The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
विष्णुपद मंदिर
Gaya, Bihar · 24.7787°, 85.0004°
This site is counted in the lists below by some sources and not others. We list the claim and the disagreement rather than silently picking a side.
Centre of the ancestral rites of Hinduism: the 40 cm footprint of Vishnu pressed in basalt, ringed by a silver-plated octagon, where crores perform pind-daan for their forebears — above all during Pitru Paksha, when Gaya becomes the city of ancestors. Rebuilt in granite by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1787.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Vishnu pinned the pious demon Gayasura beneath his foot with a great rock; granted that whoever offers rites on his body attains liberation, Gayasura's sanctified frame became Gaya — the footprint the seal of that boon.
Gaya has its own international airport, with daily Delhi–Gaya–Varanasi flights and further services to Kolkata, Paro and Bangkok. Gaya Junction lies on the Grand Chord section of East Central Railway, served by four Rajdhani trains and the overnight Mahabodhi Express from Delhi (about 12–17 hours); by road NH-83 covers the 120 km from Patna and the Grand Trunk Road passes 30 km south at Dobhi. The temple is inside Gaya town itself.
coordinates: curated-unverified · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Maratha (Holkar)
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…