Immortal Hindu Shrines : Jyotirlingas, Sapt-puris, Chardham

Contents: Preface. I. The Holy Shrines: Introduction. II. The Jyotirlingas: 1. Somanatha Jyotirlinga. 2. Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga. 3. Mahakala Jyotirlinga. 4. Omkaresvara Mandhata Jyotirlinga. 5. Kedaranatha Jyotirlinga. 6. Bhimasankara Jyotirlinga. 7. Visvesvara Jyotirlinga. 8. Tryambakesvara Jyotirlinga. 9. Vaidyanathesvara Jyotirlinga. 10. Nagesvara Jyotirlinga. 11. Ramesvara Jyotirlinga. 12. Ghusmesvara or Ghrsnesvara Jyotirlinga. III. \'Saptpuris\' : The seven sacred cities of Liberation: 1. Ayodhya. 2. Mathura--The Holy City. 3. Haridvara or Mayapuri. 4. Kasi or Varanasi. 5. Kanci or Kancipuram. 6. Ujjain or Avantika. 7. Dvaraka. IV. The four sacred Dhamas: 1. Jagannatha Dhama. 2. Badrinatha Dhama. 3. Ramesvaram. 4. Dvaraka Dhama. 

"India is the holy land of several gods and goddesses, who had been dominating the Indian religious scene, ever since the dawn of the civilization on earth. Some of them disappeared from the Indian religious horizon as rapidly as they had mushroomed, while others faded out of human memory in due course of time. But still there had been certain deities, who remained relevant from the earliest times to the present day facing all the natural, climatic, religious, economic and other natural adversiter boldly. These deities had special attraction for certain places, and because of their personal association with these sites, they were treated as sacred. The sites of twelve Jyotirlingas, seven sacred cities and the four Dhamas come under this category. An attempt has been made to bring out the salient features and the importance of these places from different angles, based on literary, historical and other traditional sources and the author is confident, the work shall interest the readers." (jacket)