Muktinath is a sacred place for both Hindus and Buddhists located in Muktinath Valley at an altitude of 3,710 meters at the foot of the Thorong La mountain pass (part of the Himalayas) in Mustang, Nepal. The site is close to the village of Ranipauwa, which is sometimes mistakenly called Muktinath. Within Hinduism, it is called Mukti Kshetra, which literally means the "place of liberation or moksh". This temple is considered to be 106th among the available 108 Divya Desam (premium temples) considered sacred by the Sri Vaishnava sect. The ancient name of this place in Sri Vaishnava literature, before Buddhist origin[clarification needed], is Thiru Saligramam. This[clarification needed] houses the Saligram shila, considered to be the naturally available form of Sriman Narayan the Hindu Godhead. It is also one of the 51 Shakti peeth. The Buddhists call it Chumig Gyatsa, which in Tibetan means "Hundred Waters". Although the temple has a Vaishnav origin, it is also revered in Buddhism. For Tibetan Buddhists, Muktinath is a very important place of dakinis, goddesses known as Sky Dancers, and one of the 24 Tantric places. They understand the murti to be a manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. The central shrine of Sri Muktinath is considered by Hindu Vaishnavas to be one of the eight most-sacred shrines, known as Svayam Vyakta Ksetras; the other seven being Srirangam, Srimushnam, Tirupati, Naimisharanya, Thotadri, Pushkar and Badrinath. The temple is very small. Muktinath is one of the most ancient Hindu temples of God Vishnu. The murti is of gold and is tall enough to compare with a man. The prakaram (outer courtyard) has 108 bull faces through which water is poured. The sacred water that flows in 108 pipes around the temple complex denotes all the sacred Pushkarini waters (Temple Tanks) from all the 108 Sri Vaishnava Divya Desams, where the devotees take their sacred bath even in freezing temperatures. The worship is conducted by Buddhists, with a Buddhist monk present. A local nun manages the pujas (prayer rituals) in the temple. Pilgrims who go there are expected to offer a prasad (religious offering of food) to the deity.

Ayodhya is an ancient city of India, believed to be the birthplace of Rama[2] and setting of the epic Ramayana. It is adjacent to Faizabad city in the central region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. It has an average elevation of 93 meters (305 feet). Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Rama, Ayodhya (Awadh) has been regarded as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites (Saptapuri) for Hindus. It is believed that the birth spot of Rama was marked by a temple, which was demolished by the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur and a mosque erected in its place. The Ayodhya dispute concerns the activism by the Hindu groups to rebuild a Rama's temple at the site. Valmiki's Ramayana, based on traditions dated to the fifth century BCE, centres its tale in a city called Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. It was ruled by king Dasaratha, who is said to have been a descendant of Ikshvaku.[8][10] Rama, his son, exiled to forests, returns to the city after several travails, and establishes an ideal rule in the kingdom. According to Uttara Kanda, a later addition to the Ramayana, Rama divides the kingdom into North and South Kosala at the end of his reign, with respective capitals at Shravasti and Kusavati, and installs his two sons (Lava and Kusa) to rule them.[8] Rama himself enters the waters of the Sarayu river, along with all the inhabitants of the city, and ascends to heaven. The location of this mass suicide was the Gopratara Tirtha, according to the Mahabharata.[11] A persistent local tradition states that Ayodhya became desolate after Rama's ascent to heaven and a "King Vikramaditya" of Ujjain revived it around 50 BCE. (In Raghuvamsa, Kalidasa narrates that Rama's son Kusa revived it.)[12][13]