Top 10 Temples to Visit Outside India

India is among who are inheriting the world’s oldest culture. Civilization began about 4,50 decades ago. We Indians believe “The World is One Family”; which originate from Sanskrit word “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam ”./p>

”अयं बन्धुरयं नेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् |

उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् || ”

The statement is not just about peace and harmony among the societies of the world, but also about a truth that somehow the entire world has to live together like a family. This is the reason why Hindus think that any power in the world, big or small cannot have its own way, disregarding others.

In the development of Medieval Era, ancestors laid the foundation of Temples outside India as well. Insist Post will discuss here 10 important temples which are located outside India.

Temples to Visit Outside India :

1. ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological temple in South-East Asia and the largest religious monument in the world. Expanded over some 400 sq. km, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century.UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. Angkor Wat is located about six kilometers (four miles) north of Siem Reap, south of Angkor Thom. Entry and exit to Angkor Wat can only be access from its west gate.

2. LORD VENKATESHWARA TEMPLE, BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM

Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tividale is the pinnacle of deeply felt spiritual aspirations and one of the most remarkable achievements of the Hindu communities in the United Kingdom. It has been expanded approx 30 acres of earth, including various shrines and other facilities and it has grown over a decade to become the largest Hindu temple of its kind in Europe. Much more than simply a physical complex, it brings together a noticeable wide cross-section of Hindus into a vibrant, thriving organization, and is now recognized as one of the leading Hindu institutions in this country.

3. RADHA KRISHNA MANDIR, COMMISSARIS ROBLESWEG 1299,SURINAME

Radha Krishna Mandir is a temple of Lord Vishnu located at Commissaris Roblesweg, 1299 in Suriname. Devotees visit this temple to seek fulfillment as they have a very high belief here for following :

Freedom from diseases
Fame
Wealth
Relief from bondage
Courage
Relief from adverse effects from bad planetary aspects

Few Shlokas has been written here like ” Oh Lord who cannot be perished, who also has names like Keshava, Rama, Damodara, Narayana, Sridhara, Madhava, Krishna, Ramachandra the beloved of Janaki, let me say your name regularly.”

4. SRI GANESHA TEMPLE, ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

The northernmost Hindu temple in the world dedicated to Lord Ganesha. The temple also houses Ram Darbar and Maa Durga. Weekly poojas are held on Sunday from noon until 1 PM. Founded in 2011 .

Sri Ganesha mandir, or temple, started in 1995. Initially meeting in downtown Anchorage, they moved to a new location rented from the Church of Religion Science on Old Seward in 1999. This coincided with the donation of a Sri Ganesha idol donated by Sat Guru Shri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of the Kauai Aadheenam in Hawaii. In 2002, the temple moved to a location on Blueberry Road, where it stayed for nine years. Temple trustee Neil Bhargava said, “In 2003, I had in my mind to find a permanent place, because it’s hard to get a rental place for temples. One day I found a property for sale on Raspberry Road. With the help of the Indian community and a matching donation from Jerry Neeser, we were able to buy the property. We did major structural renovations to create space appropriate to the Hindu worship and culture. The arctic entry was added to the original structure to provide a place to leave shoes. All of this was done through generous donations from local construction companies and Jerry Neeser. Inside we created a space for our deities located on the south wall with glass doors separating them from the rest of the temple.”

5. SHRI VITTHAL HINDU MANDIR (TORONTO), ONTARIO, CANADA

Shri Vitthal Hindu Mandir is a family oriented Hindu Temple, community center, and Hindu heritage center. Our Hindu Temple in Toronto was incorporated in 1996 as a non-profit religious organization under the laws of the Province of Ontario and maintains a place of worship near the Square One Shopping complex. Our Toronto Hindu Temple abides by the “System of Vedanta” which combines both religion and philosophy of the Hindus. The Vedanta teaches us that we are all divine, regardless of creed, class, gender, and ethnicity, and that our souls divinity may be manifested through worship, contemplation, and unselfish work. The Mandir is located in Mississauga Ontario Canada and it is very close to Brampton, Oakville, Richmond Hill, Milton, and Etobicoke.

6. SHRI SWAMINARAYAN MANDIR ,ATLANTA, USA

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was instatiated in August of 2007 after only 17 months of construction time utilizing 1.3 million volunteer hours. The Mandir is comprised of 3 types of stone (Turkish Limestone, Italian marble, and Indian pink sandstone). More than 34k individual pieces were carved by hand in India, shipped to the USA and assembled in Lilburn like a giant 3-D puzzle.

It serves members of the Swaminarayan branch of Hinduism, which originated in India more than 200 years ago. The organization’s current spiritual Guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, came to Lilburn in 2004 and blessed the first foundation stones. Upon completion, a keystone weighing more than 2 tons was twisted into place on the ceiling of the central dome inside.The traditional design features custom-carved stonework, a wraparound veranda and five prominent peak reminiscent of the Himalayan hills.

7. PRAMBANAN SHIVA TEMPLE, CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA

‘Prambanan’ or ‘Candi Prambanan’ or ‘Candi Rara Jonggrang’ is a Hindu temple in Central Java, Indonesia containing idols of Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu. It is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and one of the biggest one in Southeast Asia.

Prambanan’ or ‘Candi Prambanan’ or ‘Candi Rara Jonggrang’ is a Hindu temple in Central Java, Indonesia containing idols of Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu. It is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and one of the biggest one in Southeast Asia.

The central attraction of the temple is its three main shrines dedicated to the three ‘devtas’ representing God i.e. the creator (Lord Brahma), the Preserver (Lord Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Lord Shiva). #Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh

This temple compound is also being preserved as a World Heritage site by UNESCO . The idol of Lord Shiva has been placed in the centremost and is the biggest temple. The compound, otherwise, contains 240 temples in total. The temple has bas-reliefs all across, entailing the story of epics ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Bhagavat Purana’.

8. SRI MURUGAN TEMPLE “BATU CAVES”, MALAYSIA

Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and temples in the Gombak , 13 KM north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It origins from the Sungai Batu (Batu River), which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of the nearby village.

As early as 1860, Chinese settlers began excavating guano for fertilising their vegetable patches. However, they became famous only after the limestone hills were recorded by colonial authorities including Daly and Syers as well as American Naturalist, William Hornaday in 1878.The limestone which forms Caves is said to be around 400M years old. Some of the caves entrance were used as shelters by the indigenous people.

Batu Caves was promoted as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader. He was inspired by the ‘vel’-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Murugan within the caves. In 1890, Pillai, who also founded the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, installed the murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Murugan Swami in what is today known as the Temple Cave. Since 1892, the Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai (which falls in late January/early February) has been celebrated there.

9. MURUGAN TEMPLE, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Murugan or Muruka is a popular Hindu deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshiped primarily in Tamil Nadu and Sri-Lanka. He is known as “God of War” and the patron deity of the Tamil Nadu.

Lord Murugan is worshiped for giving the meaning of the Pranava Mantra (“OM” ॐ) to Lord Shiva himself. According to the Tamil devotee, “Murugan never hesitated to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon in piety or distress“.

Murugan is venerated through out the Tamil year. There is a six day period of fast and prayer in the Tamil month of Aippasi known as the Skanda Shasti, which commemorates the day he was given a lance by his mother in order to vanquish the demons. The full moon of the Tamil month of Vaikasi signifies his birth. Each Tuesday of the Tamil month of Adi is also dedicated to the worship of Murugan. Tuesday in the Hindu tradition connotes Mangala, the god of planet Mars and war. This reveals the link between Skanda and Kujan (Mangala).

10. PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE ,KATHMANDU, NEPAL

Pashupatinath Temple,located on the banks of the Bagmati River 5 kilometres north-east of Kathmandu Valley in the eastern city of Kathmandu, is a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupatinath. This temple is considered one of the sacred temples of Hindu faith . One of the major Festivals of the temple is Maha Shivaratri on which day over 700,000 devotees visit here. The temple serves as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath.This “extensive Hindu temple precinct” is a “sprawling collection of temples, ashrams, images and inscriptions raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati river” and is included as one of the seven monument groups in UNESCO’s designation of Kathmandu Valley as a cultural heritage site. This temple complex is on UNESCO World Heritage Sites’s list Since 1979.