“yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham”
Wheresoever, whensoever adharma (unrighteousness) tends to take over the affairs of the world, I would take physical form to uphold dharma (righteousness) in the world.
As can be seen from the importance of Lord Vishnu in the nitty gritty details of the affairs of our physical universe, it comes as no surprise that a plethora of temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu adorn Indian landscape. Short listing a few among them as ‘major’ is always difficult, but for the sake of practical purposes let us choose to undertake the same by evoking Lord Narayan’s blessings that his grace does truly lead us in this endeavor. Here’s a list of 10 Most Popular Vishnu temples in India.
1.Badrinath Temple, Uttarakhand
Foremost among the Vishnu Temples would be Badrinath Temple in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is not we who say so, but Skanda Purana as per which its stature ranks the highest of all the temples in earth, heaven and netherworld. It is at Badrinath temple that both the Char Dham – all India Char Dham and Himalayan Char Dham culminate their pilgrimage trajectories. Since it is widely believed that a visit to Badrinath is incomplete before visiting Kedarnath beforehand, Badrinath Kedarnath Yatra is another important pilgrimage Hindus embark upon at least once in their lifetime.
The temple’s idol is said to have been discovered and enshrined by Adi Shankaracharya in the eighth century from the waters of Alaknanda River upon whose banks the temple is presently situated. While the holiness attributed to the land goes back to Puranic times, of its having served as the sacred ground of Tapasya for Nar-Narayan and even Vishnu himself sheltered by Lakshmi Devi as Badri tree.
Badrinath Temple is open for Darshan only half a year- the summer months of May – October owing to its location in the wintry land of Gharwal Himalayas.
2.Jagannath Temple, Orissa
The Rath Yatra of Jagannath Temple is famous throughout India. In this chariot festival, the triad of idols – Lord Krishna along with his siblings Balarama and Subhadra are carried in procession from the temple till Gundicha Temple located about 3 km away from the temple. The magnificent chariots of dimensions 45 feet in height and 35 feet square in area are the creative work of myriads of painters, artists and craftsmen for over two months. Hundreds of devotees pull the elaborately ornate chariots in its annual Rath Yatra festival.
Jagannath Temple is the first to be visited in the Char Dham Yatra decided by Adi Shankaracharya, following the rules of parikrama to move from east towards west in clockwise direction- Jagannath Temple, Ramanathaswamy Temple, Dwarkadhish Temple and Badrinath Temple.
The temple has served as spiritual abode for many renowned saints like Ramanuja, Ramananda, Adi Shankaracharya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
3.Ranganathaswamy Temple, Tamil Nadu
The majestic Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, spanning across a whopping 156 acres, is undoubtedly the largest functioning Hindu temple in the entire world. Of the 108 Divya Deshams exemplified by Alvars, Tamil saint poets between 5th century – 10th century BCE, Srirangam is considered to be the first and most important. The enormously large temple structure is constructed over an island formed by rivers Kavery and Coleroon. Its idol is said to have been one of the rare self-manifested forms of Vishnu. Having played its key role in Vaishnavite tradition by being the spiritual home of the likes of Ramanuja, the temple has as rich historical and legendary treasures in its repository as one would expect of a temple of this magnitude in size and splendor.
4.Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala
The landmark Venkateswara Temple located in Tirumala, Chittor district is said to be the site of Kaliyuga Vaikuntham. Temple mythology has it that Lord Venkateswara has incarnated upon the ascribed site to save humanity from the trials and tribulations of the difficult kali Yuga. The temple is considered to be the richest in terms of financial offerings received. Some of the other names devotees call Venkateswara includes Balaji, Srinivasa and Govinda. The location of the temple in the seventh peak of Seshachalam, a cluster of seven peaks, is said to emulate Vishnu’s reclining over the seven-headed Adisesha.
The temple built in traditional Dravidian architecture houses the deity of Venkateswara. The deity is in a standing position and faces the east direction. It is believed that the deity would remain in the place till the end of Kali Yuga.
5.Dwarkadhish Temple, Gujarat
The present Krishna Temple at Dwaraka, archaeologically credited to have been over 2000-2200 years old, is said to have been originally constructed by Sri Krishna’s son Vajranabha over what constituted the residential palace of Shri Krishna himself. Sri Krishna, the eighth and most revered of Vishnu’s dashavtar, is said to have reigned over the kingdom of Dwaraka in the Dwapara Yuga. The enlargement and modification of the temple in Chalukya architectural style is attributed to 15th-16th century. The magnificently built five storied building has seventy two pillars.