10 Most Famous Temples of India

india is a land of diversity. India is a land of varied cultures. India is a land of festivals. And then India is a land of temples.

1| Meenakshi Amman Temple - Madurai

The name synonymous with the name of Madurai. Madurai's Meenakshi temple is considered to be the largest as per the size and the area in India.

It is the most famous temple of Tamil Nadu. There are nearly 14 gopurams or gateways that are so magnificently carved out and beautiful paintings adorn the walls with thousands and thousands of stone figures. Out of the fourteen towers, though only four are the major ones and are on all sides i.e the southern, eastern, western, and northern tower are the spectacular ones.

It is a beautiful temple and one of the oldest in India which dates back its establishment to the sixteenth century.

2| Golden Temple - Amritsar

Golden temple or the Harmandir Sahib is considered as the holiest shrine in Sikhism.

Scores of people from all over the world and from all religions come to visit it. The temple is gold plated and the interiors are decorated with marvelous architecture that will take your breath away.

The annual harvest festival of Baisakhi attracts tens of thousands of people and is celebrated with great warmth and intensity. Also other festival such as Diwali is also celebrated with great excitement.

If you watch Bollywood movies then you might know that it also has been shown in many of them. Besides its the home for the largest free eatery, or more commonly known as Langar (community kitchen) where people from any religion irrespective of their caste, creed, poor or rich can come and eat for free. Nearly as much as 50,000 eat here daily and as much as one lakh on weekends.

3| Sai Baba - Shirdi

With the message of Sabka Malik Ek Hai (One God Governs All), Sai Baba came in the small village of Shirdi. He thought that there is one god and taught people to love, be kind, to help others selflessly.

Hindus and Muslims and people from all religions are devotees of Sai. The temple located at Shirdi is one of the major places of worship in Maharastra.

People from more than 300-400 Km come walking as a yearly padyatra (Travel by Walk) from their place. Don't be surprised to see people aged 80 and children aged as less as 8 to take padyatras.

4| Vaishno Devi Mandir - Katra

This is dedicated to Mata Vaishnaw Dewi and is one of the most visited temples in India. And to state a fact it is the second most visited temple of India. It is located at about a height of 5200 feet above the land.

The temple is very significant among Hindus and most of Hindus try to visit it at least once in a lifetime.

If you are planning to visit then it is mandatory to take the Yatra Registration Card (YRC) or Parchi. The YRC is available free of cost at the Katra bus station which also happens to be the nearest bus stop. YRC can also be obtained online from the official website by paying Rs. 50 per person. No private parties can issue the YRC.

5| Tirumala Venkateswara - Tirupati

The most visited temple of India also happens to be the most visited place of worship in the world. All this while the it was considered as the most wealthiest temple of the world until a treasure was found at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy in Kerala.

People here come over with every wish; some to get wealth, some to donate their wealth, some in a wish to get a child, some come and conduct their marriage here.

It gets nearly 50,000 daily visitors and annual of 40 million visitors. Devotees offer huge amount of cash and gold over here. As an estimate the annual gold offered here is more than 3000 kgs.

6| Shravana Belgola - Hassan

Shravana Belgola is the name of the place where the tallest monolithic statue of the world stands. But there are also many other statues that are taller than this one such as Hanuman Murti at Paritala, Andhra Pradesh.

This is one of the most sacred places of Jainism. Sharavana Belgola or Sravanabelgola as it may be pronounced has two hills namely Vindyagiri and Chandragiri. The statue is located at the Vindyagiri hills. It is a 57 feet tall statue.

Mahamasthakabhisheka is a festival which takes place every twelve years where the statue is embrocated with milk, oil, ghee, sandalwood etc. Lakhs of people visit for this festival. The ceremony last took place in 2006 and the next is scheduled in 2018. Sure I will be there.

7| Chennakesava temple - Belur

This one at Belur and the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu are very near to Shravan Belgola. Actually whoever visits Shravan Belgola does visit the Chennakesava and the Hoysaleswara temple.

It is definitely one of the finest examples of excellence in architecture. Build in the 11th century and still stands tall perfectly fine.

It is actually a complex with the Chennakesava temple at the centre flanked by many smaller ones on its left and right.

8| Hoysaleswara Temple - Halebidu

Not far from the Chennakesava temple is another marvelous piece of architecture again belonging to the erstwhile empire of the Hoysala which ruled most of south India in the 10th to the 14 century.

Legend has is that this was never completed as every time the construction started it was attacked from evaders from north India.

Though it may be incomplete but the beauty and eloquence of the structure is mind boggling. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and has numerous other finely carved statues and pillars. Go back in time and visit the ancient town of Halebidu.

9| Sabarimala - Kottayam

The sabarimala temple is situated surrounding 18 hills. This is the place for largest annual gathering of pilgrims. It is not opened round the year but only for 41 days between the month of November and December, the day of Makar Sankranti, the Vishu, and first six days of every Malayalam month.

For the annual pilgrimage, lakhs of devotees take 41 day fast and refrain from any material belongings. The fast observed is one of the toughest and devotees are required to abstain from alcohol, sex (not even touching a woman is permitted), they are allowed only eat food one time and to take bath twice.

Women in their menstrual age are not allowed here.

10| Murugan Temple - Palani

The temple located at a small town of Palani much famous for its temple than anything else. It is one of the six abode's of Lord Karthik. Most importantly the foremost than any other abode of Lord Karthik. Other famous being the one at Thiruchendur

There is a short little fascinating story about how He choose Palani as his abode. I know many Hindus might have heard this before but still let me go in to this a bit further. It happens that Narad muni brings with himself a fruit, the fruit of wiseness to gift it to Lord Shiva. But Lord Shiva as an affectionate father thinks to divide the fruit between two of his sons: Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthik. But Narada muni was against it.

So Lord Shiva advised that whoever of the two sons returns first circling the world thrice will get the fruit. Quickly, Lord Karthik started to circle the world on his peacock. But Ganesha instead decided to circle their parents thereby declaring that my world is only you: my parents. Thus lord Shiva awarded the fruit to Ganesha which didn't went down well with Karthik. So He decided to leave the mountains of Kailash and took his abode in Palani.