Religious History
Where a tradition began, who built what and when, and how a place became sacred — every claim sourced, every page dated, nothing typed from memory.
Histories of sacred places
Adi Kailash
Adi Kailash — also known as Chhota Kailash, Baba Kailash, or Jonglingkong Peak — is a Himalayan peak in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, close to the tri-junc…
Adinath Temple, Maheshkhali
On the summit of Mainak Hill on Maheshkhali Island, off the coast at Cox's Bazar. A hilltop Shaiva pilgrimage site that draws thousands to its annual fair.
Agniswarar Temple, Kanjanur (Navagraha: Sukra Sthalam)
Agniswarar Temple in Kanjanur, near Kumbakonam, is the sixth of the Navagraha Sthalams, dedicated to Shiva as Agniswarar, worshipped alongside Parvati as Karpav…
Ahoi Mata Temple, Radha Kund
The Ahoi Mata Temple at Radha Kund, in the Braj region of Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, is the most widely referenced site associated with Ahoi Mata, a folk…
Alangudi Guru Temple (Navagraha: Guru Sthalam)
Apatsahayeswarar Temple in Alangudi, Thiruvarur district, is the fifth of the Navagraha Sthalams, dedicated to Shiva worshipped here as Apatsahayeswarar ("Lord…
Alopi Devi Temple, Prayagraj
Alopi Devi Temple, in Alopibagh, Prayagraj, near the Sangam where the Ganga, Yamuna, and legendary Sarasvati meet, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, tr…
Amarnath Cave Temple
Amarnath is a Himalayan cave shrine in Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir, at approximately 3,888 m, holding one of the most distinctive natural phenomena in…
Ambaji Temple
Ambaji Temple, on the Arasur Hills in Gujarat's Banaskantha district near the Rajasthan border, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking…
Ambika Shaktipeeth, Bharatpur
Ambika Shaktipeeth, also known as Virat Shakti Peeth, in Virat Nagar village near Bharatpur and Alwar, Rajasthan, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas. Sou…
Annapurna Devi Mandir, Varanasi
Annapurna Devi Mandir, in the Visheshwarganj area of Varanasi immediately adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath Temple, is one of the city's most significant temples, de…
Asamai Temple, Kabul
A temple at the foot of Koh-e Asamai, the hill in old Kabul that carries the goddess's name. It is described as among the oldest continuously worshipped Hindu s…
Attahas Temple
Attahas Temple, in Birbhum district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sati's lower lip fell. The god…
Aundha Nagnath Temple
Aundha Nagnath Temple, in Hingoli district, Maharashtra, is one of three genuine claimants to the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga of Shiva, alongside Dwarka in Gujarat (t…
Ayodhya
Ayodhya, on the banks of the Saryu River in Uttar Pradesh, is traditionally revered as the birthplace of Rama and the capital of his kingdom, making it one of t…
Badrinath Temple
Badrinath Temple, on the banks of the Alaknanda River in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, holds a distinctive dual status among India's major pilgrimage circuits:…
Baglamukhi Temple, Nalkheda
Baglamukhi Temple, in Nalkheda, Madhya Pradesh, on the banks of the Lakhundar River (a tributary of the Narmada), is dedicated to Baglamukhi, the eighth of the…
Bahubali Statue, Dharmasthala
A thirty-nine foot Bahubali monolith on Ratnagiri hill beside one of Karnataka's most visited pilgrimage complexes. It is modern, carved between 1967 and 1973.…
Bahula Temple
Bahula Temple, in Purba Bardhaman district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas. The Peethanirnaya and Shivacharita texts identify this as th…
Baidyanath Temple, Deoghar
Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar, Jharkhand, is one of three genuine claimants to the Vaidyanath (or Baidyanath/Vaijnath) Jyotirlinga of Shiva — the most contested…
Baijnath Temple, Kangra
Baijnath Temple, on the banks of the Binwa river in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra valley, is the third of three genuine claimants to the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga of S…
Bakreshwar Temple
Bakreshwar Temple, on the banks of the Paaphra river in Birbhum district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas and, by several accounts, one o…
Ballaleshwar Temple, Pali (Ashtavinayak)
Ballaleshwar Temple in Pali, Raigad district, is one of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines (commonly cited as third in the traditional yatra sequence, though this v…
Banke Bihari Temple
Banke Bihari Temple, in Vrindavan, is dedicated to Banke Bihari, worshipped as the combined form of Radha and Krishna in a single black idol. It is widely regar…
Baraha Kshetra (Barahachhetra)
At the confluence of the Koka and Sapta-Koshi rivers, northwest of Dharan. One of the Char Dham of Nepal, and a complex of nine interconnected shrines rather th…
Bargabhima Temple, Tamluk
Bargabhima Temple, in Tamluk, Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, also known as Vibhash Shakti Peetha and Bhimakali Mandir, is one of the classical 51 Shakti…
Bawangaja
In the Satpura hills near Barwani, an eighty-four foot standing image of Rishabhanatha carved directly into the hillside in kayotsarga posture. One of the talle…
Bhabanipur Shakti Peetha (Aparna Devi Temple)
Bhabanipur Shakti Peetha, also known as Aparna Devi Temple, near Sherpur, Bogra district, Bangladesh, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas and one of seven…
Bhadrakali Temple, Kurukshetra
Bhadrakali Temple, in Kurukshetra (also identified with the adjoining town of Thanesar), Haryana, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marki…
Bhimashankar Temple
Bhimashankar Temple, in the Sahyadri hills of Pune district, Maharashtra, is one of three Jyotirlingas of Shiva located within Maharashtra and is traditionally…
Bhimashankar Temple, Assam (Dakini Hill, Guwahati)
This temple, on Dakini Hill near Guwahati in Assam's Kamrup region, is asserted by some, including the Assam state government, to be the true Bhimashankar Jyoti…
Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam
Bhramaramba Devi Temple, within the Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple complex at Srisailam on the Nallamala Hills, Andhra Pradesh, is one of the Ashtadasha (18) Mah…
Bhramari Devi Temple, Jalpaiguri
Bhramari Devi Temple, on the banks of the Tista river in Falakata, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally ma…
Bijli Mahadev Temple
Bijli Mahadev Temple, at roughly 2,460 m in Kashawri village, Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh, is an ancient Shiva shrine believed to be over 1,000 years old, di…
Bindhyabasini Temple, Pokhara
On the Miruwa hilltop in Pokhara, among the city's oldest and most important temples, described by one source as a principal Shakti site of western Nepal.
Biraja Temple
Biraja Temple, in Jajpur, Odisha, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas — and, distinctively, is also counted among the separate eighteen Ashtadasha Shakti…
Brahma Temple, Asotra (Kheteshwar Brahmadham)
Shri Kheteshwar Brahmadham Teerth, in Asotra village near Balotra in Rajasthan's Barmer district, is popularly described as the world's second dedicated Brahma…
Brahma Temple, Pushkar
The Brahma Temple (Jagatpita Brahma Mandir) in Pushkar, Rajasthan, is the most prominent temple in the world dedicated to Brahma, the creator deity of the Hindu…
Brajeshwari Devi Temple (Vajreshwari, Kangra)
Brajeshwari Devi Temple — also called Vajreshwari, Bajreshwari, or Kangra Devi Temple — in Kangra town, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally…
Budhanilkantha Temple
An open-air shrine at the foot of Shivapuri Hill north of Kathmandu, holding Nepal's largest stone sculpture: a reclining Vishnu five metres long, carved from a…
Champapuri
At Nathnagar in Bhagalpur, on the site of ancient Champa, capital of the Anga mahajanapada. Uniquely claimed as the site of all five kalyanakas of Vasupujya. Se…
Chamunda Devi Temple
Chamunda Devi Temple, also called Chamunda Nandikeshwar Dham, in Dharamshala Tehsil, Kangra district, is a major Himachal Pradesh Devi temple and Siddha Peetha…
Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysuru
Chamundeshwari Temple, atop Chamundi Hills roughly 13 km from Mysuru, Karnataka, is one of the Ashtadasha (18) Maha Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the sp…
Chandranath Temple, Sitakunda
On the summit of Chandranath Hill above Sitakunda, reached by roughly 1,200 steps. A major Shakta site where tradition holds the right arm of Sati fell, and one…
Changu Narayan Temple
On a hilltop above the Manohara River, about twelve kilometres east of Kathmandu. Widely cited as Nepal's oldest Hindu temple site, and a UNESCO World Heritage…
Char Dham of India
The Char Dham ("four abodes") of India is a set of four major pilgrimage sites established as a unified circuit by the 8th-century philosopher-saint Adi Shankar…
Char Dham of Uttarakhand
The Char Dham of Uttarakhand — often called the "Chota Char Dham" ("small four abodes") to distinguish it from the separate, pan-Indian Char Dham of India — is…
Chattal Bhavani Shakti Peetha
Chattal Bhavani Shakti Peetha, also called Bhavani Shaktipeeth, in Sitakunda on the Mandakini river, Chittagong district, Bangladesh, is one of the classical 51…
Chauth Mata Temple, Chauth Ka Barwara
The Chauth Mata Temple, at Chauth Ka Barwara in Sawai Madhopur district, Rajasthan, is widely cited as the oldest and most prominent temple dedicated to Chauth…
Chintamani Temple, Theur (Ashtavinayak)
Chintamani Temple in Theur, roughly 25 km from Pune, is one of the larger and more famous of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines, closely associated historically wit…
Chintpurni Temple
Chintpurni Temple, in Una district, Himachal Pradesh, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sati's feet fell. The temp…
Dakshayani Shakti Peetha (Manasa Shakti Peeth), Manasarovar
The Dakshayani Shakti Peetha, also called Manasa Shakti Peeth, on the banks of Lake Manasarovar near Mount Kailash in Tibet, is one of the classical 51 Shakti P…
Dakshinkali Temple
In a forested gorge at the confluence of the Bagmati and Nakhu rivers near Pharping, southwest of Kathmandu. One of Nepal's most important Kali shrines and its…
Devi Talab Mandir, Jalandhar
Devi Talab Mandir, in Jalandhar, Punjab, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sati's breast fell (sources differ on l…
Dhakeshwari Temple, Dhaka
The national temple of Bangladesh and the most prominent Hindu temple in Dhaka. Tradition holds that the city takes its name from the goddess: Dhaka, from Dhake…
Dhamrai Jagannath Rath
At Dhamrai, the site of one of the major Rath Yatra traditions of South Asia outside Puri. The historic chariot was burnt by the Pakistan Army in 1971 and has s…
Dilwara Temples, Mount Abu
Widely regarded as the finest Jain marble carving in India, and an architectural destination in its own right as much as a place of pilgrimage. Five temples at…
Doleshwar Mahadev Temple
Doleshwar Mahadev Temple, in Suryavinayak, Bhaktapur, roughly 20 km from Kathmandu, is devotionally regarded as the "head" counterpart to Kedarnath in Uttarakha…
Draksharamam Bhimeswara-Manikyamba Temple
The Bhimeswara Swamy Temple at Draksharamam, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, houses the Manikyamba shrine, one of the Ashtadasha (18) Maha Shakti Peetha…
Dwarkadhish Temple
Dwarkadhish Temple, also called Jagat Mandir, in Dwarka on Gujarat's Saurashtra coast, is dedicated to Krishna, worshipped here as Dwarkadhish ("Lord of Dwarka"…
Dwarkadhish Temple, Mathura
Dwarkadhish Temple, in Mathura near the Yamuna riverbank ghats, is dedicated to Krishna worshipped in his kingly form as Dwarkanath (or Dwarkadhish, "Lord of Dw…
Ellora Jain Caves (Caves 30 to 34)
Five Jain cave temples forming the final phase of the Ellora complex, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The largest, Cave 32, is known as the Indra Sabha.…
Gangotri Temple
Gangotri, in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, is one of the four sites of the Himalayan "Chota Char Dham" (alongside Yamunotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath) and…
Gayatri Mata Temple, Pushkar
Gayatri Mata Temple, atop Nilgiri Hill in Pushkar, Rajasthan, is dedicated to Gayatri, understood in local tradition as a secondary consort accepted by Brahma t…
Girijatmaj Temple, Lenyadri (Ashtavinayak)
Girijatmaj Temple at Lenyadri, roughly 4.8 km north of Junnar, is one of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines and the only one located on a mountain and within a rock…
Girnar Jain Temples
A complex of roughly fourteen Jain temples on Mount Girnar near Junagadh, centred on Neminatha. One of the five Shvetambara Pancha Tirth. Sect: Predominantly Sh…
Gnana Saraswati Temple, Basar
Gnana Saraswati Temple in Basar, on the banks of the Godavari river in Telangana's Nirmal district, is one of only two widely recognised dedicated Saraswati tem…
Gokul Medh, Mahasthangarh
An excavated mound near the citadel of Mahasthangarh, Bangladesh's earliest urban site, popularly revered as Behula's bridal chamber from the Manasamangal legen…
Gomateshwara Statue, Venur
A thirty-five foot monolith of Bahubali on the bank of the Phalguni river at Venur, the smallest of Karnataka's four Bahubali colossi and a regular Mahamastakab…
Gommateshwara Statue, Karkala
A forty-two foot granite monolith of Bahubali on Gommata Betta hill at Karkala, the second tallest of Karnataka's four Bahubali colossi. Sect: Digambara.
Gopachal and Siddhachal Jain Colossi, Gwalior
The most extensive body of rock-cut Jain colossi in India, carved into the cliffs and gorges of Gwalior Fort under Tomar patronage, including a fifty-seven foot…
Gor Khatri and the Gorakhnath Temple
A walled complex of about 160 metres square at the highest point of Peshawar's old city, containing the Gorakhnath Temple of 1838 to 1842, a Mughal caravanserai…
Grishneshwar Temple
Grishneshwar Temple, in Verul village directly adjoining the Ellora Caves in Maharashtra, is traditionally counted as the twelfth and final of the twelve Jyotir…
Guhyeshwari Temple
Guhyeshwari Temple, on the southern bank of the Bagmati river about 1 km east of the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti…
Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple
Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple, in Thrissur district, Kerala, is one of the most revered Krishna temples in India and is popularly known as the "Dwarka of the Sou…
Halesi Mahadev (Halesi-Maratika Caves)
A natural limestone cave between the Dudh Koshi and Sun Kosi rivers, called the Pashupatinath of eastern Nepal, and shared simultaneously by three distinct trad…
Hanuman Garhi
Hanuman Garhi, in the Ramkot area of Ayodhya, is one of the city's most ancient and important temples, dedicated to Hanuman. Built in the shape of a four-sided…
Hastinapur Jain Tirth
One of the most important Jain tirthas of north India, about 37 km from Meerut. Three consecutive tirthankaras were born here: Shantinatha the sixteenth, Kunthu…
Hinglaj Mata Temple
Hinglaj Mata Temple, also known as Hinglaj Devi, Hingula Devi, or Nani Mandir, is a remote cave shrine on the Makran coast in Lasbela district, Balochistan, Pak…
Humcha (Hombuja)
The seat of the Padmavati devotional tradition in southern Digambara Jainism, and the former capital of the Santara dynasty. One of only fourteen surviving Bhat…
ISKCON Vrindavan (Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir)
ISKCON Vrindavan's Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir, in the Raman Reti area of Vrindavan, was the first temple built in India by the International Society for Kri…
Jagannath Temple, Puri
Jagannath Temple, in Puri, Odisha, is dedicated to Jagannath ("Lord of the Universe"), worshipped alongside his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra as a distinctiv…
Jageshwar Temple Cluster
Jageshwar, near Almora in Uttarakhand's Kumaon region, is a cluster of roughly 125 ancient Hindu temples set within a deodar (Himalayan cedar) forest along the…
Jain Temples of Jaisalmer Fort
Seven interconnected temples inside Jaisalmer Fort, built in yellow desert sandstone rather than the marble used everywhere else in the region, and housing an i…
Jain Temples of Khajuraho
The eastern group at Khajuraho, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Khajuraho Group of Monuments. The Parshvanatha temple is the largest and finest Jain temple at…
Janaki Mandir, Janakpur
The largest temple in Nepal, at Janakpurdham in the Mithila country, marking the traditional site of Sita's discovery and of the Svayamvara at which Rama won he…
Janaki Mandir, Sitamarhi
Sitamarhi, in Bihar, is traditionally revered as the birthplace of Sita, and the Janaki Mandir at Punaura Dham marks the specific site where, according to the R…
Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple
Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple, in Ishwaripur village, Satkhira district, Bangladesh, near the Sundarbans, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas and one of seven…
Jimutavahana and the Jitiya (Jivitputrika) Observance
Unlike most deities on this platform, Jimutavahana, a legendary prince honoured for sacrificing himself to save a child from the celestial eagle Garuda, is not…
Jogulamba Temple, Alampur
Jogulamba Temple, in Alampur, Telangana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra river near its confluence with the Krishna, is one of the Ashtadasha (18) Maha Shakti P…
Jwala Ji Temple
Jwala Ji Temple, in the town of Jawalamukhi, Kangra district, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, marking the spot where Sati's tongue is traditionally s…
Kaal Bhairav Temple, Varanasi
Kaal Bhairav Temple in Varanasi (Kashi) is dedicated to Kaal Bhairav, a fierce guardian form of Shiva traditionally revered as the "Kotwal" (chief of police) of…
Kalaram Temple, Nashik
Kalaram Temple, in the Panchavati area of Nashik on the banks of the Godavari river, is a Hemadpanthi-style black basalt temple enshrining black stone idols of…
Kalighat Kali Temple
Kalighat Kali Temple, in the Kalighat area of Kolkata, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where the toes of Sati's right…
Kalka Cave Temple, Aror
A natural cave shrine to Kalka Devi on the Rohri limestone plateau, about a mile south of the fortress of Aror, the historic capital of Sindh under Raja Dahir.…
Kalpeshwar
Kalpeshwar is the fifth and final temple of the traditional Panch Kedar circuit, and the only one of the five that remains open to pilgrims all year round — a d…
Kalugumalai Jain Beds
The largest concentration of Jain rock-cut relief sculpture and Jain epigraphy in the far south: roughly 150 carved niches and 98 Jain inscriptions on a single…
Kamadgiri and Ram Ghat, Chitrakoot
Chitrakoot, straddling the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border, is traditionally identified as the forest region where Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana spent a substan…
Kamakhya Temple
Kamakhya Temple, on Nilachal Hill overlooking the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati, Assam, is one of the oldest and most important centres of Tantric Hindu practic…
Kamakshi Amman Temple
Kamakshi Amman Temple, in the temple city of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sati's nav…
Kanak Bhawan
Kanak Bhawan ("Golden Palace"), in Ayodhya's Ramkot area northeast of the main citadel, is a temple whose name and legend both centre on a personal gift: tradit…
Kankalitala Temple
Kankalitala Temple, near the Kopai river in Bolepur, Birbhum district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot wh…
Kantajew Temple, Dinajpur
On the bank of the Dhepa River north of Dinajpur. Widely regarded as the finest surviving example of Bengal terracotta temple architecture, a late-Mughal-era na…
Kanyakumari Bhagavathi Amman Temple
The Bhagavathi Amman Temple at Kanyakumari, at the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean meet, is one o…
Kartik Swami Temple, Rudraprayag
Kartik Swami Temple, perched on a narrow ridge above Kanakchauri village in Rudraprayag district at nearly 10,000 feet in the Garhwal Himalayas, is among the ve…
Kartikeya's Temples: The Six Abodes and the Himalayan Shrine
Kartikeya (also called Murugan, Subrahmanya, or Skanda) is worshipped predominantly across South India, most systematically through the Arupadaiveedu, the six t…
Kashi Vishwanath
Kashi Vishwanath — the temple of the Lord of the Universe — is one of the holiest shrines in all of Hinduism and the most sacred site in the ancient city of Var…
Kataragama
A major pilgrimage complex in the deep south, shared in active practice by Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and the indigenous Vedda people. One of the most important…
Katas Raj Temples
A complex of roughly a dozen temples, a Buddhist stupa and a Sikh gurdwara gathered around a sacred pond, at Katas village near Choa Saidan Shah in the Salt Ran…
Katyayani Peeth, Vrindavan
Katyayani Peeth, in Vrindavan, Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where the ringlets of…
Kedarnath
Kedarnath is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas — manifestations of Shiva as a pillar of light — and occupies the highest position among the five Panch Kedar shrine…
Kesariyaji (Rishabhdeo)
At Rishabhdeo town in Udaipur district. The clearest documented case of inter-sect and inter-religious contest among the major Jain tirthas, and, precisely beca…
Ketheeswaram Temple, Mannar
One of the five Pancha Ishwarams, beside the ancient Tamil trading port of Manthottam (Mahatittha) near Mannar. Also called Thiruketheeswaram.
Khair Khaneh Surya Temple
This is an archaeological site, not a working temple. An excavated Brahmanical temple complex on Khair Khana hill northwest of central Kabul, best known for a w…
Khatu Shyam Ji Temple
Khatu Shyam Ji Temple, in Khatu town, Sikar district, Rajasthan, is one of the most heavily visited pilgrimage sites in North India, dedicated to Khatu Shyam Ji…
Kinnaur Kailash
Kinnaur Kailash is a Himalayan peak in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh, best known for a striking natural rock pillar near its summit, venerated as a self-ma…
Kiriteswari Temple
Kiriteswari Temple, in Kiritkona village, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sat…
Konark Sun Temple
Konark Sun Temple, on the Bay of Bengal coast roughly 35 km northeast of Puri, Odisha, is a 13th-century monument dedicated to Surya, the Sun god, designed in t…
Koneswaram Temple, Trincomalee
A Shiva temple on Swami Rock, a cliff four hundred feet above the Indian Ocean at Trincomalee. Traditionally the foremost of the five Pancha Ishwarams, the Shiv…
Krishna Dwar Tapo Bhumi, Agra
The Agra tapo bhumi marks the place where Swami Swaroopanand Ji Maharaj, the second guru of the Paramhans Advait Mat, undertook the period of meditation directe…
Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple
Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple, in Mathura, marks the site traditionally held by Hindus to be the precise birthplace of Krishna, within what is described in devotio…
Krishna Mandir, Patan
In Patan Durbar Square, one of the very few temples in the Kathmandu Valley built in the North Indian shikhara style rather than the local pagoda form, and carv…
Krishna Temples of Braj (Mathura, Vrindavan & Barsana)
Braj — the region surrounding Mathura and Vrindavan in western Uttar Pradesh — is the devotional heartland of Krishna worship, traditionally identified as the s…
Krishna's Major Temples Beyond Braj
This platform's existing Krishna/Braj cluster covers Mathura and Vrindavan's core sites, and its Char Dham cluster separately covers Dwarka. This overview bring…
Kulpakji (Kolanupaka)
The most important Shvetambara Jain pilgrimage centre in South India, and a genuine sectarian outlier in a region otherwise overwhelmingly Digambara. Sect: Shve…
Kumbhariya Jain Temples
Five marble temples of the Chaulukya period, less than two kilometres from Ambaji, considered architecturally to rival Dilwara and far less visited. Sect: Shvet…
Kundalpur (Bade Baba), Damoh
A major Digambara centre near Damoh, built around a widely venerated fifteen-foot seated image of Rishabhanatha known as Bade Baba, of the post-Gupta period. No…
Kundalpur, Nalanda
A village about 2.5 km from Nalanda Mahavihara, held by Digambara tradition to be the birthplace of Mahavira, in direct contest with the mainstream identificati…
Lakshman Temple, Rishikesh
The Lakshman Temple stands on the bank of the Ganga at Lakshman Jhula in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, and is dedicated to Lakshmana, the younger brother and lifelong…
Lal Dungri Tapo Bhumi, Jaipur
Lal Dungri, a hill near Galta Gate on the eastern side of Jaipur, is revered within the Paramhans Advait Mat as the tapo bhumi, the ground of spiritual austerit…
Lalita Devi Temple, Prayagraj
Lalita Devi Temple, in Meerapur, Prayagraj, close to the Triveni Sangam confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and legendary Sarasvati, is dedicated to Lalita Tripura…
Langalbandh
A bathing place on the old Brahmaputra southeast of Dhaka, and the site of the Ashtami Snan, one of the largest annual Hindu gatherings in Bangladesh, drawing w…
Madhyamaheshwar
Madhyamaheshwar (also spelled Madmaheshwar) is the fourth stop in the traditional Panch Kedar circuit, sited at approximately 3,497 m in Gaundar village, Rudrap…
Mahaganapati Temple, Ranjangaon (Ashtavinayak)
Mahaganapati Temple in Ranjangaon, Shirur taluka, Pune district, is one of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines and, by most sources, the temple traditionally visited…
Mahakaleshwar Temple
Mahakaleshwar Temple, on the banks of the Shipra River in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh (the ancient city of Avantika), enshrines one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shi…
Mahalakshmi Shakti Peetha, Sylhet
The Shri Shri Mahalakshmi Bhairabi Griba Maha Peetha, in Jainpur village near Sylhet, Bangladesh, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas and one of seven suc…
Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur
Mahalakshmi Temple, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, also known locally as Ambabai Temple, is dedicated to the goddess Mahalakshmi. **This platform found genuine, unre…
Mahalakshmi Temple, Mumbai
Mahalakshmi Temple, in the Mahalakshmi area of central Mumbai, is one of the city's most visited and revered temples, enshrining images of the Tridevi (three-go…
Mahavira Jain Temple, Osian
Described as the oldest surviving Jain temple in western India, and the foundational tirtha of the Oswal Jain mercantile community, whose name derives from Osia…
Major Lakshmi Temples of India
This platform's Shakti Peetha cluster already covers Mahalakshmi Kolhapur, one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas. This overview brings together two further major La…
Major Rama Temples Outside Ayodhya
While Ayodhya is Rama's home city and the site of his birth and reign, devotion to Rama across India extends through a number of independently significant templ…
Major Saraswati Temples of India
Dedicated Saraswati temples are comparatively rare in India relative to temples for Shiva, Vishnu, or the various forms of Devi. This overview brings together t…
Mallikarjuna Temple, Srisailam
The Mallikarjuna Temple at Srisailam, in Andhra Pradesh's Nandyal district, is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva and, unusually, simultaneously one of the…
Manakamana Temple
On Kafaldada hill above the meeting of the Trishuli and Marsyangdi rivers. The name means the wish of the heart, and it is among the most visited pilgrimage shr…
Manavari Temple (Ramalingeswaram)
A Shiva temple at Bangadeniya on the Deduru Oya, north of Chilaw, where devotional tradition holds that Rama installed and worshipped the first Shiva lingam aft…
Mangal Chandika Temple, Ujani
Mangal Chandika Temple, in Ujani village near Guskara, Purba Bardhaman district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking t…
Mangi-Tungi
A twin-peaked siddhakshetra near Nashik with ancient cave shrines, now also home to the Statue of Ahimsa, a 108-foot monolithic image of Rishabhanatha, 121 feet…
Mangla Gauri Temple, Gaya
Mangla Gauri Temple, on Mangalagauri hill on the banks of the Phalgu river in Gaya, Bihar, is one of the Ashtadasha (18) Maha Shakti Peethas, traditionally mark…
Manibandh Shakti Peeth, Pushkar
Manibandh Shaktipeeth, on the Gayatri Hills near Pushkar, Rajasthan, also known as Manivedika Shaktipeeth, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditiona…
Manimahesh Kailash
Manimahesh Kailash is a Himalayan peak, approximately 5,653 m high, in the Bharmour subdivision of Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, part of the Pir Panjal ran…
Mayureshwar Temple, Morgaon (Ashtavinayak #1)
Mayureshwar Temple (also called Moreshwar Temple) in Morgaon, Pune district, is the first of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines and traditionally the prescribed sta…
Mithila Shakti Peetha (Uma Devi Temple), Janakpur
Mithila Shakti Peetha, also known as Uma Devi Temple, in Janakpur, Nepal, near the Bihar border, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally markin…
Moodabidri (Saavira Kambada Basadi)
Called the Jain Kashi of the South. A former Jain capital and centre of learning with eighteen basadis, dominated by the Saavira Kambada Basadi, the Thousand Pi…
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash (Kailash Parvat), rising to 6,638 m in the remote Ngari Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, is among the most multi-religiously sacred moun…
Muktagiri
A cluster of fifty-four temples built into a forested hillside on the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra border, beside a waterfall, with a cave temple of the thirt…
Muktinath Temple
Muktinath ("Lord of Liberation") is an ancient temple in the Muktinath Valley of Mustang, Nepal, at the foot of the Thorong La pass. Standing at approximately 3…
Munneswaram Temple, Chilaw
One of the Pancha Ishwarams, near Chilaw, and today one of the most religiously mixed major temples on the island.
Naganathaswamy Temple, Keezhaperumpallam (Navagraha: Ketu Sthalam)
Naganathaswamy Temple in Keezhaperumpallam (also called Vanagiri), near Thiruvenkadu in Mayiladuthurai district, is the Ketu Navagraha Sthalam, and among the mo…
Nagapooshani Amman Temple, Nainativu
Nagapooshani Amman Temple, on the island of Nainativu near Jaffna, Sri Lanka, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where th…
Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Temple
Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Temple, on the road between Dwarka city and Beyt Dwarka island in Gujarat, is one of three sites claimed as the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga of S…
Nageshwarnath Temple, Ayodhya
Nageshwarnath Temple, at Ram Ki Paidi on the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya, is a Shiva temple traditionally held to be among the oldest in the city, with…
Naguleswaram Temple, Keerimalai
The northernmost of the Pancha Ishwarams, at Keerimalai north of Jaffna, beside the Keerimalai natural springs. A declared Archaeological Protected Monument.
Naina Devi Temple
Naina Devi Temple, on a hilltop in Bilaspur district overlooking Govind Sagar Lake, is one of the classical Shakti Peethas — most sources place it among the 51,…
Nakoda Parshvanath Tirth
A major Shvetambara pilgrimage centre near Balotra, distinguished by the strength of the Nakoda Bhairava guardian-deity cult alongside the Parshvanatha shrine,…
Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, Jaffna
The temple of Nallur, capital of the Jaffna Kingdom, standing beside the site of the former royal palace. Today the largest Hindu temple complex in Sri Lanka an…
Nandikeshwari Temple
Nandikeshwari Temple, in Sainthia, Birbhum district, West Bengal, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sati's necklac…
Nangli Sahib (Nangli Tirath)
Nangli Sahib, also called Nangli Tirath or Nangli Dham, in Nangli village near Sakoti Tanda, Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, is the samadhi (memorial shrine) of…
Narayani Temple, Suchindram
Narayani Temple, within the wider Sthanumalayan Temple complex in Suchindram, Kanyakumari district, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally mar…
Narmada Udgam & Kalmadhav Shakti Peethas, Amarkantak
Amarkantak, in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh, is unique among this platform's Shakti Peethas in hosting two separate, closely situated sites, both counted am…
Narmada Udgam Temple, Amarkantak
This platform already covers the specific Amarkantak temple at the Narmada's source under its classical Shakti Peetha identity, at narmada-udgam-kalmadhav. This…
Nartiang Durga Temple (Jayanti Shakti Peetha)
Nartiang Durga Temple, also known as Jainteshwari Mandir, on a hillock in Nartiang, West Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Pe…
Navagraha Sthalams of Tamil Nadu
The Navagraha Sthalams are a set of nine temples in the Kumbakonam-Mayiladuthurai region of Tamil Nadu (with one, Thirunallar, just across the border in the Kar…
Neelkanth Mahadev Temple
Neelkanth Mahadev Temple, roughly 32 km from Rishikesh in Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, marks the site traditionally identified as where Shiva consumed t…
Nelluvaya Sree Dhanwanthari Temple
Nelluvaya Sree Dhanwanthari Temple, in Nelluvaya village, Thrissur district, Kerala, is dedicated to Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods and the originator o…
Nidhivan
Nidhivan ("Forest of Treasure"), in Vrindavan, is a small, dense sacred forest rather than a conventional temple, closely associated with the 16th-century saint…
Nyatapola Temple, Bhaktapur
In Taumadhi Square, Bhaktapur. At 33.23 metres, the tallest pagoda in Nepal, and the most celebrated piece of structural engineering the Malla period produced.
Om Parvat
Om Parvat is a Himalayan peak in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, near the India-Nepal-Tibet tri-junction, distinctive for the natural pattern formed by snow…
Omkareshwar Temple
Omkareshwar Temple sits on Mandhata Island in the Narmada River, in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district, and enshrines one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva. Th…
Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath
Omkareshwar Temple, in Ukhimath, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, serves as the winter seat of the Kedarnath deity. Each year, when Kedarnath Temple closes fo…
Palani Murugan Temple (Third Arupadaiveedu)
Palani Murugan Temple, atop the Palani Hills, is the third of the six Arupadaiveedu abodes and one of the most visited Murugan temples in India. Here, Murugan i…
Palitana (Shatrunjaya)
A temple city rather than a temple: roughly 900 marble shrines in nine walled clusters, called tuks, covering the summit of Shatrunjaya hill. With Shikharji, it…
Panch Kailash
"Panch Kailash" (five Kailashes) is a devotional grouping of five Himalayan peaks across Tibet and northern India, each independently regarded as a sacred abode…
Panch Kedar
The Panch Kedar ("five Kedars") are five Shiva temples scattered across the high Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand: Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwa…
Panchakuta Basadi, Kambadahalli
A landmark of Western Ganga dynasty Jain architecture, about eighteen kilometres from Shravanabelagola: a trikutachala, a three-shrine complex, applying Dravidi…
Panchsagar Shakti Peeth (Varahi Devi Temple), Champawat
Panchsagar Shakti Peeth, at the Varahi Devi Temple in Lohaghat, Champawat district, Uttarakhand, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally markin…
Panj Tirath
A site of five sacred water pools at Hashtnagri in Peshawar, from which it takes its name, Panj Tirath, the five tirthas, together with two temple structures. I…
Parli Vaijnath Temple
Parli Vaijnath Temple, in Maharashtra's Beed district, is one of three genuine claimants to the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga of Shiva, alongside Deoghar in Jharkhand…
Pashupatinath Temple
Pashupatinath Temple, on the banks of the sacred Bagmati River in Kathmandu, is among the oldest and most significant Hindu temple complexes in South Asia, and…
Patal Bhuvaneshwar Cave Temple
Patal Bhuvaneshwar is a limestone cave temple roughly 14 km from Gangolihat in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, extending approximately 160 m in length and ar…
Patan Devi Temple, Patna
Patan Devi Temple, in Patna, Bihar, also known as Maa Patneshwari, is the oldest and among the most sacred temples in the city, and one of the 51 Siddha Shakta…
Pawapuri (Jal Mandir)
Where Mahavira attained nirvana and was cremated. The Jal Mandir, a white marble temple, stands in the middle of a lotus tank of about eighty-four bighas, on th…
Pazhamudircholai Murugan Temple (Sixth Arupadaiveedu)
Pazhamudircholai Murugan Temple, atop the forested Solaimalai hill on the outskirts of Madurai, is the sixth and final of the Arupadaiveedu abodes, and the only…
Popular Shakti Peeths of India
Shakti Peethas are sites across the Indian subcontinent, sacred to the goddess (Devi/Shakti), traditionally understood as marking the places where parts of the…
Prahladpuri Temple, Multan
A Vaishnava temple within Multan Fort, beside the shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya, traditionally founded by Prahlada in honour of Narasimha. It has stood in ruins…
Prem Mandir
Prem Mandir ("Temple of Divine Love"), on the outskirts of Vrindavan, is a large, entirely modern temple complex dedicated to Radha-Krishna and Sita-Rama, built…
Puj Chaliha Sahib Jhulelal Mandir, Ulhasnagar
Puj Chaliha Sahib Jhulelal Mandir, in Ulhasnagar 5 (also called Sindhunagar), near Kalyan, Maharashtra, is recorded as the first Jhulelal temple built in India…
Puruhutika Devi Temple (Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple), Pithapuram
Puruhutika Devi Temple, within the wider Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple complex in Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh, is one of the Ashtadasha (18) Maha Shakti Peethas, tra…
Puthia Temple Complex
The largest cluster of historic Hindu temples in Bangladesh: fourteen structures spanning more than three centuries, built by the Puthia Raj zamindar family eas…
Radha Raman Temple
Radha Raman Temple, in Vrindavan, houses one of Braj's most theologically significant deities: Radha Raman, a form of Krishna understood by devotees to be self-…
Radha Rani Temple (Ladli Ji), Barsana
Radha Rani Temple, popularly known as Ladli Ji Temple, stands atop Bhanugarh hill in Barsana, traditionally revered as Radha's own home village. Radha and Krish…
Rajgir Jain Temples
A siddhakshetra and kalyanaka site together, spread over the five hills that ring Rajgir: Vipulachal, Ratnagiri, Udayagiri, Suvarnagiri and Vaibhargiri. Sect: S…
Ram Mandir, Ayodhya
The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, consecrated in January 2024, is a newly built temple dedicated to Rama at the site traditionally identified by Hindus as his birthpla…
Ram Raja Temple, Orchha
The Ram Raja Temple in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, is widely described as the only temple in India where Rama is worshipped not as a deity in a sanctum but as a rei…
Ramanathaswamy Temple
Ramanathaswamy Temple, on Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu, is the southernmost of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of the four Char Dham of India (alongside Badr…
Ramgiri Shakti Peetha
**This page describes a site whose precise location and deity identification are disputed across sources; it is presented here clearly flagged, with all availab…
Ramna Kali Mandir, Dhaka
On the southern side of Suhrawardy Udyan, the former Ramna Race Course in Dhaka. Historically one of the city's most important Kali temples, destroyed in 1971 a…
Ranakpur Jain Temple
The Chaturmukha temple at Ranakpur, one of the largest and most celebrated Jain temples in India, built in white marble over some 48,000 square feet in the form…
Ratnavali Shakti Peetha, Hooghly
Ratnavali Shakti Peetha, also known locally as Maa Anandamayee Temple, on the banks of the Ratnakar river in Khanakul, Hooghly district, West Bengal, is one of…
Renuka Devi Temple, Mahur
Renuka Devi Temple, in Mahur (also called Mahurgad), Nanded district, Maharashtra, is one of the Ashtadasha (18) Maha Shakti Peethas and one of Maharashtra's ow…
Rudranath
Rudranath is the third stop in the traditional Panch Kedar circuit and, by consistent local and travel-literature consensus, its most difficult. Tradition holds…
Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple
Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, atop a forested hillock roughly 3,000 feet above sea level in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, is dedicated to Ayyappa (a…
Sadh Belo
An island temple complex in the Indus near Rohri and Sukkur, described in several sources as the largest Hindu temple complex in Pakistan. It was founded in 182…
Santoshi Mata Mandir, Jodhpur
Santoshi Mata Mandir at Lall Sagar, Jodhpur, is one of the earliest dedicated temples of Santoshi Mata, goddess of contentment, whose worship is a distinctly 20…
Sapt Rishi Ashram, Haridwar
Sapt Rishi Ashram, on the banks of the Ganga at Sapt Sarovar in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, is the most widely cited site associated with the Sapta Rishi (the seven…
Saptashrungi Temple, Nashik
Saptashrungi Temple, on a hilltop in Vani, roughly 60 km from Nashik, Maharashtra, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas and one of Maharashtra's own "three…
Saraswathi Temple, Panachikkad
Saraswathi Temple in Panachikkad, Kottayam district, Kerala, is one of the state's most significant dedicated Saraswati shrines and is popularly known as the "M…
Savitri Mata Temple, Pushkar
Savitri Mata Temple, atop Ratnagiri Hill in Pushkar, Rajasthan, is dedicated to Savitri, Brahma's principal consort, and is directly tied to the same founding l…
Seetha Amman Temple, Nuwara Eliya
A temple at Seetha Eliya near Nuwara Eliya, popularly identified with the Ashoka Vatika, the grove where Ravana held Sita captive. Said to be the only temple in…
Shaktipeeths of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh's five most widely visited Devi temples — **Jwala Ji (Kangra), Chintpurni (Una), Brajeshwari/Vajreshwari Devi** (Kangra), Naina Devi (Bilaspur)…
Shankari Devi Shakti Peetha, Trincomalee
**This page describes a site whose precise identity is disputed across sources; it is presented here clearly flagged, with all available information, so the ful…
Shankheshwar Parshwanath Temple
On the Rupen river in Patan district. Sources rank it immediately after Shatrunjaya in importance for Shvetambara Jains, and its image is among the most invoked…
Sharada Peeth
Sharada Peeth, in the Neelum Valley of Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir, is a ruined temple and, historically, one of the most important centres of…
Sheetla Mata Mandir, Gurugram
Sheetla Mata Mandir in Gurugram (Gurgaon), Haryana, is dedicated to Sheetla Mata (also called Mata Masani), a folk-Shakti goddess particularly venerated for her…
Shikharji (Sammed Shikharji)
The single most important siddhakshetra in Jainism. On Parasnath Hill, twenty of the twenty-four tirthankaras of this age are held to have attained final libera…
Shiv Bari Temple (Drona Shiv Mandir), Gagret
Shiv Bari Temple, also known as Drona Shiv Mandir, stands amid forest land at Ambota village near Gagret town, Una district, Himachal Pradesh. Local tradition h…
Shravanabelagola
The single most important Digambara Jain pilgrimage site in India. On Vindhyagiri hill stands a seventeen-metre monolithic statue of Bahubali, carved from one b…
Shree Paramhans Dayal Janam Bhumi Mandir, Chhapra
Shree Paramhans Dayal Janam Bhumi Mandir marks the birthplace of Shri Swami Advaitanand Ji Maharaj, the founder and first guru of the Paramhans Advait Mat, reve…
Shree Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, Karachi
An underground cave temple to Shiva on six levels in Clifton, Karachi, near Clifton Beach. It is one of the city's larger annual pilgrim draws, with around 25,0…
Shri Anandpur Dham
Shri Anandpur Dham, near Isagarh in Ashok Nagar district, Madhya Pradesh, is the principal centre of the Shri Paramhans Advait Mat branch of the Advait Mat trad…
Shri Kshetra Gangapur Dattatreya Temple
Shri Kshetra Gangapur Dattatreya Temple, on the banks of the Bhima river in Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) district, Karnataka, is one of the most significant Dattatreya…
Shri Mahavirji
On the Gambhir river in Karauli district, a major Digambara destination in a region with few first-rank Digambara tirthas, and the site of a large annual Mahavi…
Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj Samadhi, Teri (Krishna Dwara)
The samadhi of Shri Swami Advaitanand Ji Maharaj, known to devotees as Paramhans Dayal Ji, stands at Teri village in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakista…
Shri Sai Baba Temple, Shirdi
Shri Sai Baba Temple (Shree Samadhi Mandir) in Shirdi, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, is the samadhi (memorial shrine) of Sai Baba of Shirdi, a saint who liv…
Shri Varun Dev Mandir, Manora
A temple on Manora Island at the mouth of Karachi harbour, said to be the only temple dedicated to Varuna in Pakistan. It was restored in 2018.
Shrikhand Mahadev
Shrikhand Mahadev, also called Shrikhand Kailash or Shikhar Kailash, is a peak in the Nirmand sub-division of Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, considered an ab…
Shrinathji Temple, Nathdwara
Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, is one of India's most important Krishna pilgrimage sites and the primary seat of the Pushtimarg ("Path of Grace") Va…
Shrinkhala Devi Shakti Peetha, Pandua
**This page describes the most disputed and physically unresolved site among all the Shakti Peethas covered on this platform; it is presented here clearly flagg…
Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai
Siddhivinayak Temple, in the Prabhadevi area of central Mumbai, is one of the city's most visited and wealthiest temples, drawing devotees from across all walks…
Siddhivinayak Temple, Siddhatek (Ashtavinayak)
Siddhivinayak Temple at Siddhatek, on the banks of the Bhima river in Ahmednagar district, is one of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines (sources vary on its exact n…
Sita Ramachandraswamy Temple, Bhadrachalam
Sita Ramachandraswamy Temple in Bhadrachalam, on the banks of the Godavari river in eastern Telangana, is revered as one of the major Godavari-basin Divya Kshet…
Sittanavasal Cave
A rock-cut Jain site in Pudukkottai holding two distinct things of the first rank: seventeen polished rock beds used by ascetics, called Eladipattam, and a cave…
Somnath Temple
Somnath Temple, at Prabhas Patan on the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district, is traditionally regarded as the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga…
Sonagiri
A hillside covered in white Digambara temples near Datia, popularly called Laghu Sammed Shikhar, a small-scale echo of Shikharji, for its role as a site of mass…
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, is one of the wealthiest religious sites in the world following the 2011 discovery of…
Sri Naganathaswamy Temple, Thirunageswaram (Navagraha: Rahu Sthalam)
Sri Naganathaswamy Temple in Thirunageswaram, on the outskirts of Kumbakonam, is the Rahu Navagraha Sthalam, dedicated to Shiva as Naganathar with consort Parva…
Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, Tiruchanur
Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, in Tiruchanur (also called Alamelu Mangapuram), near Tirupati, is dedicated to Padmavathi, worshipped as an incarnation of Laksh…
Sri Parvat Shakti Peetha
**This page describes a site whose physical location is genuinely disputed across sources; it is presented here clearly flagged, with all available information,…
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, near Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, is the largest functioning Hindu temple complex in the world, spanning roughly 156 ac…
Sugandha Shakti Peetha
Sugandha Shakti Peetha, in Shikarpur village on the Sugandha river near Barisal, Bangladesh, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas and one of seven such sit…
Suryanar Kovil (Navagraha: Surya Sthalam)
Suryanar Kovil, near Aduthurai between Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, is the anchor temple of the Navagraha Sthalams, the set…
Swamimalai Murugan Temple (Fourth Arupadaiveedu)
Swamimalai Murugan Temple, on the banks of a Kaveri tributary near Kumbakonam, is the fourth of the six Arupadaiveedu abodes. Here Murugan is worshipped as Swam…
Swaminarayan Akshardham, Delhi
Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi is a major modern Hindu temple and cultural campus dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan, built by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sansth…
Swaminarayan Akshardham, Gandhinagar
Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, is the original Akshardham temple complex, opened to the public in 1992 as a tribute to Bhagwan Swaminarayan an…
Tadkeshwar Mahadev Temple, Lansdowne
Tadkeshwar Mahadev Temple, on a forested hilltop at roughly 2,092 m, about 37 km from Lansdowne, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, is an ancient Shiva shrine…
Taleju Temple, Kathmandu
At Hanuman Dhoka in Kathmandu Durbar Square. The principal royal temple of the Malla dynasty and the tallest structure in the square, at 36 metres on twelve bri…
Tara Tarini Temple
Tara Tarini, on a hill above the Rushikulya river near Purushottampur in Odisha's Ganjam district, is one of the Four Adi Shakti Peethas (Chatasrah Aadi) explic…
Taranga Jain Temple
A hill tirtha in northern Gujarat associated with the Chaulukya king Kumarapala and his teacher Acharya Hemachandra, and notable for a settled arrangement in wh…
Tarapith Temple
Tarapith Temple, near the Dwaraka river in Rampurhat, Birbhum district, West Bengal, is dedicated to Tara, the second of the ten Mahavidyas, and is one of the c…
Tenavaram Temple, Dondra
At Dondra Head, the southernmost point of Sri Lanka. Counted among the Pancha Ishwarams under the name Tondeswaram, and before its destruction one of the most c…
The Ashtavinayak: Eight Sacred Ganesha Temples of Maharashtra
The Ashtavinayak ("eight Ganeshas") is a traditional pilgrimage circuit of eight self-manifested (swayambhu) Ganesha temples across Pune, Raigad, and Ahmednagar…
The Gardez Ganesha
This entry is a sacred image rather than a building. A marble Ganesha found at Gardez in Paktia, inscribed and royally dedicated, now the central object of wors…
The Sun Temple of Multan
This temple no longer exists, and its exact location is unknown. It is included because it is among the best-documented Hindu temples of the pre-modern subconti…
The Zun Temple of Zamindawar
This temple no longer exists and its site has not been located. It is included because it is among the best-attested religious centres of early medieval Afghani…
Thingalur Chandra Temple (Navagraha: Chandra Sthalam)
Thingalur Chandra Temple, also called Kailasanathar Temple, in Thingalur near Thanjavur, is the Chandra (Moon) Navagraha Sthalam, one of the nine temples of the…
Thirunallar Saneeswaran Temple (Navagraha: Shani Sthalam)
Thirunallar Saneeswaran Temple (also called Dharbaranyeswarar Temple), in Thirunallar, Karaikal district of the Puducherry Union Territory, is the Shani (Saturn…
Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple (First Arupadaiveedu)
Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple, roughly 8 km southwest of Madurai, is the first of the Arupadaiveedu, the six traditional abodes of Murugan (Kartikeya) in Tam…
Thiruthani Murugan Temple (Fifth Arupadaiveedu)
Thiruthani Murugan Temple, on a hillock in Tiruvallur district near Chennai, is the fifth of the six Arupadaiveedu abodes, revered as Shanti Sthalam, the abode…
Thiruvenkadu Budhan Temple (Navagraha: Budha Sthalam)
Swetharanyeswarar Temple in Thiruvenkadu, Mayiladuthurai district, is the fourth of the Navagraha Sthalams and is dedicated primarily to Shiva, worshipped here…
Tiruchendur Murugan Temple (Second Arupadaiveedu)
Tiruchendur Murugan Temple, in Thoothukudi district, is the second of the six Arupadaiveedu abodes of Murugan (Kartikeya) and is unusual among Murugan temples f…
Tirumalai (Arihantagiri)
A Jain hill complex of caves, temples and a sixteen-foot monolithic Neminatha, with an active math re-established in 1998 and surviving paintings of the fifteen…
Treta Ke Thakur
Treta Ke Thakur (also called Treta Mandir), near Naya Ghat on the Saryu riverbank in Ayodhya, is traditionally identified as the site where Rama performed the A…
Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple
Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple, in the town of Trimbak, roughly 28 km from Nashik, Maharashtra, enshrines one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva and is unique amon…
Tripura Sundari Temple, Udaipur
Tripura Sundari Temple, in Udaipur (also called Rajbari), Gomati district, Tripura, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot wh…
Triyuginarayan Temple
Triyuginarayan Temple, in Triyuginarayan village, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, is traditionally held to be the site of the celestial wedding of Shiva and…
Tulsi Manas Mandir, Varanasi
Tulsi is venerated across Hinduism chiefly as a sacred plant, personified as a goddess and closely associated with Vishnu, and is most commonly worshipped at ho…
Tungnath
Tungnath is the highest of the five Panch Kedar temples and one of the highest Shiva temples in the world, standing at 3,680 m, just below the summit of Chandra…
Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves
Two hills outside Bhubaneswar holding eighteen and fifteen excavated caves, cut as residences for Jain ascetics in the second to first century BCE. The most imp…
Udupi Sri Krishna Matha
Udupi Sri Krishna Matha, in coastal Karnataka, is one of South India's most important Krishna pilgrimage sites and the seat of the Dvaita ("dualist") school of…
Umarkot Shiv Mandir
A Shiva temple near Rana Jaageer Goth in Umerkot, Sindh, which draws what sources describe as the largest single gathering of Hindu pilgrims anywhere in Pakista…
Vaishali and Kundagrama (Basukund)
Basukund near Vaishali is identified by most scholars, by historians, and by the Indian government as the birthplace of Mahavira, which would make it one of the…
Vaishno Devi Temple
Vaishno Devi Temple, a cave shrine on the Trikuta Hills near Katra in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in India,…
Vaitheeswaran Koil (Navagraha: Angaraka Sthalam)
Vaitheeswaran Koil, near Sirkazhi in Tamil Nadu, is the Angaraka (Mars) Navagraha Sthalam, dedicated to Shiva worshipped here as Vaitheeswaran, "God of healing,…
Varadvinayak Temple, Mahad (Ashtavinayak)
Varadvinayak Temple in Mahad, Khalapur taluka, Raigad district, is one of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines, distinctive for its swayambhu (self-manifested) idol's…
Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala (Tirupati Balaji)
The Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala, above the pilgrim city of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, is widely regarded as the most-visited and wealthiest Hindu temple in…
Vighnahar Temple, Ozar (Ashtavinayak)
Vighnahar Temple (also called Vigneshwara Temple) in Ozar, near Junnar, is one of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines and the only one among them featuring a golden…
Vimala Temple, Puri
Vimala Temple, within the walls of the great Jagannath Temple complex in Puri, is one of the Four Adi Shakti Peethas, alongside Kamakhya, Kalighat, and Tara Tar…
Vindhyavasini Devi Temple, Vindhyachal
Vindhyavasini Devi Temple in Vindhyachal, on the banks of the Ganga in Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, is one of the most significant Devi temples in North In…
Vishalakshi Temple
Vishalakshi Temple, in Varanasi, is one of the classical 51 Shakti Peethas, traditionally marking the spot where Sati's earring (and, in some tellings, her face…
Vishnu's Great Temples of India
This platform's Krishna/Braj, Jagannath Puri, and other Vishnu-avatar clusters cover many of India's most significant Vaishnava sites elsewhere; this overview b…
Vishnupad Temple
Vishnupad Temple, on the banks of the Phalgu river in Gaya, Bihar, is the central shrine of one of Hinduism's most significant cities for ancestral rites. It en…
Vishwakarma Temple, Guwahati
The Vishwakarma Temple near Kamakhya Gate, at the base of Nilachal Hill in Guwahati, Assam, is popularly described in regional reporting as the oldest dedicated…
Vishwanath Temple, Guptkashi
Vishwanath Temple in Guptkashi, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, is an ancient Shiva temple whose name, Guptkashi ("Hidden Kashi"), reflects local tradition h…
Vishwanath Temple, Uttarkashi
Vishwanath Temple, on the banks of the Bhagirathi river in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, is regarded in local tradition as one of the oldest temples in the town and…
Vithoba Temple, Pandharpur
Vithoba Temple in Pandharpur, on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river in Maharashtra, is the spiritual centre of the Varkari tradition, one of the most significa…
Vyas Gufa (Vyas Cave), Mana Village
The concept of "guru" (spiritual teacher or preceptor) holds deeply personal and varied meaning across Hindu traditions and for individual devotees, who may rec…
Yamunotri Temple
Yamunotri, in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, is the traditional starting point of the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand and one of its four sites (alongside Ga…