Pir Matsyendranath

A plain white domed shrine with small corner minarets, on high ground above the Shipra, marking the samadhi (the resting place of a realised teacher) of Matsyendranath, founder of the Nath sampradaya and teacher of Gorakhnath, the lineage that produced the earliest texts of hatha yoga. The structure is usually dated to around the sixth or seventh century, and excavation around it has turned up early antiquities. Hindus and Muslims both honour him, which is why the shrine carries the title Pir. Nothing about it announces itself, so crowds are rare; the Bhartrihari Caves and Gadkalika are two minutes away.

The resting place at the root of hatha yoga, honoured by two traditions at once