Famous Temples to Visit in India

India's temples span nearly two thousand years of continuous building, and the differences between them are architectural as much as religious. Knowing what you're looking at makes a visit considerably richer.

The Shiva shrines

The twelve Jyotirlingas are the most significant Shiva shrines in the country. Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar is distinctive for the tradition of tying sacred threads between the shrines within its courtyard, and for the Kanwar Yatra that culminates there each Shravan.

South Indian temple towns

Temples in the south tend to be enormous walled complexes rather than single shrines - Meenakshi in Madurai, Brihadeeswara in Thanjavur, Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam. In Bangalore, the ISKCON temple at Rajajinagar shows how the tradition continues in contemporary construction.

Practical notes for temple visits

Dress modestly - shoulders and knees covered is the safe standard, and some temples enforce it. Expect to remove footwear, and to leave phones and cameras outside at many major shrines. Early morning is almost always the best time: shorter queues, cooler stone underfoot, and the main rituals of the day.