India's hot springs are sacred pilgrimage sites, and at least 5 of them sit in this directory, most tied to a temple or shrine. Manikaran Hot Springs feed a Sikh Gurudwara and Hindu temples in the Parvati Valley, while the free Rajgir Brahmakund in Bihar is revered by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains alike. 2 of the 5 listed here are free to reach. Temple-side kunds, not resorts, define the country.
The Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh hold the country's best-known mountain springs, strung through the Parvati Valley and around Manali. The pilgrimage town of Manikaran Hot Springs pairs its boiling springs with a Gurudwara langar and temples, the free Vashisht Hot Springs fills enclosed baths inside an ancient temple compound near Manali, and the wild Kheer Ganga Hot Spring rewards a 12-kilometre mountain trek to a bathing pool high at 2,960 metres. Three of the directory's Indian springs cluster across these mountains, where pilgrims and trekkers share pools that locals have bathed in for generations, often beside temples and gurdwaras.
The eastern plains of Bihar and West Bengal hold sacred spring complexes on the pilgrimage circuit. The free Rajgir Hot Springs (Brahmakund) channels seven geothermal streams into the Brahmakund and surrounding tanks, which are holy to three faiths, while Bakreshwar Hot Spring sends eight springs from 35 to 66 degrees Celsius past a revered Shakti Pitha temple in Birbhum. Two of the listed Indian springs sit across this eastern region, both bound to major temples and drawing pilgrims who bathe in the kunds as an act of worship and healing.
Indian hot springs are first of all sacred, geothermal water drawn into the worship of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains rather than built into spa resorts. Bathers share the pools with pilgrims at temple tanks called kunds, and many sites run free or ask just a nominal fee, unlike the resort baths of other countries. 2 of the 5 springs listed in this directory are free. Water at Manikaran reaches the boiling point at its source. These sit within the wider hot springs in Asia.
