Kailash

Kailash is a beautiful snow clad mountain on the northern edge of the Himalayas on the edge of the tibetan plateau .

Kailash is the abode of Shiva and is therefore especially sacred . Sacred also to buddhists for various reasons it has for that reason never been climbed . Unfortunately the area now falls under Chinese occupation . Limited numbers of pilgrims are allowed , who do the sacred parikrama or walk around the the mountain in a clockwise direction out of respect and devotion .

Kedarnath

Kedarnath in the Himalayas is an ancient shrine of pilgrimage .

Visited by Adi Shankara , it is more than 1400 years old and one of the 12 Jyothir linga temples dedicated to Shiva .

Closed six months a year during winter , it is reachable only after a 15 km trek by foot ( or pony) through the beautiful Himalayas .

It is one of the Char Dham ( four ) pilgrimage spots of Uttaranchal .

It is a beautiful structure built entirely of stone .

Famous temples -Srirangam

The second image shows the tallest temple tower in India , at Srirangam ,Tamilnadu . The temple is about 2000 years old and one of the oldest in the world . Dedicated to the reclining Vishnu , called Ranganatha , it is situated on an island in the river Kaveri in southern india . The temple complex is the largest in the country and one of the largest in the world after Angkor Wat . It is the largest in use , measuring one square kilometre in area . The temple has the full ideal complement of seven enclosures as mentioned i n the scriptures . The four innermost ones consist of the temple proper ,the outer three have homes .

The first image shows the golden dome over the sanctum .

The temple is one of the bastions of Sri Vaishnava Culture and philsophy .