The Char Dham Yatra is not a trip. It is a circle. Yamunotri in the east, Gangotri in the north, Kedarnath in the west, Badrinath in the south. The circuit is not a line. It is a ring. The pilgrim starts at one point and returns to the same point. The ring is closed. The … Read more
The Badrinath Temple sits in the Garhwal Himalayas, on the banks of the Alaknanda River, at an altitude of 3,300 meters. The air is thin. The wind is cold. The mountains rise in every direction. The temple is not large. The crowd is. For six months of the year, the doors are closed. The snow … Read more
The Khatu Shyamji Falgun Mela is not a quiet festival. The town of Khatu, in the Sikar district of Rajasthan, becomes a sea of people. The dust rises. The chants of Shri Shyam Baba Ki Jai fill the air. The temple is not large. The crowd is. The mela lasts for days. In 2026, it … Read more
The Sree Suvarna Temple sits on the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road in Powai, Mumbai. The road is busy. The traffic is loud. The high rises are close. But the temple is not loud. The gates open to a courtyard. The sound of the street fades. The temple is not ancient. It was founded in 1957 … Read more
The Golden Temple in Amritsar is not like other temples. The doors are not closed at night. They never close. The temple is open twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year. The gold on the dome shines in the sun. The lamps reflect in the water of the Amrit … Read more
The Swarnagiri Temple sits on Manepally Hills, near Bhuvanagiri in Telangana, about thirty five kilometers from Hyderabad. The city is behind you. The highway is wide. The hills rise. The temple is new. It was consecrated in 2024. The stone is not worn smooth by centuries of feet. The gold is new. But the devotion … Read more
The ISKCON Temple in Bangalore sits on Hare Krishna Hill in Rajajinagar, not in the crowded center of the city. The hill is not high. The climb is short. The temple is not ancient. It was inaugurated in 1997 by the former President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma. The stone is not old. The … Read more
The Siruvapuri Balamurugan Temple sits in the village of Siruvapuri, about forty kilometers from Chennai. The city is behind you. The highway is straight. The fields are open. The temple is not on a hill like Palani. It is not on a seashore like Tiruchendur. It is in a village. The deity is not a … Read more
The Peddamma Temple sits in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, surrounded by high rises and busy roads. The area is posh. The cars are expensive. The temple is not. The stone is not marble. The gopuram is not tall. But the power is. The goddess is Peddamma, the mother of mothers. Pedda means great. Amma means mother. … Read more
The Mogal Maa Temple sits in Bhaguda village, in the Mahuva Taluka of Bhavnagar district, Gujarat. The land is flat. The fields are green. The temple is not large. The devotion is. The goddess is Mogal Maa, a fierce form of the divine mother. She holds a sword in one hand and a serpent in … Read more