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Sapta Puri: the seven cities said to grant moksha
The Sapta Puri are seven cities named in a verse of the Garuda Purana: Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya (Haridwar), Kashi (Varanasi), Kanchi (Kanchipuram), Avantika (Ujjain) and Dvaravati (Dwarka). A pilgrimage to them is said to grant moksha, release from the cycle of birth and death. Four of the seven are covered in India GO so far: Varanasi, Mathura, Haridwar and Ujjain.
The seven sacred cities of Hinduism, each believed to grant moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
Every place in the collection on the India GO map.
Open in India GOWhy these seven
The reasons differ from city to city. Ayodhya and Mathura are birthplaces: of Rama and of Krishna. Varanasi and Haridwar are counted among places holy by their nature: Haridwar, with its shrines to Shiva and Vishnu, stands where the Ganga leaves the hills for the plains, and Varanasi is held to be so sacred that dying there brings liberation. Ujjain, the ancient Avanti, has the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga. Dwarka is Krishna's city by the sea, where, by the Mahabharata, he lived after Mathura. Kanchipuram, the only southern city of the seven, is known for the Kamakshi Amman temple and holds both Shaiva and Vaishnava shrines.
The seven are not a route with a fixed order: the verse names the cities, and each can be visited on its own.
The four covered in India GO
Varanasi (Kashi)
One of the oldest continuously lived-in cities on earth, along 88 ghats on the Ganga: dawn boats, the evening aarti at Dashashwamedh, the cremation fires of Manikarnika and the Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga. Season October–March; from April to September the heat and then the floods take over the ghats.
Mathura
Krishna's birthplace on the Yamuna and the gateway to Braj: Vrindavan is 12 km away by road and Govardhan about 22 km. Holi and Janmashtami bring the biggest crowds of the year. More in the Mathura guide.
Haridwar (Maya)
Before it was Haridwar the city was Mayapuri, named for the goddess of the Maya Devi temple near Har Ki Pauri, itself a Shakti Pitha. The station is a twenty-minute walk from the ghats, so the train is the natural way in. Avoid July: the Kanwar Yatra brings tens of millions of pilgrims and closes highways.
Ujjain (Avantika)
The city of Mahakaleshwar, with the Harsiddhi temple, one of the Shakti Pithas, close by. Night trains from Delhi arrive in the morning, two kilometres from the temple. October–March is the comfortable season.
How to combine them
Delhi is the starting point for three of the four. Mathura is about 1 h 40 min – 2 h by express train, so it pairs naturally with Vrindavan and Govardhan. Haridwar is about 3 h 20 min by the Vande Bharat or 4.5 hours by the morning Shatabdi. Varanasi takes a night: about 12–14 hours by overnight train, or around 8 hours by the day Vande Bharat. Ujjain is the outlier, about 15 hours from Delhi on the night Malwa Express or 12 hours from Mumbai on the Avantika Express. (Times as checked on 5 August 2026.)
Ayodhya, Kanchipuram and Dwarka are not yet covered in India GO.
Kumbh years in two of the seven
Haridwar hosts the Ardh (half) Kumbh Mela from 14 January to 20 April 2027, and Ujjain the Simhastha, expected from 27 March to 27 May 2028 (provisional dates). The main bathing days bring very large crowds: come for the festival or at another time.
❓ FAQ
What are the seven sacred cities of Hinduism?
Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar (Maya), Varanasi (Kashi), Kanchipuram (Kanchi), Ujjain (Avantika) and Dwarka (Dvaravati), as listed in a verse of the Garuda Purana.
What is Hinduism's holiest city?
There is no single answer, but Varanasi is often considered the holiest of the seven: it is called the city of Shiva, and dying there is believed to bring liberation.
Is Sapta Puri the same as Char Dham?
No. The Char Dham, associated with Adi Shankara, are four abodes at the edges of India: Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. Only Dwarka is in both lists. The Chota Char Dham in Uttarakhand (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath) is a separate Himalayan circuit.
Do I have to visit them in a particular order?
No. The verse lists the cities, it does not prescribe a route, so each can be visited on its own as geography allows.