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Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple
A Krishna temple built by the rulers of Chembakassery, where the deity holds a whip and conch like Parthasarathy, Arjuna's charioteer. It is famous for its palpayasam, a rice and milk pudding that Guruvayurappan is believed to come and taste each day, and it sheltered the Guruvayur image during Tipu Sultan's invasion.
Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple
A Divya Desam on the Pamba river where Krishna is worshipped as Parthasarathy, Arjuna's charioteer, in a six-foot image said to be the tallest of Krishna in Kerala. It is the home of the Aranmula snake-boat race, the Vallasadya feast and the metal Aranmula mirror.
Attukal Bhagavathy Temple
A shrine of the goddess Bhagavathy, identified with Bhadrakali and with Kannaki of the Tamil epic Silappatikaram. It is famous for the Attukal Pongala, when millions of women cook a sweet rice offering in the streets of Thiruvananthapuram, recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest gathering of women.
Aundha Nagnath Temple
A 13th-century Seuna Yadava temple in Hemadpanti style, considered by many to be the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga named in Adi Shankara's Jyotirlinga hymn. Damaged by Sultanate invasions, its upper part was rebuilt later, traditionally by Ahilyabai Holkar.
Badrinath Temple
A temple to Vishnu as Badrinarayan on the Alaknanda river at about 3,100 m, one of the Char Dham and a Divya Desam. It is open in summer only, and its chief priest (Rawal) is by tradition a Namboodiri Brahmin from Kerala.
Baidyanath Temple
The temple of Baba Baidyanath in Deoghar, Jharkhand, widely regarded as the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, with 21 other temples in its compound. In the month of Shravan, millions of pilgrims (kanwariyas) carry Ganga water about 100 km on foot from Sultanganj to offer here. Parli Vaijnath in Maharashtra also claims this Jyotirlinga.
Bhimakali Temple
The family temple of the Bushahr rulers at Sarahan, a striking example of Himachal's Kath-Kuni style of layered timber and stone with pagoda-like roofs. It is revered locally as a Shakti Peetha.
Bhimashankar Temple
A Jyotirlinga temple high in the Sahyadri hills at the source of the Bhima river, inside the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. Its assembly hall and spire were built by Nana Phadnavis in the 18th century. Some other sites, including one in Assam, also claim to be the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga.
Bhimeswara Temple, Draksharama
A great Shiva temple of the Godavari delta, one of the five Pancharamas, where the goddess Manikyamba is worshipped as one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas. Tradition places Daksha's fateful sacrifice here, the event that began the story of the Shakti Peethas.
Bhojeshwar Temple
An unfinished 11th-century Shiva temple of the Paramara king Bhoja, with one of the largest stone lingas in India. Construction drawings engraved on nearby rocks and the earthen ramp used to lift stones survive, so the site shows how medieval temples were built.
Biraja Temple, Jajpur
The temple of Biraja (Viraja), a two-armed form of Durga killing Mahishasura, at Jajpur in Odisha. Jajpur is the Viraja Kshetra of the Puranas, counted among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, and its well is the Nabhi Gaya where rites for ancestors are performed.
Brihadisvara Temple
Built by the Chola emperor Rajaraja I and consecrated in 1010 CE, this granite temple to Shiva has a vimana about 66 m high and is one of the largest temples of its age. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Great Living Chola Temples'.
Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysuru
The hilltop temple of Chamundeshwari, the goddess who killed the buffalo demon Mahishasura, from whom Mysuru takes its name. She is the family deity of the Wodeyar kings and the 'Nada Devi' of Karnataka, at the heart of the Mysuru Dasara.
Chennakeshava Temple, Belur
A masterpiece of Hoysala sculpture on the Yagachi river, commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE. Its soapstone surfaces carry thousands of figures, including the famous bracket figures of dancers (madanikas). It is part of the UNESCO site 'Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas' (2023).
Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple
A goddess temple near Kochi where the deity, a self-manifested laterite stone, is worshipped as Rajarajeswari together with Vishnu. A lower shrine, the Keezhkkavu, holds Bhadrakali in her fierce form, and many people with mental distress come here hoping for relief.
Dakshineswar Kali Temple
A nine-spired (navaratna) temple of Kali as Bhavatarini on the Hooghly river, built by Rani Rashmoni in 1855. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa served here as priest, making it the birthplace of a spiritual movement that went worldwide through Swami Vivekananda.
Dilwara Temples
A group of five Shvetambara Jain temples at Mount Abu, famous for some of the finest marble carving in India. The two oldest, Vimal Vasahi (1031) and Luna Vasahi (1230), were built by ministers of the Chaulukya and Vaghela rulers of Gujarat.
Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple
One of Kerala's major Shiva temples, rebuilt in 1542, with a copper-roofed sanctum and a celebrated mural of Shiva's Pradosha dance. It owns the Ezharaponnana, seven and a half gold-plated elephants shown to devotees once a year at midnight during the festival.
Grishneshwar Temple
The smallest of the Jyotirlinga temples, at Verul next to the Ellora Caves. Destroyed under the Delhi Sultanate and again during the Mughal-Maratha wars, it was restored by Maloji Bhosale, Shivaji's grandfather, and rebuilt in its present form by the Holkars in the 18th century.
Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple
One of Kerala's most visited temples, dedicated to Krishna as Guruvayurappan, a four-armed Vishnu form. It is central to Kerala devotional literature, the Narayaneeyam and Jnanappana, and was the site of the 1931-32 Guruvayur Satyagraha for temple entry.
Harsiddhi Temple, Ujjain
The goddess temple near Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain, known for two tall lamp pillars that blaze with lamps during Navaratri. It is commonly identified with the Ujjain seat among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, though some traditions give that place to Gadkalika.
Jageshwar Temples
A valley of more than 100 stone temples in a deodar forest in Kumaon, built between the 7th and 14th centuries and protected by the ASI. Some traditions identify Jageshwar with Darukavana, the deodar forest of the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga story.
Jogulamba Temple, Alampur
The goddess temple at Alampur, beside the Chalukya-era Navabrahma temples, where Jogulamba is shown seated on a corpse with a scorpion, frog and lizard on her head. Destroyed in 1390, it was rebuilt on its old site in 2005 and the original image reinstalled.
Jor Bangla Temple (Keshta Raya)
A brick temple of 1655 in the Malla capital Bishnupur, shaped as two joined Bengali thatched huts (jor-bangla) and covered in terracotta panels of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Krishna's life. It is an ASI monument.
Jwalamukhi Temple, Kangra
A temple with no image, where the goddess is worshipped as natural gas flames burning from fissures in the rock. Counted among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas as the seat where Sati's tongue fell, it has a gilded dome and silver doors from the Sikh period.
Kailasa Temple, Ellora (Cave 16)
The largest monolithic rock-cut temple in the world, carved downward out of a single basalt hill in the 8th century under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I. It represents Mount Kailasa, Shiva's home, and is part of the Ellora Caves UNESCO site with Buddhist and Jain caves.
Kamakhya Temple
One of the most important Shakti Peethas and a major centre of Tantra, on Nilachal hill above the Brahmaputra. The goddess is worshipped as a yoni-shaped stone in a cave, kept wet by a spring. It was rebuilt in 1565 by the Koch king Nara Narayan after destruction earlier in the century.
Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram
The great goddess temple of Kanchipuram, where Kamakshi sits in yogic posture holding a noose, goad, sugarcane bow and flower arrows, with a Sri Chakra before her. It is counted among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas and is closely tied to the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
The largest and finest of the Khajuraho temples, a Chandela masterpiece of about 1030 CE. Its central spire about 31 m high is surrounded by 84 smaller spires, and its walls carry some 870 sculptures. It is intact but no longer in regular worship, and is part of a UNESCO site.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple
One of the twelve Jyotirlingas, in the heart of Varanasi (Kashi), the city of Shiva. Earlier temples were destroyed in the 12th, 15th and 17th centuries; the present temple was built by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1780 next to the Gyanvapi Mosque, which stands on the site of the temple demolished in 1669.
Kedarnath Temple
A Jyotirlinga temple at about 3,583 m in the Garhwal Himalaya, open only from about April-May to November. It is part of the Chota Char Dham and Panch Kedar. The stone temple survived the 2013 Uttarakhand floods that devastated the town.
Kodungallur Sree Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple
One of Kerala's oldest goddess shrines, in the old Chera capital near Muziris. The fierce eight-armed Bhadrakali, also identified with Kannaki, is head of 64 Bhadrakali shrines of Malabar. Its Bharani festival, with the Kavu Theendal rush of oracles, is among the most intense in Kerala.
Konark Sun Temple
A 13th-century Sun temple of the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I, built as a colossal stone chariot of Surya with 24 carved wheels drawn by seven horses. The main tower has collapsed; the surviving assembly hall (jagamohana) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lalita Devi Temple, Prayagraj
The goddess temple at Meerapur in Prayagraj, near the meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna, regarded as the Prayag Shakti Peetha where Sati's fingers fell. The Ashtadasha hymn calls the goddess here Madhaveshwari; the nearby Alopi Devi temple also claims the seat.
Lingaraja Temple
The largest temple of Bhubaneswar, the 'temple city', dedicated to Harihara, a joint form of Shiva and Vishnu. Its spire is about 55 m high, and it is the mature masterpiece of the Kalinga style.
Mahabodhi Temple
The temple marks the place where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, the holiest site in Buddhism. Its present 55 m brick tower dates from the Gupta period, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga
One of the twelve Jyotirlingas, in the ancient city of Ujjain (Avantika). Its south-facing linga and pre-dawn Bhasma Aarti are unique. Destroyed by Iltutmish in 1234-35, it was rebuilt under Maratha rule in the 18th century, and the Mahakal Lok corridor opened in 2022.
Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur
The temple of Mahalakshmi, known locally as Ambabai, in the old city of Karaveer (Kolhapur). Her gemstone image wears a crown with a five-hooded serpent. It is one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas and one of Maharashtra's 'three and a half' Shakti Peethas.
Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam
A hilltop temple above the Krishna river where Shiva is worshipped as Mallikarjuna and the goddess as Bhramaramba. It is unusual in being both one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of the Shakti Peethas, and inscriptions show it was already a sacred site in the 2nd century.
Mangla Gauri Temple, Gaya
A hilltop goddess temple in Gaya, the city of ancestral rites, where Sati is worshipped as Mangala Gauri. It is counted among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas as the seat where Sati's breast fell, and is mentioned in the Vayu, Padma and Agni Puranas.
Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple
Kerala's best-known serpent temple, set in a sacred grove at Haripad with over 100,000 snake images along its paths. It is run by the Mannarasala Illam family, and its matriarch, the Amma, leads worship, a rare tradition of a woman as chief priest. Childless couples come to pray here.
Martand Sun Temple
Built by the Karkota king Lalitaditya Muktapida in the 8th century, this Sun temple on a plateau above the Kashmir valley was the grandest example of Kashmiri temple architecture. It was destroyed in the early 15th century under Sultan Sikandar Shah Miri, and its ruins are an ASI monument.
Mata Vaishno Devi Temple
A cave shrine of the goddess in the Trikuta hills, reached by a trek of about 12-13 km from Katra. The goddess is worshipped as three natural rock forms (pindis) of Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. It is one of India's most visited pilgrimages.
Meenakshi Amman Temple
The temple of Meenakshi (Parvati) and Sundareswarar (Shiva) stands at the centre of Madurai, which was laid out around it. Damaged during the Delhi Sultanate raids of the early 14th century, it was rebuilt by the Madurai Nayakas into the vast complex of 14 gopurams seen today.
Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Temple
A Jyotirlinga temple on the Saurashtra coast about 16 km from Dwarka, with an underground sanctum and a 25 m seated statue of Shiva. Tradition places the Darukavana forest of the Shiva Purana story here, although Aundha Nagnath in Maharashtra and Jageshwar in Uttarakhand also claim this Jyotirlinga.
Omkareshwar Temple
A Jyotirlinga temple on Mandhata island in the Narmada, which tradition says is shaped like the sacred syllable Om. Built by the Paramaras, damaged in later invasions and rebuilt by the Holkar queens in the 18th century, it is paired with the Mamleshwar temple on the river's south bank.
Puruhutika Devi Temple, Pithapuram
The shrine of Puruhutika Devi inside the Kukkuteswara Shiva temple at Pithapuram, where Shiva is worshipped as a rooster-shaped linga. The town is one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, the Pada Gaya of the three Gaya sites, and the birthplace of Sripada Sri Vallabha.
Ramanathaswamy Temple
A Jyotirlinga temple on Pamban Island, where tradition says Rama worshipped Shiva. It is one of the Char Dham and is famous for its pillared corridors, the longest of any Hindu temple in India, and its 22 holy wells (theerthams).
Ramappa Temple
A Kakatiya Shiva temple of 1213 CE, built by the general Recharla Rudra and known by the name of its sculptor, Ramappa. Its shikhara uses light, porous bricks, and its dancer brackets are celebrated. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
Renuka Devi Temple, Mahur
A hilltop temple at Mahur where Renuka, mother of Parashurama, is worshipped as Ekaveera. Only her head is enshrined. Mahur is one of Maharashtra's 'three and a half' Shakti Peethas and is also sacred to Dattatreya.
Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple
A hill shrine of Ayyappa in the Western Ghats, open only in set seasons. Pilgrims keep a 41-day vow, carry the irumudi bundle and climb the 18 sacred steps. Its peak attendance in the Mandala-Makaravilakku season is counted in millions.
Sangameswara Temple (relocated)
A Chalukya-era Shiva temple that stood at Kudaveli, where the Tungabhadra meets the Krishna. When the Srisailam dam reservoir was to flood the site, it was taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt near Alampur, which is also home to the Jogulamba Shakti Peetha and the Navabrahma temples.
Sharada Peeth
The ruined temple of the goddess Sharada in the Neelum valley, once one of the great centres of learning in South Asia and the source of the Sharada script. Counted among the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, it has been beyond reach of most Indian pilgrims since 1947.
Shore Temple
One of the earliest structural (built, not rock-cut) stone temples of South India, standing on the Bay of Bengal. It holds two Shiva shrines and a reclining Vishnu between them, and is part of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (UNESCO).
Shree Jagannath Temple
The temple of Jagannath, 'lord of the universe', with his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra, all in wooden form, on the coast at Puri. One of the Char Dham, it is famous for the Rath Yatra and for its kitchen, which feeds tens of thousands daily with Mahaprasad.
Shri Mangueshi Temple
The family deity of many Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, Mangesh (Shiva) was moved in the 1560s from Kushasthali (Cortalim) in Portuguese-ruled Salcete to Mangeshi in Ponda, beyond Portuguese control, when temples were being destroyed. The present temple, with its seven-storey lamp tower, dates from the 18th century.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir
A new temple to Rama at the site held by Hindus to be his birthplace, built after the Supreme Court's 2019 judgment in the Ayodhya title dispute. The site had held the Babri Masjid (1528) until its demolition in 1992. The Nagara-style temple was designed by the Sompura family and consecrated in January 2024.
Shri Vaijnath Temple, Parli
A Hemadpanti-style Shiva temple at Parli in Beed district, which many in Maharashtra regard as the true Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, a claim shared with Deoghar in Jharkhand. Its spire rises about 75-80 feet above a brass-plated eastern door.
Somnath Temple
The first of the twelve Jyotirlingas, on the Saurashtra coast. Sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026 and attacked repeatedly afterwards, it was rebuilt each time; the present temple was raised after Independence on the initiative of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and consecrated in 1951.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
The temple of Vishnu as Padmanabha, reclining on the serpent Ananta, gives Thiruvananthapuram (city of Ananta) its name. It blends Kerala and Tamil Dravida styles, and was the state temple of Travancore. The opening of its vaults in 2011 revealed one of the largest known temple treasures.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple
On an island between the Kaveri and Kollidam rivers, this temple of the reclining Vishnu, Ranganatha, is the first of the 108 Divya Desams and among the largest functioning Hindu temple complexes in the world, with seven concentric enclosures. It was the home of the philosopher Ramanuja.
Sri Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala
The hill temple of Venkateswara on the seventh of the Seshachalam hills is one of the most visited religious sites in the world. It is run by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), known for its hair-tonsure offerings, hundi and the Tirupati laddu.
Sun Temple, Modhera
A Sun temple built under Bhima I of the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty in 1026-27 CE, just after Mahmud of Ghazni's raid on Gujarat. It has a sanctum hall, an assembly hall and a great stepped tank (Surya Kund). Its spire is lost and it is no longer in worship.
Thillai Nataraja Temple
The temple of Shiva as Nataraja, the cosmic dancer, and one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams, representing space (akasha). Its gopurams carry the 108 karanas, dance poses of the Natya Shastra. It also houses the Vaishnava Govindaraja shrine.
Thirunelli Maha Vishnu Temple
A forest temple of Vishnu in the Brahmagiri hills of Wayanad, about 900 m above sea level. Water reaches it through a stone aqueduct, and pilgrims come to perform rites for their ancestors in the Papanasini stream, which has earned it the name Kashi of the South.
Trimbakeshwar Temple
A Jyotirlinga temple near the source of the Godavari, whose linga has three small faces for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The earlier temple was destroyed under Aurangzeb, and the present black-basalt temple was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao in the 18th century.
Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur
A walled temple complex of about nine acres on the hillock at the heart of Thrissur, with shrines to Shiva, Shankaranarayana and Rama. Its Shiva linga lies hidden under a mound of ghee built up over centuries of offerings, and the Thrissur Pooram is held around it. It is a protected national monument and won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific conservation award in 2015.
Vaikom Mahadeva Temple
An ancient Shiva temple, worshipped as Dakshinamurthy in the morning, Kiratamurthy at noon and Shakti Panchakshari in the evening, with Kerala's only oval sanctum. The roads around it were the scene of the Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924-25, a landmark struggle against untouchability.
Virupaksha Temple, Hampi
A living Shiva temple in the middle of the ruined Vijayanagara capital. It kept its worship after the city was sacked in 1565 and is the focus of the Hampi UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal
The largest temple at Pattadakal, built by Queen Lokamahadevi to celebrate her husband Vikramaditya II's victory over the Pallavas at Kanchipuram. It is a key monument of the UNESCO site where northern and southern temple styles stand side by side.
Vishalakshi Temple, Varanasi
The goddess temple at Mir Ghat in Varanasi, near Kashi Vishwanath, regarded as the Shakti Peetha where Sati's earring fell. The present temple, with a small Dravidian gateway and Tamil inscriptions, was completed in 1893 by the Nattukottai Nagarathars of Tamil Nadu.