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INDIA, January 12, 2026 (Anuradha Goyal): Culture is a part of our DNA, especially for those who trace their lineage to the culturally rich land of Bharat. They carry it with them wherever they go. Just like a plant uprooted and replanted, sheds a few leaves before it grows new ones, Indian diaspora is also embracing its root culture with renewed enthusiasm. They have recreated or replicated the Tirthas (sacred sites of pilgrimage) of their Ishta Devatas and Kula Devatas so that they can carry on with the periodic rituals and traditions close to where they are. Over time, when there are substantial numbers of diaspora in a region, and they are economically well settled, they start building their temples and start creating a microcosm of the Tirtha ecosystem of their motherland. These Tirthas help the community bond together over shared festivals with a multitude of cultural elements like food, dressing up, music, dance, rituals roughly based on the Indian Panchang.

Replication of Tirthas in different parts of the world depends on the people from which region of India dominate in terms of numbers or which devotees act based on their devotion. Some of the examples of this are recreation of Ayodhya as Ayutthaya in Thailand, grand celebration of Thaipusam in Singapore, Ganga in Trinidad and Tobago. Batu Caves in Malaysia replicate the hill temples dedicated to Kartikeya in South India. A new Jagannath temple is being built in London after replicating in many cities across India. A series of new Swaminarayan are being built across the world to cater to Hindus living there. We also see recreation of those tirthas that are currently outside the political boundaries of India in India like Hinglaj Mata at Mata Na Madh in Gujarat or very recently Sharada Peetha at Teetwal on the Indian side of the Krishna Ganga River.

For a look at several examples of recreations of Tirthas chosen from different parts of the world, see source.
https://anuradhagoyal.com/replication-of-tirthas-by-indian-diaspora/

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