Birla Mandir, Jaipur is a Hindu temple located in Jaipur, India and is part of one of the several Birla mandirs located all around the country. The grand temple is located on an elevated ground at the base of Moti Dungari hill in Rajasthan. The temple is sometimes also referred to as the Laxmi Narayan Temple.

Birla Temple, Jaipur At the foot of Moti Dungri fort is the Birla Temple. This temple forms one of the major attractions of Jaipur. Birla Temple of Jaipur looks stunning, when it is brightly lit in the night. The enormous temple was built during the year 1988, by Birla Group of Industries, one of the business tycoons of India. The Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Narayan), the preserver and his consort Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Due to this reason, Birla Temple is also known as Laxmi Narayan Temple. Birla Mandir is constructed in the finest quality of white marble. The three huge domes of the temple represent three different approaches to the religion. The beautiful white marble temple mesmerizes the onlookers, when it glows at night. Stained glass widows depict the scenes from Hindu scriptures. Ganesh the protector of households, is above the lintel, and the fine quality of marble is evident when you enter the temple and look back at the entrance way. The images of Lakshmi and Narayan attract the attention, being made out from one piece of marble. Many of the deities of the Hindu pantheon are depicted inside the temple, and on the outside walls great historical personages and figures from all religions are shown, including Socrates, Zarathustra, Christ, Budhda, and Confucius. The Laxmi Narayan Mandir is a modern architectural marvel, surrounded by lush green gardens. The fascinating exteriors of the temple are carved splendidly with beautiful sculptures based on mythological themes, while the interiors have a large marble panel portraying mythological events.

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Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. A popular tourist destination, it is located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an average elevation of 6,710 ft. It is noted for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling is the headquarters of Darjeeling district which has a partially autonomous status within the state of West Bengal.The development of the town dates back to the mid-19th century, when the colonial British administration set up a sanatorium and a military depot. Subsequently, extensive tea plantations were established in the region, and tea growers developed hybrids of black tea and created new fermentation techniques. The resultant distinctive Darjeeling tea is internationally recognised and ranks among the most popular of the black teas.The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains and has one of the few steam locomotives still in service in India.Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, which attract students from India and neighbouring countries. The varied culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu consisting of Nepalese, Tibetan, Bengali and other ethno-linguistic groups. Darjeeling, with its neighbouring town of Kalimpong, was a centre of the Gorkhaland movement in the 1980s. The town's fragile ecology has been threatened by a rising demand for environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic and poorly planned urbanisation.The history of Darjeeling is intertwined with that of Sikkim, Nepal, British India and Bengal. Until the early 19th century, the hilly area around Darjeeling was controlled by the kingdom of Sikkim, while the plains around Siliguri were intermittently occupied by the kingdom of Nepal,with settlement consisting of a few villages of Lepcha and Kirati people.The Chogyal of Sikkim had been engaged in unsuccessful warfare against the Gorkhas of Nepal. From 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the entire region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai. In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from overrunning the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Sugauli Treaty in 1815. According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company. Later in 1817, through the Treaty of Titalia, the British East India Company reinstated the Chogyal of Sikkim, restored all the tracts of land between the Mechi River and the Teesta river to the Chogyal of Sikkim and guaranteed his sovereignty.

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Kanyakumari About this sound pronunciation, formerly known as Cape Comorin, is a town in Kanyakumari District in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.Kanyakumari lies at the southernmost tip of mainland India. The nearest major city is Nagercoil, the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District, 22 km away. Kanyakumari was one of the important towns of the ancient Tamilakam,and is now a popular tourist destination.Kanya Kumari is mainly famous for pilgrimage and tourism. The place is a unique geographical location in India as it is the tip of the peninsula, which is surrounded by the Laccadive Sea. It is a holy place for Hindus as there is the presence of two Shakti Peethas here, Bhagavathy temple and Shuchindram out of the 51 Shakti Peethas all over South Asia.The etymology of the place is from the name of the Bhagavathy temple located here. The place was called Kanyashram of the Baalaambika, the deity of the temple. There are 11 sacred theertham in Kanyakumari and two Shakti Peethas so Kanyakumari is a holy place for Hindus'. The ablution in sea for Pitr Tarpan is done here. This is one of the rare temples in India where Devi is worshipped as a child. The rites and rituals are done in Kerala Namboothiri method, so there will be slight difference in the way of worship compared to the temples of the nearby region. The deity is the goddess of Sanyasa as per Hindu religion.So the people everywhere from India who desire devote their life as Sanyasin comes here and takes the deeksha. Swami Vivekananda came in this temple as directed by his Guru Shri Ramakrishna Prarama Hamsa, being a Sanyasin. The temple is very old and is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit literatures. The sands of sea is multi coloured and is liked to mythological story. The goddess is believed to be the one who removes the rigidity of our mind, devotees usually feel the tears in their eyes or even inside their mind when they pray to the goddess in deep contemplation. The prayers are done by women for marriage, the goddess is considered as Shri Krishnas' sister. There is a shrines for Kalabhairava in the temple. The temple is one of the Shakti Peethas, it is said that the back bone area of Sati Devi’s corpse fell here. The place is famous for Agastyar mala where Sage Agastya lived. He is the founder of Siddha vydya, so there is innumerable medicinal plants available here. He is also considered as the founder of Varma Kalai, the foremost martial arts in the world.Another pilgrimage is Shuchindram and Nagaraja Temple, Nagercoil near Kanyakumari. Shuchindram is another Shakti Peethas an important temple in Hindu mythology.

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San Thome Basilica is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Santhome, in the city of Chennai , India. It was built in the 16th century by Portuguese explorers, over the tomb of St Thomas[dubious – discuss], an apostle of Jesus. In 1893, it was rebuilt as a church with the status of a cathedral by the British. The British version still stands today. It was designed in Neo-Gothic style, favoured by British architects in the late 19th century.South Indian Christian tradition holds that St Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, arrived in Kerala from Judea in 52 A.D. and preached between 52 A.D. and 72 A.D., when he was martyred on St. Thomas Mount.San Thome Basilica is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore. In 1956, Pope Pius XII raised the church to the status of a Basilica Minor, and on February 11, 2006, it was declared a national shrine by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. The San Thome Basilica is a pilgrimage centre for Christians in India. The church also has an attached museum.

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Dakshineswar Kali Temple is a Hindu temple located in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, an aspect of Kali, meaning, 'She who liberates Her devotees from the ocean of existence i.e. Saṃsāra'.The temple was built by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and a devotee of Kali in 1855. The temple is famous for its association with Ramakrishna, a mystic of 19th Century Bengal.The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple, contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls. There are twelve shrines dedicated to Shiva—Kali's companion—along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. 'Nahavat-Khana', the chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna spent a considerable part of his life.The Dakshineswar Kali Temple was founded around the middle of the 19th Century by Rani Rashmoni.Rani Rashmoni belonged to Kaivarta caste and was well known for her philanthropic activities. In the year 1847, Rashmoni, prepared to go upon a long pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu city of Kashi to express her devotions to the Divine Mother. Rani was to travel in twenty four boats, carrying relatives, servants and supplies.According to traditional accounts, the night before the pilgrimage began, Rashmoni had a vision of the Divine Mother, in the form of the goddess Kali in a dream and reportedly said.There is no need to go to Banaras. Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges river and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place.Profoundly affected by the dream, Rani immediately looked for and purchased a 20-acred plot in the village of Dakshineswar. The large temple complex was built between 1847 and 1855. The 20-acre plot was bought from an Englishman, John Hastie and was then popularly known as Saheban Bagicha,partly old Muslim burial ground shaped like a tortoise, considered befitting for the worship of Shakti according to Tantra traditions, it took eight years and nine hundred thousand rupees to complete the construction, and finally the idol of Goddess Kali was installed on the Snana Yatra day on 31 May 1855, amid festivities at the temple formally known as Sri Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali, with Ramkumar Chhattopadhyay as the head priest; soon his younger brother Gadai or Gadadhar (later known as Ramakrishna) moved in and so did nephew Hriday to assist him.On 31 May 1855 more than 1 lakh Brahmins were invited from different parts of the country to grace the auspicious occasion amidst the controversy of the Rani being in no position to own a temple and to offer Brahmins to feed since she was belonged to the low cast of Shudra.The next year, Ramkumar Chhattopadhyay died, the position was given to Ramakrishna, along with his wife Sarada Devi, who stayed in the south side of the Nahabat, in a small room on the ground floor, which now a shrine dedicated to her.From then until his death 30 years later in 1886, Ramakrishna was responsible for bringing much in the way of both fame and pilgrims to the temple.Rani Rashmoni lived only for five years and nine months after the inauguration of the temple. She seriously fell ill in 1861. Realizing that her death was near she decided to handover the property she purchased in Dinajput as a legacy for the maintenance of the temple to the temple trust. She accomplished her task on 18 February 1861 and died on the next day.

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