Sacred Temples of India
Jyotirlingas, Char Dham, Shakti Pithas and beloved shrines — a curated guide to the country's most significant temples, with directions for your yatra.
Badrinath Temple
Badrinath, Uttarakhand
A Himalayan temple to Lord Vishnu as Badrinarayan, set beside the Alaknanda river below the Neelkanth peak. Its brightly painted facade stands against a dramatic mountain backdrop.
Dwarkadhish Temple
Dwarka, Gujarat
A five-storeyed temple to Lord Krishna as Dwarkadhish, the King of Dwarka, rising above the Gomti creek on the Arabian Sea. A tall flag is changed atop its spire several times daily.
Hanuman Garhi
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh
A fort-like temple to Lord Hanuman set on a mound in Ayodhya, approached by a flight of some seventy-six steps. Its sanctum enshrines Hanuman as a child seated with his mother Anjani.
Jagannath Temple
Puri, Odisha
A monumental temple to Lord Jagannath, a form of Krishna, worshipped with his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra. It is renowned for its towering deul and its annual Rath Yatra chariot festival.
Kalighat Kali Temple
Kolkata, West Bengal
A temple to Goddess Kali in southern Kolkata, on the old course of the Hooghly river. Its striking image of Kali with a golden tongue and silver arms is a focus of intense devotion.
Kamakhya Temple
Guwahati, Assam
A temple to the Goddess Kamakhya atop the Nilachal hill overlooking the Brahmaputra. Its distinctive beehive-shaped dome crowns a shrine centred on a natural spring rather than an image.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
The revered temple of Lord Shiva on the western bank of the Ganga in the ancient city of Varanasi. Its gold-plated spire and sanctum housing the Vishwanath jyotirlinga draw pilgrims from across the world.
Kedarnath Temple
Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
A stone temple to Lord Shiva set at nearly 3,600 metres in the Garhwal Himalayas, near the source of the Mandakini river. It is open only for part of the year due to snow.
Mahakaleshwar Temple
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
The temple of Lord Shiva as Mahakala, lord of time, beside the Rudra Sagar lake in the ancient city of Ujjain. It is famed for its early-morning Bhasma Aarti performed with sacred ash.
Meenakshi Amman Temple
Madurai, Tamil Nadu
A vast temple complex dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi and her consort Sundareswarar (Shiva), famous for its towering, sculpture-covered gopurams painted in vivid colour.
Ramanathaswamy Temple
Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
An island temple to Lord Shiva famed for having the longest temple corridor in India, lined with ornately carved pillars. Pilgrims bathe in its sacred wells before darshan.
Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple
Pathanamthitta, Kerala
A forest hill shrine to Lord Ayyappa reached by a pilgrim trek through the Western Ghats. Devotees observe weeks of austerity and climb the eighteen holy steps to the sanctum.
Siddhivinayak Temple
Mumbai, Maharashtra
A beloved temple to Lord Ganesha in the heart of Mumbai, its sanctum enshrining a black-stone Ganesha whose trunk turns to the right. Long queues of devotees form daily, especially on Tuesdays.
Somnath Temple
Veraval, Gujarat
The seaside temple of Lord Shiva on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat, rebuilt many times through history. Its sanctum enshrines the Somnath jyotirlinga.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple
Srirangam, Tamil Nadu
An immense temple-town dedicated to Lord Ranganatha, a reclining form of Vishnu, on an island in the Kaveri. It spreads across seven concentric walled enclosures with many towering gopurams.
Swaminarayan Akshardham
New Delhi, Delhi
A vast, intricately carved temple complex on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi, built in traditional stone craftsmanship without structural steel. It centres on a golden murti of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
A hilltop temple dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu, set amid the seven Tirumala hills. It is among the most visited and richest places of worship in the world.
Vaishno Devi Temple
Katra, Jammu and Kashmir
A cave shrine of the Mother Goddess set high in the Trikuta mountains, reached by a pilgrim trek from Katra. The Goddess is worshipped as three natural rock forms (pindis).