Spiritual places in India

A small holy town around a sacred lake, with one of the world’s few Brahma temples and the famous camel fair in autumn.

One of the world’s oldest living cities: dawn boat rides on the Ganges, evening aarti, and life and death on the ghats.

The yoga capital of the world on the Ganges: ashrams, white-water rafting, suspension bridges and Himalayan foothills.

The Golden Temple shimmering in its sacred pool, plus the world’s largest free kitchen and the Wagah border ceremony.

Home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile: monasteries, momos and the Triund trek under the Dhauladhar range.

High-altitude desert of monasteries, turquoise lakes and the world’s highest motorable passes: India’s great adventure.

A clean, green Himalayan state of monasteries, high lakes and snow peaks.

A temple town with a string of secluded beaches (Om, Kudle, Half Moon and Paradise) joined by coastal trails.

One of India’s oldest cities, centred on the vast Meenakshi Amman Temple with its rainbow-coloured towers.

Katra is the base for the walk to the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, one of the most visited pilgrimages in India.

Two great shrines 20 km apart: the hilltop Shri Naina Devi temple, one of the Shakti Peethas, and Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib, where t…

Where the Ganga leaves the mountains: the evening Ganga aarti at Har Ki Pauri, hilltop temples by ropeway, and the start of the Char Dham road.

The two high Himalayan dhams: Kedarnath, a Jyotirlinga reached by a 16 km walk, and Badrinath, the Vishnu temple on the Alaknanda river.

Meadows and rhododendron forest below Tungnath, the highest Shiva temple in the world, and the short trek on to Chandrashila peak for a Himalayan sun…

Neem Karoli Baba’s ashram in a river valley near Nainital, now one of Uttarakhand’s most visited places, and the Kumaon hill towns of Bhimtal, Muktes…