Hinduism sacred sites in india

Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India

In 1010 CE, the Chola emperor Rajaraja I completed a temple so vast that its tower rises 216 feet and its capstone weighs 80 tons....

Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysore, Karnataka

Chamundipuram, Karnataka, India

Atop Chamundi Hills above Mysuru stands the temple of Chamundeshwari, a fierce form of Durga said to have slain the demon Mahishasura here....

Chandramouleshwara Temple, Hubli, Karnataka

Hubli, Karnataka, India

At Unkal in Hubballi, the Chandramauleshwara Temple is a Kalyana Chalukya Shiva shrine with a rare four-faced linga and doors on all four sides....

Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, Chengannur, Kerala

Chengannur, Kerala, India

Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, among Kerala's oldest, enshrines Shiva and Parvati facing each other in one complex....

Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapur, Karnataka

Bevinahalli, Karnataka, India

The Chennakeshava Temple at Somanathapura, consecrated in 1258 CE, is the most complete surviving Hoysala temple, a three-shrined sanctuary to Vishnu on a star-shaped...

Chettikulangara Bhagavathy Temple, Mavelikkara, Kerala

Chettikulangara, Kerala, India

In a village west of Mavelikkara stands one of central Kerala's great goddess temples, where Bhadrakali is honoured at dawn as Saraswati, at midday as Lakshmi, and in the...

Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple, Chottannikkara, Kerala

Kanayannur, Kerala, India

Near Thrippunithura outside Kochi, Chottanikkara honours the goddess Rajarajeswari in three forms across the day, and the fierce Bhadrakali at its lower Keezhkavu shrine....

Dakshineswar Kali temple, Kolkata, West Bengal

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

On the Hooghly in northern Kolkata stands the temple Rani Rashmoni built after a dream of the goddess....

Danteshwari Temple, Chhattisgarh

Dondi Tahsil, Chhattisgarh, India

At the meeting of the Shankini and Dankini rivers in Dantewada stands a temple held to mark where Sati's tooth fell, one of the 52 Shakti Peethas....

Elephanta Caves

Maharashtra, India

On Elephanta Island near Mumbai, rock-cut sanctuaries give monumental form to devotion to Shiva....

Ellora caves, Maharashtra

Khuldabad, Maharashtra, India

Over four centuries, Buddhist monks, Hindu devotees, and Jain ascetics carved 34 temples and monasteries into a basalt cliff in western India—side by side, in the same...

Gangotri Temple, Uttarakhand

Gangotri, Uttarakhand, India

Gangotri Temple stands beside the Bhagirathi river in the Garhwal Himalaya, at the place Hindu tradition holds Ganga first touched earth....

Garbharakshambigai Temple, Thirukkarugavur

Thirukkarugavur, Tamil Nadu, India

The temple at Thirukkarugavur is devoted to Shiva as Mullaivananathar and the goddess Garbharakshambigai....

Gaumukh Spring, Mount Abu

Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India

At Gaumukh near Mount Abu, water flowing through a cow-mouth feature gives the temple precinct its name.

Gaurikund, Sudh Mahadev

Dhar Shiv Garh, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Gaurikund near Sudh Mahadev is a spring-fed pool and shrine in Jammu’s Udhampur district.

Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga

Verul, Maharashtra, India

Grishneshwar is the last of Shiva's twelve jyotirlingas, standing in Verul village barely a kilometre from the Ellora Caves but belonging to an entirely different order of...

Group of Monuments at Hampi

Hampi, Karnataka, India

Hampi sprawls across a boulder-strewn landscape in Karnataka, its sixteen hundred monuments testifying to the Vijayanagara Empire's golden age....

Hanuman Tok

Gangtok, Sikkim, India

High in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, at 7,200 feet, a Hindu temple marks the spot where Lord Hanuman is believed to have rested during his legendary flight bearing a...

Jagannath Vishnu Temple, Puri, Odisha

Puri (M), Odisha, India

Jagannath Temple is less a monument than a living order of worship, food, service, and pilgrimage....

Kadalekalu Ganesha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka

Part of Group of Monuments at Hampi

Hampi, Karnataka, India

On the boulder-strewn slopes of Hemakuta Hill, the Vijayanagara sculptors carved their devotion into a single massive granite boulder....

Kakatiya Rudreshwara Ramappa Temple, Telangana

Palampet, Telangana, India

Rising from the Telangana countryside on a star-shaped platform, Ramappa Temple stands as the pinnacle of Kakatiya dynasty architecture....

Kalahasteeswarar Temple, Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu

Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India

The Kalahasteeswarar Temple in Kumbakonam is considered equivalent to the renowned Srikalahasti Temple near Tirupati, earning it the name Then Kalahasti, Southern...

Kalpeshwar temple, Uttarakhand

Urgam, Uttarakhand, India

Kalpeshwar is the fifth and final shrine of the Panch Kedar, a small stone temple built into a cave in Uttarakhand's Urgam Valley where Shiva's jata, his matted locks, are...

Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Kashi Vishwanath houses one of the twelve jyotirlingas — Shiva manifest as a self-arisen pillar of light — at the heart of Varanasi, where the Ganga, the cremation ghats,...

Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand

Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, India

Kedarnath Temple stands at 3,583 metres in the Garhwal Himalayas, the highest of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of Uttarakhand's four Char Dham sites....

Kheerganga Sacred Hot Spring

Kheerganga, Himachal Pradesh, India

Kheerganga’s hot spring is a religious destination reached on foot in Himachal Pradesh’s Parvati Valley.

Kukke Subramanya Temple

Subrahmanya, Karnataka, India

Kukke Subramanya Temple lies in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, near the Kumaradhara River....

Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Odisha, India

Lingaraj is the architectural and devotional centre of Bhubaneswar, the Temple City of India....

Madhyamaheshwar Temple

Gaundar, Uttarakhand, India

Madhyamaheshwar enshrines the navel of a bull-formed Shiva at roughly 3,497 metres in the Garhwal Himalayas, reached by a multi-day trek through pine forest and river...

Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Shiva Temple, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India

Mahakaleshwar is the only dakshinamukhi (south-facing) jyotirlinga among the twelve and the sole temple in the world whose daily 04:00 aarti smears the lingam with sacred...

Mani Mahesh Lake and Temple, Budhil Valley, Himachal Pradesh

Brahmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India

Manimahesh Lake lies in the Budhil valley of Himachal Pradesh, beneath a mountain revered as Shiva’s abode....

Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple

Haripad, Kerala, India

At Mannarasala, serpent veneration is carried through a sacred grove, thousands of offered images, and a hereditary priestess....

Mehandipur Balaji Temple

Mehandipur, Rajasthan, India

Mehandipur Balaji Temple is a Hanuman pilgrimage destination in eastern Rajasthan, known for people seeking protection and relief from distress....

Murudeshwara Shiva temple, Bhatkal Taluk, Karnataka

Bailuru, Karnataka, India

Murudeshwara stands on Kanduka Hill, a small headland projecting into the Arabian Sea on Karnataka's coast....

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

Dwarka, Gujarat, India

On a quiet stretch of Saurashtra coast seventeen kilometres north-west of Dwarka, Nageshwar stands as the tenth of the twelve Jyotirlingas — Shiva as Nagesha, the lord of...

Nelluvai Sree Dhanwanthari Temple

Nelluvai, Kerala, India

Nelluvai's Dhanwanthari Temple in Thrissur district is a Kerala pilgrimage place associated with prayers for health....

Omkareshwar Jyotir Linga Shiva temple, Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh

Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh, India

Omkareshwar is the fourth jyotirlinga and the only one located on an island. Mandhata Island sits in the Narmada — tradition holds it is shaped like the sacred syllable Om....

Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple

Palani, Tamil Nadu, India

The hilltop Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple at Palani is one of Murugan's six principal abodes....

Papnash Sacred Spring

Bidar, Karnataka, India

A natural spring flows into the pond before Papnash Shiva Temple.

Pushkar Lake

rajasthan, india

Pushkar Lake sits within the town of Pushkar in Rajasthan. Ghats and temples gather around a body of water held sacred in Hindu pilgrimage....

Rani-ki-Vav

Patan, Gujarat, India

Rani-ki-Vav in Patan, Gujarat, is an eleventh-century stepwell where water architecture and Hindu sacred imagery meet....

Rudranath Temple

Gopeshwar area, Uttarakhand, India

Rudranath is the fourth of the Panch Kedar temples, holding a self-manifested rock face of Shiva deep in a Garhwal Himalayan forest, reached only by a multi-day trek...

Savitri Mata Mandi (Savitri Temple)

Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Perched atop Ratnagiri Hill in Pushkar, the Savitri Mata Temple honors the first wife of Lord Brahma, who cursed her husband and merged with this mountain....

Shree Ananthapadmanabha Temple, Kudupu

Mangaluru, Karnataka, India

Shree Ananthapadmanabha Temple at Kudupu, near Mangaluru, is an active Hindu temple dedicated to Anantha Padmanabha, whom the temple identifies as a form of Vishnu....

Shri Amarnath Shiva Cave, Kashmir

Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Shri Amarnath is the rare Shaiva shrine where the deity is not represented but literally manifests, year after year, as a column of ice that forms and dissolves with the...

Shri Chakreshwari Devi Temple (Sharika Mata Temple)

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Perched atop Hari Parbat in Srinagar, Sharika Mata Temple houses a Svayambhu Sri Chakra—a self-manifested sacred geometric form on natural rock that Tantric practitioners...

Shri Krishna Janmasthan Temple

Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

Shri Krishna Janmasthan Temple is a living sacred place in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh....

Somnath Jyotir Linga Shiva Temple, Somnath, Gujarat

Veraval, Gujarat, India

Somnath is the Adi Jyotirlinga — the first in the canonical sequence of twelve — standing on the Saurashtra coast where Chandra the moon-god is said to have installed it....