POPULAR PLACES TO VISIT

there are otherholy places of pilgrimes on the bank of the sacred rivers and temples. where people would like to visit , reside for attaining moksha.
KASI .
it is situated between river varun and asi so it is also called varanasi. It is a popular belief that by residing in Kasi after renouncing the body the soul attains moksha. people come here for ganges bath and this is pitru kshetra. it is established on the trishool of lord shiva so this place cannot be destroyed even when universe comes to an end .
in madikarnika ghat, sati's ear ring fell. dashaashwamegh ghat brahma did yagya.harishchandra ghat, satyavadi raja harishchandra worked here in the grave yard.kavi tulsidas wrote ramcharitmanas here. this place is famous for studying about shastras. ved pathashala is also there.vishvanath and matha annapoorneswari temples are there.visalakshi temple is very famous.
PUSHKAR.
situated at rajasthan this is considered the best theerth of all. brahma 's temple is considered very important . story of pushkar tank goes like this.
in the beginning of the creation vajranab demon lived here. he was troubling the children. brahma decided to perform yagya .he threw a lotus and killed vajranab.the place where the lotus fell is called pushkar.brahma created a big homakund.three pushkar theerthas were made. rishis , devathas came for the yagya and made ashram near by. shivji also came. brahma's wife saraswathi could not come on time to the place so brahma married savitri , a gopekumari , made her sit with him and started the yagya. saraswathi came saw this and cursed that all the devathas will be childless.to brahma she said he will have only one or two temples. she left for hill.
since pushkar has the water from the sacred rivers, after going to char dham people come here to take bath and do tarpan for the ancesters.
HARIDWAR
brahmanda puran and varah puran speaks about haridwar. ganga after coming from the hill touches the earth here.when amrit kalash came from churning of the ocean (samundra mandhan)garuda took and flew away. where ever the drops fell , every 12 years kumbha mela is held there. haridwar is one such place. in har ki powdi we can see half immersed temple . people do parikrama there.this is also one of the places where people do tarpan for their ancesters. manasa devi temple is on the hill top of haridwar.
GAYA:
it is situated in the south of bihar. it is a pitru kshetra.
the story goes like this
dharma stayed here and did tapasya .so this is also known as dharmaranya kshetra. maharishi marichi(brahma's manas son), also lived here. dharma got her daughter dharmavathi married to him.she was helping her husband when brahma came there. she came did athithi satkar to brahma . her husband got angry for leaving him in between and cursed her to become a statue. with dharmavathi's firm tapasya, lord vishnu blessed that all the devathas will have their place in that statue.
a demon called gaye lived here. he did vigorous tapasya. brahma was pleased and gave him the boon that his body is the most purified than all theerthas.he continued to do tapasya. all the devas were worried . brahma went to him and asked for his body to finish the yagya. he agreed and yagya got over. but he got up again. so they kept the statue of dharmavathi on him and all the devathas abode in that statue. since then this place is called gaya.
MATHURA/ VRINDAVAN.
in tretha yug madhu demon did atrocities.to save the people shri ram sent shatrugna to kill him. he killed the demon, since then this place is called mathura.dwapur yug vishnu took shri krishna avatar here. shri krishna 's birth place is mathura and lila's he did in vrindavan. so both are famous.
when sati went into the agnikund, shiva took her body he was under a spell of intoxication. so vishnu with his chakra cut the body of sati into pieces. pieces fell all over the places. it is said here the hair of sati fell . so there is a shakti peeta here which is called chamunda or mouli.
wishing each other they say jai shree krishna. govardhan hill is there which is considered as shri krishna himself.
SRIRANGAM:
in tamil nadu at the bank of the river kavei is sri rangam. for viashnavas this is one of the important place of worship. lord vishnu with sri laxmi, bhoodevi, shridevi, and vebheeshan is on the bed of 5 headed shesh nag facing south.
lord narayana gave an idol of himself to brahma. raja ikshwahu did vigorous tapasya and got it from brahma,. since then ayodya and its kingdom is called ikshwahu generation and idol is worhipped in their family..
ram after winning lanka war ,came to ayodya with hanuman, sugreev, vibheshan
who came to witness the crowning ceremony of lord rama. vibheshan visited srirangam and liked the idol. after the function he asked rama for that family idol.sri ram gave him the idol with the vimana .
one his way back home, he felt tired and wanted to rest. so he kept the idol of narayana with the vimana on the bank of the river kaveri . after wards when he tried to lift it ,it did not come. so vibheeshan thought may be god is not willing to travel with him. so he did pooja and went back to lanka. since then lord is facing lanka (south ) .
SHRINGERI:
shringeri is located in chikmagalur in karnataka on the bank of the river tunga.this is the first mutt establised by shri adi sankaracharya .this is called as shringeri sharada peetham.rishyashrengar stayed and did tapas here. rishyashringa giri is there. so this is known as shringeri.
once when sankaracharya was passing near tunga he saw a cobra providing shelter from the hot sun ,to a frog when she was undergoing labour. he saw two natural enemies against their nature, helping each other.so he decided to establish the mutt here as there is compassion.
he installed shri. sharada's idol made in sandlewood who is the goddess for knowledge, learning and wisdom. vidyashankar temple is there where there are 12 pillars for 12 zodiac symbols..the first ray of the sun falls on the rasi in which sun is travelling. thorana ganapathi is worshipped to remove the obstacles and fulfill our wishes.
across tunga river is the mutt of jagatguru .puja performed by swamiji is a treat to eyes. sharath navratri is celebrated in a grand scale here. television coverage of all the events is quite appreciable. anna dhanam is done for all. serene atmosphere compels one to visit this place again and again and seek the blessings of jagatguru.
in and around shringeri there are places like kalasa viswanatha and horanadu annapoorni- considered as dhakshina kasi. kuduramukh factory, mookambika temple, udupi shri krishna temple, kuki subramanya, dharmasthala, and so many other places which one would like to visit.