Swamimalai

Swamimalai is also known as Tiruverakam is the fourth abode of Lord Subramanya. it is said that deity explained the meaning of pranava mantra OM to his father Lord Shiva. this temple is built on hillock of about sixty feet high with sixty steps which represents hindu cycle of sixty years. temples dedicated here are to Lord Sundereshwar and Goddess Meenakshi.

Legend says that saint Bhrugu before commencing penance; got the blessing that anybody disturbing meditation will forget all his knowledge. Such was the power of the penance that the holy fire emanating from the head of the saint reached up to the heavens, and the frightened devas surrendered to Lord Siva praying for his grace. The Lord extinguished the sacred fire by covering the saint's head by hand. With the saint's penance thus disturbed the Lord became oblivious of all his knowledge and is said to have regained them by learning the Pranava mantra from Lord Muruga at this shrine.

Palani

Palani also known as Tiruvavinankudi is third abode of Lord Subramanya, situated at elevation of 1500 feet above Sealevel. Deity of Palani is known as DandayudhaPani swami. the sanctum is made up of nine minerals called as navabashana. Muruga is in standing position with baton in his hand.

The Legend of the Palani Temple
According to legend, Sage Narada once visited the Kailash Parvat of Lord Shiva at. Lord Shiva was with his consort, Parvathi, and their two children Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramanya. Sage Narada gave Lord Shiva a mango fruit and told him that it was a special fruit, the fruit of wisdom.
Lord Shiva wanted his children to have the fruit of wisdom. However, when he offered it to them, Sage Narada asked that the mango not be cut in two to be shared between the two sons, lest the power be diminished. Now, as a result, they had to decide who should have it. Shiva and parvathi decided that the son who first circles the Earth would get the fruit. Immediately accepting the challenge, Lord Murugan, started his journey around the globe on his divine vehicle, the peacock. Lord Ganesha, who believed that his parents were his world, circumambulated Lord Shiva and Goddess parvathi and claimed the mango fruit. Lord Subramanya returned to Mount Kailash, only to find that Lord Ganesha had already won the contest. Lord Murugan felt he had been deceived and decided to leave Mount Kailasam. He reached to top of what is today called "Palani" and set up his abode there.
Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva rushed to the hill and tried to pacify their son, calling him, Pazham Nee (in Tamil, "you are the fruit (of wisdom)"). Hence this place came to be called Pazhani, or Palani.

Tiruchendur

Thiruchendur temple is located on the sea shore. at this spot Muruga was said to have camped before and after defeating asura and worshipped Shiva at the shrine. the Kanda Madana Parvata of this coast received its foundation. the Pandya, The Chera improved the temple. the principal sanctum of this temple is subramanyam. the gopuram is said to have been built around 350 years ago by Desikamoorthy swami of Tiruvaduthurai Math.

Six Murugan Temples

Six murugan temples are Tirupparamkundram, Tiruchendur, Palani, Swami malai , Tiruttani and Palamutircolai. all these abodes of lord muruga is situated in Tamilnadu .

Tirupparamkundram is about 10 kms from Madurai, associated with divine marriage of Lord Muruga with Devayanai. it is said that two daughters of lord vishnu Amritavalli and Sundaravalli desired to get married to Lord Subramanya, with this aim both did penance to get their wish fulfilled, pleased with their sincere devotion Lord appeared before Amritavalli and told her that she would be Indra's daughter and then he will marry her. Sundaravalli also was born to Sage Sivamuni and brought up by Nambi. in course of time Amritavalli came to be known as Devayanai. on Lord's arrival at Tirupparamkundram, as promised he desired to get married to Indra's daughter Devayanai and married her at Tirupparamkundram temple. all devas, Siva Parvathi attended the marriage and blessed the holy couple. this is the first abode of Lord Subramanya.

kashi

Viswanath Temple

Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the temple has earned the name of Golden Temple due to the gold plating done using one ton of gold donated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh .Invaders destroyed the original temple and Rani Ahilyabai of Indore rebuilt it only in in 1776. Again, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the Viswanath temple to replace it with the Gaynvapi Mosque . Today, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the Gyanvapi mosque lie adjacent to each other.

Durga temple, Bharat Mata temple, Tulsi Manas temple and Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple are few to name worth visiting although Kashi is full of temples.

Ayodhya

Ayodhya is one of the most ancient, magnificent and holy city for Hindus. This is city where Lord Rama ruled and the great epic Ramayana was written by sage valmiki here.

Places to be visited

The Hanuman Garhi ,

Kanak Bhawan

Nageshwarnath Temple

Guptar Ghat

Raj Sadan

Valmiki Bhavan

Ram Ki Podi

Sarju River

Ram Janam Bhumi

Rang Mahal

Gaya

Places to be visited in Gaya

Phalguni river , Vishnu pada, Akshaya vata, Mangala gowri temple, Pretashila, Bodhgaya.

legend says while lord Rama along with Sita and his brothers comes to Gaya to perform sacred rites to his ancestors, Dasaratha appears to Sita and asks her to offer pindam, Sita asks him to wait as her husband returns with goodies to offer pindam Dasaratha refuses and ask Sita to offer pindam made of sand with no other options Sita offers pindam in front of five witnesses i.e. Phalguni river, Akshaya vata, a gaya brahmin, cow, and Tulsi plant. later after Rama returns calls his father to offer pindam Dasaratha does not appear Sita tells him that happened in his absence, when Rama does not believe she asks the witnesses to tell him truth. out of fear none but akshaya vata tells the truth. out of anger to this act Sita curses that Phalguni river will not have waters in Gaya and thus it becomes Gupt, Cow henseforth will not be worshipped from front, there would be no tulasi plants in Gaya and Gaya brahmins will not be satisfied and crave for more and more . since akshayavata said truth she blesses it saying whoever comes to Gaya for performing rites will also perform rites at akshayavata also.