India is land of rich culture and civilization. Temples are part of our culture and heritage from time immemorial. In this article we shall see a list of 40 famous temples in India.
List of Famous Temples in India
40 Famous Temples in India |
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| Sr. No. | Famous Temple | Location | State / Union Territory | Some Information |
| 1 | Lord Venkateswara Temple | Tirumala | Andhra Pradesh | One of the richest temples in India and world. Temple is located in the Seshachalam hills. Seven hills are considered very sacred and the god is even popularly called Seven Hills God. The temple is built in Dravidian style of Architecture. |
| 2 | Kanaka Durga Temple | Vijayawada | Andhra Pradesh | Second most popular temple in Andhra Pradesh. Goddess Durga is worshipped here as Kanakadurga devi. Temple is on a hill called Indrakeeladri, on the banks of River Krishna. |
| 3 | Kamakhya Temple | Guwahati | Assam | It is a Sakthi Peeta. Temple is located on Nilachal hill in Guwahathi City. |
| 4 | Mahabodhi Temple | Bodh Gaya | Bihar | This temple is built near the location where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment. The site contains a descendant of the Bodhi Tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment. UNESCO World Heritage Site |
| 5 | Somnath Temple | Saurashtra | Gujarat | One of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Also known as Deo Patan. The Temple was desecrated many times by invaders and rebuilt many times. Constructed in Chalukyan style. The present day temple construction started in 1947, on the orders of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, and completed in 1951. |
| 6 | Dwarkadhish temple | Dwarka | Gujarat | It is also known as Jagat Mandir. The original temple was destroyed by Mahmud Begada in 1472. |
| 7 | Amarnath Temple | Pahalgam | Jammu & Kashmir | A cave temple dedicated to lord Shiva, situated at an altitude of 3888 metres. It is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths. |
| 8 | Vaishno Devi Temple | Jammu & Kashmir | Jammu & Kashmir | The temple is one of the 108 Shakti Peethas dedicated to Durga, who is worshipped as Vaishno Devi. It is located in Katra at the Trikuta Mountains. |
| 9 | Virupaksha Temple | Hampi | Karnataka | UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lord shiva is worshipped as Virupaksha here. It is built during the rule of Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire. |
| 10 | Vitthalaswamy Temple | Hampi | Karnataka | It is considered to be one of the largest and the most famous structure in Hampi. It has exceptional architecure and craftmanship. It is built by King Devaraya II of Vijayanagara Empire, and enhanced during the reign of Sri Krishna Devaraya. |
| 11 | Gomateshwara Temple | Hassan district | Karnataka | It is also known as Bahubali temple. The tallest monolithic statue (Of Gomateshwara) in the world, that is 57 feet high, is carved out of a single block of granite. Bahubali statue is one of the largest free-standing statues in the world depicting the prolonged meditation of Bahubali. |
| 12 | Padmanabhaswamy Temple | Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala | Designated as the Richest temple in the world. Temple architecture is a fusion of Dravida and Chera traditions |
| 13 | Sabarimala Temple | Pathanamthitta | Kerala | Lord Ayyappan is the presiding diety here. |
| 14 | Khajuraho Temples | Khajuraho | Madhya Pradesh | Built by chandela rajput rulers. These are a group of 85 temples, however, only 25 are remaining. All temples are built in Nagar style of architecture. They are famous for extensive architecture erotic sculptures. |
| 16 | Mahakaleshwar Temple | Ujjain | Madhya Pradesh | One of the famous Shiva temples. This temple is famous for the abhishek offered to shiva linga with Bhasma or ash. |
| 17 | Kailasanatha Cave Temple | Ellora | Maharashtra | UNESCO World Heritage Site. An entire rock hill is chiselled down and carved into a temple of Lord Shiva. |
| 18 | Shani Shingnapur Temple | Ahmednagar | Maharashtra | Lord Shani, one of the navagrahas, is worshipped here. The town is famous for houses or any constructions not having any doors. |
| 19 | Shirdi Sai Baba Temple | Shirdi | Maharashtra | Sai baba is the diety here. |
| 20 | Siddhivinayak Temple | Mumbai | Maharashtra | It was constructed by Laxman Vithu & Dubai Patil in 1801. One of the richest temples in India. |
| 21 | Akshardham Temple | New Delhi | New Delhi | Famous Narayan temple in New Delhi. |
| 22 | Konark Sun Temple | Konark | Odisha | Build in the 13th century by King Narasimhadeva I of the Ganga Empire. The temple is conceived as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God built in Kalinga architecture (Odisha style of architecture). |
| 23 | Lingaraj Temple | Bhubaneshwar | Odisha | One of the Oldest Shiva temples. The diety Lingaraja is worshipped as both Shiva and Vishnu. The temple was built in Kalinga style by the kings of Somavamsi and Ganga dynasties. |
| 24 | Jagannath Temple | Puri | Odisha | This temple in puri is also called Yamanika Tirtha. It is famous for its annual chariot festival or Ratha Yatra. The first Jagannath temple was commissioned by King Indradyumna. Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are a trio of deities worshipped at the temple. |
| 25 | Golden Temple | Amritsar | Punjab | It is also known as Harmindar Sahib. It is a gurudwara, built in the 1604 by Guru Arjan the fifth Sikh guru. Temple was plated in Gold by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. |
| 26 | Dilwara Temples | Mount Abu | Rajasthan | Svetambara Jain temples built by Vimal shah and Vastpala. Very famous for intricate whitte marble carvings. |
| 27 | Brihadeeshwara Temple | Thanjavur | Tamil Nadu | UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also known as Raja Rajeswara Temple. It is built by Raja Raja Chola. One of the great living chola temples. Largest temple in the world made entirely of Granite. |
| 28 | Meenakshi Temple | Madurai | Tamil Nadu | One of the largest temples in the country. Temple is built in Dravidian style. There are 985 richly carved pillars that depict scenes from the wedding of Meenakshi (Parvati) and Sundareswarar (Shiva). It is famous for its 3 storied Gopuram at the main entrance. |
| 29 | Ramanathaswamy Temple | Rameswaram | Tamil Nadu | It is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga temples. It is built in the Dravidian style of architecture by the Pandyas and Jaffna Kings It has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. There are 64 Tīrthas i.e. holy water bodies in and around the island of Rameswaram. |
| 30 | Airavateswara Temple | Darasamudram | Tamil Nadu | UNESCO World Heritage Site (part of Great Living Chola Temples). Built by Raja Raja II. Located in Darasumram near Kumbakonam. Lord Shiva is the presiding diety, worshipped as Airavatesvara. |
| 31 | Nataraja Temple | Chidambaram | Tamil Nadu | Lord Shiva is worshipped as Nataraja here. The temple wall carvings display all the 108 karanas from the Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni; these postures form the foundation of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance. |
| 32 | Ranganathaswamy Temple | Srirangam | Tamil Nadu | Largest temple compound in India. Constructed entirely in Dravidian style. Important feature is the Pranavakara Vimana. Also called Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple. Lord Vishnu is worshipped here as Ranganatha. |
| 33 | Rajagopalaswamy Temple | Mannargudi | Tamil Nadu | The presiding deity is Rajagopalaswamy, a form of Lord Krishna. The temple is called Dakshina Dwarka along with Guruvayoor by Hindus. |
| 34 | Yadadri Temple | Yadagirigutta | Telangana | Renovation and constrcution of the temple, entirely in stone, completed in 2021. |
| 35 | Krishna Janmasthan Temple | Mathura | Uttar Pradesh | It is a group of temples. These temples are belived to be constructed where lord Krishna was born. These temples were destroyed multiple times in history, the last by Aurangzeb in 1670. |
| 36 | Kashi Vishwanath Temple | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh | It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. The original Kasi Vishwanath temple was destroyed by Qutb-Uddin Aibak in 1194 CE. It was later rebuilt. There is a small well in the temple called the Jnana Vapi also spelt as Gyaan Vapi. In 1669 CE, Aurangzeb destroyed the temple and built the Gyan vapi Mosque in its place. In 1780, Malhar Rao’s daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar constructed the present temple adjacent to the mosque. |
| 37 | Badrinath Temple | Badrinath | Uttarakhand | It is located on a hill on the banks of Alaknanda River, at an elevation of 3,133 metres i.e. 10,279 ft above the mean sea level. The temple is mentioned in ancient religious texts like Vishnu Purana and Skanda Purana. |
| 38 | Kedarnath Temple | Kedarnath | Uttarakhand | It is at a height of 3583 m on the banks of Mandakini river. Lord Shiva is the presiding diety. Due to extreme weather the templeis open only between the months of April and November. |
| 39 | Yamunotri Temple | Uttarkashi | Uttarakhand | This temple is dedicated to goddess Yamuna. It is located at an altitude of 3,291 metres i.e. 10,797 ft. |
| 40 | Dakshineswar Kali Temple | Kolkata | West Bengal | The presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, a form of Kali. The temple was built in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni. |