deul (temple sanctuary) and tower. The temple has statues of eight dikpalas (guardians), nymphs, embracing couples, elephants and lions languish in niches and decorate the pillars (Admission Rs 5).

Brahmeshwar mandir : This 9 century small temple has finely detailed sculptures with erotic elements.

State museum : It has Orissa's best collection of rare palm leaf manuscripts, traditional and folk musical instruments, Bronze age tools, an armoury and a fascinating display of Orissan tribal anthropology (Admission Rs 1, Monday closed).

Udayagiri & Khandagiri caves : The 1st century Jain rock cut shelters are ornately carved (Admission Rs 5, 15 caves). No bus, so take share auto from the city (6 km).

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Puri Jagannath temple : The mighty Jagannath temple is one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage sites in India and is famous for it's Rath Yatra (Car festival). It has jet black deity with large, round, white eyes (closed to non Hindus). Non Hindus can view the temple from the roof of the Raghunandan library with permission.
The 1198 AD temple is surrounded by two walls, it's 58 m high sikhara (tower) is topped by the flag and wheel of Vishnu. The eastern entrance is guarded by two stone lions and a pillar crowned by the Garuda.

Jagannath, brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra reside supreme in the central jagmohan (assembly hall). The brothers have arms but no hands, while smaller Subhadra, sitting in between, has neither. Priests continuously garland and dress the three throughout the day for different ceremonies. Incredibly, the temple employs about 6000 men to perform the complicated rituals involved in caring for the Gods. As estimated 20,000 people are dependent on the temple for their livelihood. The kitchen with 400 cooks, is reportedly the largest in the world.

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Rath Yatra (Car festival - June/July) : It commemorates Krishna's journey from Gokul to Mathura. Jagannath, brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra are dragged along Grand Rd in three 'rathas', to Gundicha mandir. The main car of Jagannath is 14 m high, runs on 16 wheels, each of 2 m in diameter. Four thousand professional temple employees haul the cars, which take enormous effort.

The gods take a week long 'summer break' in the Gundicha mandir before being hauled back to Jagannath mandir. After the festival, the cars are broken up and used for firewood in the temple's communal kitchens or for funeral pyre fuel.

Puri has a long sandy beach with a long ribbon of old hotels. One can see sand sculptures by local artists at the beach. Beach festival (Nov) is the best time to view Orissan artforms, odissi dance and sand sculptures. Puri is 60 km from Bhuvaneshwar (2 hour by bus), while Konark is 30 km from Puri.

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Konark temple : The majestic Sun temple is a world heritage site constructed in the mid 13th century. The jagmohan was closed off and filled with rocks and sand to prevent it from collapsing inwards. The main entrance is guarded by two stone lions crushing elephants and leads to the intricately carved nritya mandapa (dancing hall).

The temple was conceived as the cosmic chariot of the sun god, Surya. Seven mighty horses (representing the days of the week) pull the chariot on 24 stone wheels (representing the hours of the day). The base and walls present a chronicle in stone of Kalinga life. Many are in the erotic style for which Konark is famous and include entwined couples as well as solitary exhibitionists. Sometimes they're minute images on the spoke of a temple wheel, at other times they're life sized figures higher up the walls.

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Archaeological museum : It contains many sculptures and carvings found during the excavation of the Sun temple (Admission Rs 5, Friday closed).

Chandrabagha beach : This clean beautiful beach is 3 km from Konark on the Puri road.

The nestling beach for olive ridley turtles are Gahirmatha within the Bhitarkanika national park (100 km north of Bhuvaneshwar), Devi near Konark and Rushikulya (the best place to view) near Chilka lake. During late October to early December, turtles swim up from deeper waters beyond Srilanka to mate and lay their eggs on Orissa's beaches. Then in January they congregate near nestling beaches and, if conditions are right, they come ashore for over five days. Hatching takes place 50 to 55 days later. Hatchlings are guided to the sea by the luminescence of the ocean.



Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the smallest of the sea turtles, that can weigh as much as 45 kg. It is named for the olive color of its heart-shaped shell. In 2007, around 130,000 turtles nested on the beaches of Gahirmatha, Orissa. The villagers of Kolavipalam in Kozhikkode (Calicut, Kerala) district have been burning midnight oil to ensure the survival of the visiting Olive Ridley turtles. Every year, the turtles come to nest in the 20 km beach, which stretches between Pavyoli and Kottapuzha estuary, some 45 km north of Calicut.

It forages offshore in surface waters or dives to depths of at least 150 meter to feed on bottom dwelling shrimp, crabs, sea urchins and other animals crustaceans, mollusks and tunicates. Olive Ridley are sometimes seen feeding on jellyfish in surface waters. An average clutch size is over 110 eggs which require a 52 to 58 day incubation period.

[expertgamer]

did someone here mention tajmahal
......
is tajmahal a temple?
or something

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Hi friend,

Taj Mahal is not a temple. It is a mausoleum (tomb) made by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world located at Agra, India.


Tamil Nadu has colossal temples with their towering rainbow coloured gopurams, intricate rock carvings, music and complex classical dance - bharata natyam. The pilgrim cities of Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai (Arunachal temple), Chidambaram (Nataraja temple), Kumbakonam, Tiruchirappalli (Rock fort temple and Ranganathaswamy temple), Thanjavur (Brihadiswara temple), Madurai (Sri Meenakshi temple), Rameswaram and Kanyakumari worth a visit. The 13 km long Marina beach (second longest beach in the world) and the Mahabalipuram are the attractions near Chennai. The famous colonial hill stations - Ooty and Kodaikanal - have cool climate and scenic.

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Chennai

St. George fort : Built in 1653 by the British East India company is now houses State secretariat and Legislative Assembly. The 46 m high flagstaff at the front is a mast salvaged from a 17th century shipwreck. Fort museum (Rs 2, Friday closed) has a collection of military memorabilia from the British and the French East India companies, as well as the Raj and Muslim administrations. St. Mary's church (1680) is the first English church in Madras.

High court : The red Indo-Saracenic structure (1892) at Parry's corner is said to be the largest judiciary building in the world after the Courts of London. You can wander the court building to admire the architecture.

Government museum, Egmore : One of the best museums in Chennai (Rs 15, Camera Rs 200, Friday closed) with fine archaeological section, natural history and zoology section. The bronze gallery of ICICI is also worth a visit. The nearby National art gallery can be visited with the same ticket. On either side of the gallery are the children's museum and Modern art gallery.

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Chennai Tourist information

Vivekananda museum (Rs 1, Wednesday closed) is located at Ice house near the lighthouse at Marina beach.

The neo gothic style San Thome cathedral is near the Marina beach. Kapaleeshwar temple with it's 39 m high towering gopuram is a landmark of Chennai. Ramakrishna Mutt temple is another temple with orange clad monks.

Guindy national park, snake park and children's park are in Adayar. Valluvar Kotlam memorial shaped like a chariot (1976). Kishkinda fantasy park with 3D theatre, Vandalur zoological park (35 km), Pulicat (59 km, backwaters, boating, bird sanctuary, beach).