Religion is the most powerful and significant aspect of human’s life so does the religious places. Many of us live our lives as per the Religious rules and regulations. Furthermore, visiting these religious places once in life becomes mandatory or the most blissful thing for us. The Top 10 Religious Places in the World can be said as the most visited destinations of the world due to the believers’ regular visit to these  places for peace and harmony.

1. Mecca, Saudi Arabia
2. Lhasa, Tibet
3. Bethlehem
4. Varanasi, India
5. Vatican City
6. Haifa, Israel
7.  Salt Lake City, Utah
8. Jerusalem, Israel
9. Pushkar, India
10. Medina, Saudi Arabia

Why and since when these Top 10 Religious Places in the World came in existence is elucidated below.

Mecca is the most popular and most sacred sites in Islam. This is a place where Prophet Muhammad took birth in 570 and in 630, he took control of the city and declared it as the place of Muslim Pilgrimage and dedicated it worship of only Allah. This pilgrimage is part of the Five Pillars of Islam, and is required of any capable Muslim at least once in their life. Saudi law forbids non-Muslims to enter Mecca. Prophet Muhammad has built the Kabba, a cube-shaped building in Mecca which is the location where all Muslims face during their prayer, no matter where they are in the world.

Place of the gods is used as the synonym of Lhasa. This was a city of Dalai Lamas, political and religious leaders of Tibetan Buddhism until the Chinese invaded and the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959. Lhasa has many sites that are of historical significance including Jokhang Temple, Norbulingka and the Potala Palace, which are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites; and Sera and Drepung Monasteries, and Zhefeng Temple.   Around one million pilgrims can be found in Tibet each year in Lhasa kneeling or lying prone with their foreheads on the ground to gain spiritual merit by following one of the three concentric pathways that go inside or around Johkhang Temple.

Bethlehem is believed as the birth place of Jesus by most Christians. It is located six miles outside of Jerusalem have only 30,000 thousand of population. This 2,000 year old city has seen many emperors since ages like the Romans, Samaritans, Muslim armies, Crusaders, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Ottomans, and the British during WWI. Currently, it is controlled by the Palestinian National Authority. Regardless of all, Christian pilgrims flock to the city especially at Christmas and Easter, to see the Church of the Nativity, which is thought to mark the place of Christ’s birth, and to be one of the oldest churches in the world.

Varanasi located in northern India is one of the biggest holy places for Hindus in India. Over one million pilgrims visit the city each year. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges River forgives sin and that dying in this area ensures the release of a person’s soul. Varanasi has also witnessed the first sermon on the basic principles of Buddhism here.

The center of Rome, Italy is holy place for many Christians as this was the central authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the residence of all Popes since 1377. There is a lot to see in Vatican City, including St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Library, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum, which house incredible works of art by Michelangelo, Bernini, Botticelli and Raphael.

Haifa is religious place for the pilgrims of Bahá’í faith, which is an independent world religion founded in the mid 1800 in Iran by Bahá’u’lláh. The followers believe Bahá’u’lláh is the most recent prophet, following in the footsteps of Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus.  He simply wanted to unite all for a good cause through love and divine knowledge. The Bahá’í World Center and its golden-domed shrine were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site last year.

Prophet Brigham has founded this place in 1847. The city is very diverse, both religiously and culturally. The city is the headquarters of The Church of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the Salt Lake Temple is a main tourist attraction. This enormous six-spire granite building sits in the heart of the city and took 40 years to build. Only members of LDS are permitted to enter the building. You’ll also find the Family History Library, which is the largest genealogical library in the world and open to the public.

One of the oldest cities in world  is Jerusalem since 4000 B.C.  This is the place which is worshiped by 3 different religions at a time Jewish, Christianity and Islam. Over the centuries it has been destroyed twice, attacked 52 times and besieged 23 times. Today the city is at the center of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It is declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. It has several religious sites like Temple Mount, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Western Wall and al-Aqsa Mosque.

One of the five sacred pilgrimage sites of Hindus is Pushkar. It is believed that the creator of the Earth Lord Brahma of Hindus let loose a swan with a lotus in its beak. The lotus fell to earth and the place where it landed is Pushkar. As a custom, pilgrims visit this place during the months of October and November to bath at one of the 52 ghats. Here, is the only Brahma temple in the world and site also witness the world’s largest camel fairs and attracts thousands of tourists.

The second holiest place of Islam is Medina which is located in a very fertile place about 120 miles from Red sea in the area of Hejaz territory. Al Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque) was built on the site of Muhammad’s home and is where he is buried. Like Mecca, only Muslims are allowed to enter Medina. After or before proceeding to Hajj pilgrimage, many Muslims visit Medina to complete their Hajj.