Senior Editor
Kamal Kumar is ProperPandit's Senior Editor, with 20 years of practice and study of Hindu traditions. He writes about temple history, sacred sites and ancestral rites, and reviews many of the site's articles on tradition. Like all our contributors, he writes independently alongside work in another professional field.
Terms & traditions
Nagara temples have a curving tower over the sanctum, Dravida temples a stepped pyramid inside walls entered through gopurams, and Vesara is a contested name for the mixed Deccan style. A guide to the parts you will see and how to recognise each style.
Terms & traditions
Ellora's Kailasa (Cave 16) was carved for the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I in the eighth century, according to a copper-plate grant of 812–13 CE. Masons isolated a block of basalt with deep trenches and carved it from the top down. Here is what the record shows, what scholars estimate, and how the '200 years' and 'alien' claims compare.
Terms & traditions
Karnataka Tourism asks visitors to Talakaveri to dress modestly, especially at the Brahma Kundike, and says the temple is usually open 6 am to 6 pm. Here is what the official sources say, and what they don't.
Vrat & festivals
Diwali Lakshmi Puja is on Sunday 8 November 2026 in every overseas city we checked. Here are the local muhurat and Pradosh Kaal windows for New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Houston, the Bay Area, Toronto, London, Leicester and Dubai.
Vrat & festivals
Choghadiya for Friday 6 November 2026, Dhanteras, for New Delhi, Mumbai, Toronto, New York and London, plus the evening puja muhurat for Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, New Jersey, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco, all from Drik Panchang and checked against our own sunrise and sunset maths.
Terms & traditions
Snow buries both shrines for about six months, so worship moves downhill: Kedarnath's to Ukhimath, Badrinath's to Pandukeshwar and Jyotirmath. How the closing and opening dates are chosen, and where to check them.
Vrat & festivals
Dhanteras falls on Friday 6 November 2026, opening the five days of Diwali. Here are the evening puja windows for New Delhi, London, New York, Toronto and Dubai, plus Dhanvantari, the Yama Deepam lamp and the custom of buying metal.
Terms & traditions
The temple trust says it charges no fee for darshan or aarti passes. Its published free darshan slots, the three aarti times, where to reserve a pass, and how to avoid anyone selling 'VIP' entry.
Terms & traditions
Every visitor to the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi must pre-register individually on mandir.ae, and only after arriving in the UAE. Bring a physical Emirates ID or passport. The mandir is closed on Mondays and open 9 am to 8 pm Tuesday to Sunday, with an evening Ganga Aarti.
Terms & traditions
Registration for the Uttarakhand Char Dham Yatra is compulsory and free. It is done on the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board's portal, its app, an official WhatsApp service or a registration centre. Here is how it works, and how to spot a fake.
Terms & traditions
Fake websites copying TTD, Puri, Kashi Vishwanath and Somnath have taken money from pilgrims. How to check a booking site before you pay, a list of official portals, and what to do if you have already paid.
Terms & traditions
The Ganesh Temple at 45-57 Bowne Street, Flushing, is open 8:00 am to 8:30 pm on weekdays and 7:30 am to 8:30 pm at weekends, with a canteen open daily from 8:30 am. Here is what the temple's own pages say about dress, phones, parking, the daily pooja schedule and booking a service.
Terms & traditions
Highgate Hill Murugan Temple on Archway Road is open every day, 8 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 9 pm, with poojas in the morning and from 5 pm to 8 pm. Abisekams are booked through the temple office. Here is what its official site says, what it leaves out, and how East Ham's Murugan temple differs.
Terms & traditions
Entry is free and there is no dress code, but phones, gadgets and even pens are not allowed inside. What Sugam Darshan is, how the four aartis are booked, and how to avoid fake booking sites.
Terms & traditions
The Malibu Hindu Temple sits at 1600 Las Virgenes Canyon Road in Calabasas, California. It is open 9 am to 12:30 pm and 5 to 8 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 8 pm at weekends, and its canteen serves saatvik South Indian food made without onion or garlic.
Terms & traditions
The Sri Venkateswara (SV) Temple in Penn Hills, Pittsburgh, consecrated in November 1976, is one of the earliest traditional Hindu temples in the United States. Darshan needs no appointment, there is a dress code for visitors aged 12 and up, and pujas can be booked online even if you cannot attend.
Terms & traditions
There is no single Hindu temple dress code. Each temple sets its own rules, and some have none at all. A temple-by-temple table, with each rule traced to the temple's own page or a government source.
Terms & traditions
TTD runs several darshan queues at Tirumala: free Sarva Darshan, time-slotted SSD tokens, the Special Entry (Seeghra) Darshan booked online, Divya Darshan for those who walk up, and a separate queue for senior citizens, the differently abled and certain medical cases. What each is, who it suits, and where to book safely.
Terms & traditions
Every pilgrim needs a free RFID Yatra Access Card from the Shrine Board before starting the trek from Katra. How registration works, what the 12–13 km climb involves, why pilgrims go on to Bhairon, and the options for elders.
Numerology
Your Mulank comes from your birth day, your Bhagyank from the whole date. The arithmetic, a worked example, and edge cases such as midnight births.
Kundli & astrology
What each of the twelve houses of a Kundli traditionally covers, how they are counted from the Lagna, and how to read them without fear.
Panchang & calendar
Each Hindu month is named after a nakshatra, but today the name is fixed by where the Sun is. The full list, Hindi forms, and the rule behind it.
Kundli & astrology
Your Lagna is the sign rising in the east at birth. How it is calculated, why a sign takes 85 to 140 minutes to rise in Delhi, and a quick chart check.
Numerology
The Lo Shu is a 3×3 magic square from Chinese tradition that numerologists fill with birth-date digits. How it works, and why so many grids look alike.
Numerology
Your personal year number combines your birth day and month with the calendar year. The arithmetic, a ten-year example, and the January vs birthday debate.
Kundli & astrology
Your Vedic and Western signs differ for two reasons: a different body (Moon vs Sun) and a different zodiac (sidereal vs tropical).
