Hinduism

Aathmanatha Swamy temple, Avudaiyarkoil, Thiruperunthurai, Tamil Nadu

Avudaiyarkoil, Tamil Nadu, India

At Avudaiyarkoil in Tamil Nadu, the Athmanathaswamy Temple offers one of Hinduism's rarest forms of worship: Shiva is honored not as a lingam but as the formless...

Adi Kumbeswarar Temple, Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu

Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India

Rising in the heart of Kumbakonam, Adi Kumbeswarar Temple holds what devotees understand as a swayambhu lingam—Shiva manifest in stone formed from amrita, the nectar of...

Ajgaivinath Dham Shiva Temple, Sultanganj, Bihar

Sultanganj, Bihar, India

On a rock island in the Ganga at Sultanganj, Ajgaivinath holds a rock-carved Shiva linga that the river continually bathes....

Amruteshvara Temple, Tarikere, Karnataka

Neralekere, Karnataka, India

At Amruthapura in Karnataka's green Malnad country, this 1196 Hoysala temple wraps an active Shiva shrine in soapstone reliefs of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Krishna's...

Ananta Vasudeva Temple, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Odisha, India

In the Shaiva temple-town of Bhubaneswar, Ananta Vasudeva is the single major Vishnu shrine....

Andal Vishnu Temple, Srivilliputhur, Tamil Nadu

Thiruvilliputtur state assembly constituency, Tamil Nadu, India

A Divya Desam in southern Tamil Nadu, Srivilliputhur is the birthplace of two Alvar saints — Periyalvar and the only female Alvar, Andal — and the place where Andal...

Anegudde Shree Vinayaka Ganapathi Temple, Anegudde, Karnataka

Kumbhashi, Karnataka, India

On a low hill near Kumbashi in coastal Karnataka, Anegudde enshrines Ganesha in a rare standing four-armed form....

Angkor Borei

Angkor Borei, Takeo, Cambodia

Angkor Borei is a long-lived moated settlement in Cambodia's southern floodplain, studied together with—but physically distinct from—the temple hill of Phnom Da....

Anjeyanadri (Anjanadri) Hill, Hampi, Karnataka

Hanumanahalli, Karnataka, India

Across the Tungabhadra from Hampi, Anjanadri Betta is venerated by many as Anjaneyadri — the hill where Hanuman was born — and identified with the Ramayana's Kishkindha....

Annamalayar Shiva Temple, Tiruvanamalai, Tamil Nadu

Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India

Arunachala is the agni (fire) element of the five Pancha Bhuta temples. Here Shiva is not enshrined in a temple but is the hill itself — a freestanding granite mass rising...

Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple

Aranmula, Kerala, India

Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple is a living sacred place in Aranmula, Kerala. Aranmula’s palliyodams are not interchangeable with every Kerala racing boat....

Arulmigu Koodal Azhagar Vishnu temple, Periyar, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

In the heart of Madurai, Koodal Azhagar is an ancient Divya Desam where Vishnu appears in all three postures together — seated, standing and reclining — beneath the rare...

Arulmigu Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu

Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India

On the bank of the sacred Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli, the Kanthimathi Nellaiappar Temple joins twin shrines of Shiva and Parvati across a 14.5-acre complex....

Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameshvaram, Tamil Nadu

Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India

Rameswaram is the temple Rama himself is said to have consecrated — a Shiva shrine raised by Vishnu's avatar in expiation for war....

Arulmigu Shri Yoga Narasimha Swamy Temple, Sholinghur, Tamil Nadu

Sholinghur, Tamil Nadu, India

Above the Tamil plain, reached by 1,305 steps, Vishnu is enshrined here not in his fierce lion-man fury but in calm yogic posture....

Arulmigu Sri Parthasarathyswamy Temple

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

One of the 108 Divya Desams glorified by the Alvar saints, the Parthasarathy Temple in Chennai houses a form of Vishnu found nowhere else: Krishna as Arjuna's charioteer,...

Arulmigu Subramanya Swamy Koil, Thiruttani, Tamil Nadu

Karamangalam, Tamil Nadu, India

One of the six sacred abodes of Murugan, Tiruttani is the place where the war-god, having destroyed the demon Surapadman, came to calm his fury and dwell in peace....

Arulmigu Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple, Tamil Nadu

Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

Carved into a single granite hill near Madurai, Thiruparankundram is the first of Murugan's six sacred abodes and the site of his marriage to Deivanai after the defeat of...

Arulmigu Uchi Pillaiyar Temple, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu

Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

Atop a monolithic rock rising above the Kaveri in central Trichy, Shiva is worshipped as Thayumanavar—'the one who became mother'—from the legend of a deity who took a...

Arulmigu Vaithya Veeraraghavar Temple, Thiruevvul, Tamil Nadu

Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, India

At Tiruvallur, on the edge of the Chennai region, Vishnu is venerated as Vaidya Veeraraghava—the healing form of the Lord, reclining on the serpent Adishesha....

Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

At Attukal in Thiruvananthapuram, the goddess is worshipped as Bhadrakali and identified with Kannagi, the wronged heroine who became a deity of justice....

Avanti Swami Temple ruins, Kashmir

Avantipora, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Above the Jhelum near Awantipora stand the grey stone ruins of Avantiswami, the great Vishnu temple of King Avantivarman's lost 9th-century capital....

Baba Balak Nath Temple, Deotsidh, Himachal Pradesh

Dhatwal, Himachal Pradesh, India

On a hilltop above Chakmoh in Himachal Pradesh, a natural cave enshrines Baba Balak Nath—revered both as an avatar of Kartikeya and as an immortal Natha yogi....

Badami Cave Temples, Badami, Karnataka

Badami, Karnataka, India

Cut into a cliff above Agastya Lake at Badami, ancient Vatapi, four rock-cut caves hold the gods in monumental form: Shiva dancing and Vishnu striding the cosmos in three...

Badrinath

Badrinath, Uttarakhand, India

Rising at 3,133 meters in the Garhwal Himalayas, Badrinath Temple stands as one of Hinduism's four Char Dham—the pilgrimage circuit that promises liberation to those who...

Bagnath Temple, Bageshwar, Uttarakhand

Bāgeshwar, Uttarakhand, India

At the confluence of the Sarayu and Gomati in the Kumaon Himalaya, Bagnath enshrines Shiva as Vyaghreshwar, the Tiger Lord, said to have appeared as a tiger to the sage...

Baidyanath Shiva Temple, Deoghar, Jharkhand

Deoghar, Jharkhand, India

In the Jharkhand town of Deoghar, a lotus-towered shrine holds one of the twelve self-manifest abodes of Shiva, called the divine physician....

Bakong

Roluos, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Consecrated by Indravarman I in 881 at Hariharalaya, Bakong is the earliest fully developed Khmer temple mountain and anchors a much larger enclosure of subsidiary shrines....

Baksei Chamkrong

Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Baksei Chamkrong is an early brick-and-laterite temple dedicated to Shiva and to the memory of Yasovarman I, with a precisely dated 948 inscription....

Ballaleshwar Temple, Pali

Pali, Maharashtra, India

Ballaleshwar Temple in Pali is an active Ashtavinayak shrine whose Ganesha form is named for the devotee Ballal....

Banteay Samré

Banteay Srei, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Banteay Samré is a compact, carefully proportioned twelfth-century temple whose pediments include both Hindu and Buddhist narrative scenes....

Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Banteay Srei was founded by a royal dignitary and dedicated in 967 to Tribhuvanamaheshvara; its pink sandstone reliefs preserve an unusually refined Shaiva and Vaishnava...

Baphuon

Inside Angkor Thom

Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Baphuon is the large eleventh-century temple mountain of Udayadityavarman II, later transformed on its west side with a monumental reclining Buddha....

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London

London, England, United Kingdom

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London is a nationally or regionally important multi-faith place in England. baps shri swaminarayan is interpreted here through Hinduism....

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham

Robbinsville, New Jersey, United States

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey, belongs within Hinduism....

Basukinath Temple, Jarmundi, Jharkhand

Jarmundi, Jharkhand, India

In a corner of Jharkhand's Dumka district stands Basukinath Dham, where Shiva is worshipped as Fauzdari Baba — the lord who personally hears petitions....

Bateshwar Temple, Bateshwar, Uttar Pradesh

Bateshwar, Uttar Pradesh, India

On a curve of the Yamuna south of Agra, a line of around a hundred white-spired Shiva temples stands above the ghats....

Batu Caves Murugan Temple

Selayang Municipal Council, Selangor, Malaysia

Just north of Kuala Lumpur, a limestone hill rises to a soaring cavern enshrining Lord Murugan, the Tamil warrior-god of victory and wisdom....

Bedini Kund Sacred Lake, Bedini Bugyal, Uttarakhand

Tharali, Uttarakhand, India

High in the Chamoli meadows of Uttarakhand, a still glacial lake reflects the peaks of Trishul and Nanda Ghunti....

Belur Chennakeshava Temple, Karnataka

Bellotte, Karnataka, India

On the banks of the Yagachi in Karnataka, the Chennakeshava Temple has held daily worship of Vishnu since 1117 CE....

Beng Mealea

Svay Leu, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Beng Mealea is a large twelfth-century temple complex whose galleries, enclosures, water features, and surrounding urban grid extend beyond its best-known collapsed...

Besakih temple

Besakih, Bali, Indonesia

On the southwestern slope of Mount Agung, a complex of twenty-three temples rises in six terraces toward the holiest mountain in Bali....

Betrayaswamy Temple, Denkanikota, Tamil Nadu

Denkanikottai, Tamil Nadu, India

In the fort town of Denkanikottai near the Karnataka border, a five-tiered gateway tower marks a Vishnu temple held to be around a thousand years old....

Bhabanipur Shaktipeeth Temple

Chandaikona, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

On the banks of the Karatoya River in northern Bangladesh, a four-acre temple complex marks the place where a fragment of the Goddess Sati's body is believed to have...

Bhadrakali Temple, Hanamkonda, Telangana

Hanamkonda, Telangana, India

On a hill between Warangal and Hanamkonda, beside Bhadrakali Lake, sits one of Telangana's oldest goddess shrines....

Bhairabi Mandir

Tezpur, Assam, India

On a hillock on the eastern edge of Tezpur, the Bhairabi Temple holds the image of Bhairavi, a fierce form of the Goddess....

Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple, Tiruninravar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India

At Thirunindravur, a western suburb of Chennai, stands one of the 108 Divya Desams — the Vishnu shrines hymned by the Tamil Alvar saints....

Bhalka Tirth, Veraval, Gujarat

Veraval, Gujarat, India

At Prabhas Patan near Veraval in Gujarat, Bhalka Tirth marks the spot where, by tradition, a hunter's arrow struck Krishna as he sat in yogic repose beneath a peepal tree....