Reference to Dravida Kings, temples in South India, Sacred Rivers,Theerthas and Rishis. The references are found in all Purana and Ithihasas, Ramayana and Mahabharata. These references are through the description of places, persons of Dravida Desa and through the presence of Dravida Kings, persons from South. In addition, one would find persons visiting South. One such visit is Balarama’s Pilgrimage to South. Krishna, Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhistra are some of the persons who have visited South. Here Shalya Parva 79 Chapter describes Balarama’s Pilgrimage to South.
Lord Balarama then proceeded towards Dravida-desa and visited the temple of Balaji in Venkatachala. Then He proceeded towards Vishnukanchi, and also visited Shivakanchi. Lord Balarama took His bath in the River Kaveri; and then reached Rangakshetra, the temple of Ranganatha. Then, Lord Balarama visited Madurai, commonly known as the Mathura of southern India. After visiting this place, He went towards Setubandha, the place where Lord Ramachandra constructed the stone bridge from India to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). In this particularly holy place, Lord Balarama distributed ten thousand cows to the local brahmana priests. Lord Balarama then proceeded towards the Kritamala and Tamraparni rivers. These two rivers are celebrated as sacred, and Lord Balarama bathed in them both. He then proceeded towards Malaya Hill. This hill is very great, and it is said to be one of seven peaks called the Malaya Hills. The great sage Agastya used to live there, and Lord Balarama visited him and offered His respects by bowing down before him.
After taking the blessings of sage Agastya, Lord Balarama, with the sage’s permission, proceeded towards the Indian Ocean. At the point of the cape (known as Cape Comorin) is a big temple of goddess Durga, who is known there as Kanyakumari. From there, Lord Balarama went on to visit the pilgrimage city known as Phalguna-tirtha, which is on the shore of the Indian Ocean, and Panchapsarasa. From Cape Comorin, Lord Balarama turned towards Kerala. After visiting this place, He came to Gokarna-tirtha, where Lord Shiva is constantly worshiped. https://www.iskconbangalore.org/blog/pilgrimage-tour-of-lord-balarama/
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