7

Which is oldest known sacred place of Hindus?

I have found several temples & sacred places of the Hindu religion to be told as many thousand years old. Which of them is oldest known such temple or sacred place?

Improve this question
2
  • The (only) sacred place on this earth, for a soul, is a HUMAN Body. Now if you are asking in context with this Nashvar Shareer, I would say Kashi. There's a Kashi-khanda is in Skanda Purana.
    – Hindu
    Dec 18, 2014 at 18:09
  • When Rome was not in the minds of people Kashi was there, When there was no Greece, Kashi was there, Kashi is not just another city. The lore says, Shiva created it and it was created in the way Ancient temples were created. Kashi is a cosmic touch for anyone who goes there. It is also said that Kashi is older than lore. When nothing was there Kashi was there.
    – user2416
    Feb 1, 2015 at 7:28

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
8

The oldest sacred place in Hinduism is probably Kurukshetra. Most people today know it as the location of the Mahabharata war, but long before then, it was the site of a Yagna (fire-ritual) performed by the gods. Here is how it's described in the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Yajur Veda:

The gods Agni, Indra, Soma, Makha, Vishnu, and the Visve Devâh, except the two Asvins, performed a sacrificial session. Their place of divine worship was Kurukshetra.. Therefore people say that Kurukshetra is the gods’ place of divine worship: hence wherever in Kurukshetra one settles there one thinks, 'This is a place for divine worship;' for it was the gods’ place of divine worship.... They spake, 'Whoever of us, through austerity, fervour, faith, sacrifice, and oblations, shall first compass the end of the sacrifice, he shall be the most excellent of us, and shall then be in common to us all.' 'So be it,' they said. Vishnu first attained it, and he became the most excellent of the gods; whence people say, 'Vishnu is the most excellent of the gods.'

So long before later texts like the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas described a wide variety of sacred places, we have a declaration from the sage Yajnavalkya (the sage of the Shukla Yajur Veda) that Kurukshetra is "a place of divine worship".

And Kurukshetra's holiness was recognized throughout the ages; as I discuss in this answer, Krishna was reunited with his foster parents Nandagopa and Yashoda because people from all over India made a pilgrimage to Kurukshetra during a solar eclipse.

Improve this answer
10
  • what about Ayodha, Lanka, panchvati, Ramsetu & other places from Ramayana. Much older known references than Mahabharata. What about Kailash Parvat for Lord Shiva.... I am still confused about oldest known place....
    – Pranav Singh
    Dec 18, 2014 at 6:08
  • @PranavSingh The Shatapatha Brahmana of the Yajur Veda is older than the Ramayana.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 18, 2014 at 6:14
  • @keshavSrinisan, The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda & it mentions Rudra(Shiva) but no sacred place mentioned. Shvetashvatara Upanishad & Shiv Puran mentions places but they are post vedic rituals.
    – Pranav Singh
    Dec 18, 2014 at 7:24
  • @PranavSingh Yeah, so my point the earliest reference to a sacred place in Hindu scripture is a reference to Kurukshetra.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 18, 2014 at 7:29
  • @Keshav, please see my answer for the place that Rig Veda mentions for Rudra (Shiva).
    – Aby
    Dec 19, 2014 at 15:09
4

As per Rig Veda, in order to settle the dispute between Lord Bramha and Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva is said to have manifested as a column of light, and then the form of Arunachala. Arunachala hills in Tamil Nadu is said to be that place. Reference can be found here.

As per Rig Veda and Shiva Purana, the oldest inhabited place known would be Kashi (ie, Banaras or Varanasi) which was build by Shiva and Shakti, when they create Purush and Prakriti.

The following extract from this wikipedia article also throws more light on this from the archaeological point of view:

The earliest known archaeological evidence suggests that settlement around Varanasi in the Ganga valley (the seat of Vedic religion and philosophy) began in the 11th or 12th century BC, placing it among the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. These archaeological remains suggest that the Varanasi area was populated by Vedic people. However, the Atharvaveda (the oldest known text referencing the city), which dates to approximately the same period, suggests that the area was populated by indigenous tribes. It is possible that archaeological evidence of these previous inhabitants has yet to be discovered. Recent excavations at Aktha and Ramnagar, two sites very near to Varanasi, show them to be from 1800 BC, suggesting Varanasi started to be inhabited by that time too.

Improve this answer
10
  • Where does the Rig Veda mention Arunachala?
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 19, 2014 at 16:58
  • The wiki page bears its reference from Rig Veda (A. R. Natarajan, Arunachala From Rigveda to Ramana Maharshi). The word Arunachala is used to denote Lord Shiva's form of column of infinite fire.
    – Aby
    Dec 19, 2014 at 17:26
  • It looks like A.R. Natarajan isn't referring to the actual Rig Veda Samhita, he's referring to the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda; he says "Again in Rigveda ‘Brahmana’ there is reference to a dispute between the Creator Brahma and Preserver Vishnu as to which of them was superior. Lord Siva appeared before them as a effulgence, a column of light or jyotisthambha which is the symbol or linga of Siva. Later in response to their prayer he took the form of Arunachala."
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 19, 2014 at 18:00
  • 1
    Let me explain. Each of the four Vedas is made up of four parts: Samhitas, the core part of the Vedas consisting of mantras heard by sages directly from the gods; Brahmanas, or commentaries on the Samhitas which give stories and tell how to do common rituals; Aranyakas, which tell how to do esoteric rituals; and Upanishads, which clarify the philosophical teachings of the Vedas. The Rig Veda has two Brahmanas, the Kaushitaki Brahmana and the Aitareya Brahmana (they're from two different recensions.) But there is only one version of each of those texts.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 22, 2014 at 9:52
  • 1
    In any case, usually when people say things like "the Rig Veda" without qualification, they're referring to the actual Rig Veda Samhita heard from the gods. But it looks like in this case A.R. Natarajan is just referring to the Brahmanas of the Rig Veda, which are younger than the Rig Veda Samhita. By the way, you can read the Samhitas of the Vedas using the links in the bottom of my answer here: hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/3797/36
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 22, 2014 at 9:58
4

Rameshwaram is one of the oldest and a holy place in India. It dates back to the Hindu epic of Ramayana which took place in 15000BC.

Rameshwaram, as the name suggest was the place where Lord Rama prayed to God Shiva (Ishwar). Unsurprisingly, there are two different tales that revolves around this event.

One legend mentions that Ram prayed to God Shiva before his army built the Ram Sethu Bridge to reach Lanka to save Sita and defeat Ravana. Another tale mentions that, once Rama killed Ravana who is a brahmin, he prayed to Shiva to wash away his sins for killing a brahmin.

Rameshwaram, till date is considered as one of the most sacred place among Hindus.

Source: http://www.ishtadevata.com/blog/ravan-prayed-ram-sita.html

Improve this answer
2

Most evidence of temples show that they arose after the Buddhistic era. There have been found the ruins of public gathering places that were probably used for worship purposes at Mohenjo-Daro dating from about the 3rd millennium B.C. (Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization by Heinrich Zimmer)

The earliest place of worship was the cave of the heart. The upanishads reference that the Atman dwells in the cave of the heart and is about the size of a thumb.

When Lakshmidhara wrote his compendium of tirthas in the twelfth century, he seemed to emphasize, at the outset, that real tirthas are not the places alone, or the sacred waters alone. The real tirthas are truth, charity, patience, self-control, celibacy, and wisdom--these are the tirthas of the heart on which one must bathe. He quotes from the Brahma Purana: If merely going to a tirtha is enough to purify, then the fish of the Ganga and the birds who roost in the temple towers would be instantly purified.

(India: A Sacred Geography by Diane L. Eck)

Improve this answer
3
  • I think the OP is looking for literal places of worship, not metaphorical ones.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 18, 2014 at 17:36
  • There is nothing metaphorical about the Atman in the heart.
    – Swami Vishwananda
    Dec 19, 2014 at 5:49
  • 1
    It's certainly not a geographical place on the Earth, which is presumably what the OP is looking for.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Dec 19, 2014 at 5:50

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .