The religious places of India reflect the diversity of the region, rituals, people, and religions. These ancient, intricately designed and faithfully maintained places of worship are a must-visit for devotees and for all those who nurture an interest in history and architecture. There are several temples that are considered to be places of immense faith and have many miracles associated with them, which draw a large number of devotees from across the globe. Their sacred existence and the rich architecture have definitely earned them unparalleled fame. Not intending to rank temples, just adding numbers to their popularity, the below-given list shows the top temples in terms of devotees turning up each day.
Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple - Tirumala, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
Venkateswara temple is a landmark Vaishnavite temple where the Kaliyuga Pratiyksha Divam resides which is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily (30 to 40 million people annually on average), while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000, making it the most-visited holy place in the world. To read more click on the below link
Shri Kashi Vishwanatha Temple - Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
The Temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganga and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest of Shiva Temples. A visit to the temple and a bath in the river Ganges is one of many methods believed to lead one on a path to Moksha (liberation). Thus, Hindus from all over the world try to visit the place at least once in their lifetime. The Kashi Vishwanath temple receives around 3,000 visitors every day and 3 to 4 million people annually on average. To read more click on the below link
Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple - Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
The principal deity Padmanabhaswamy (Vishnu) is enshrined in the "Anantha Shayana" posture, the eternal yogic sleep on the serpent Adi Shesha. Celebrated once every six years in January, the Laksha Deepam festival is the biggest festival of the Padmanabhaswamy temple to which Lakhs of thousands attend. Over 30,000 devotees flock to the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 10 to 13 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Dharma Sastha Temple - Sabarimala, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India
Sabarimala is an important pilgrim town that attracts more than 30 million pilgrims annually, making it the largest in India and the second largest in the world, after Haji. The temple is dedicated to a Hindu celibate deity Ayyappan also known as Dharma Shasta, who according to belief is the son of Shiva and Mohini, the feminine incarnation of Vishnu. To read more click on the below link
Guruvayur Temple - Guruvayur, Thrissur, Kerala, India
The presiding deity of the Guruvayur Temple is Krishna with a four-armed standing position, carrying the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the mace Kaumodaki, and a lotus with a Holy basil garland. The main festivals of this temple are the 10-day festival in the Malayalam month of Kumbham starting with flag hoisting on Pooyam star to which lakhs attend. On average 40,000 to 60,000 people visit the temple on daily basis to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 30 to 50 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Badrinath Temple - Badrinath, Uttarakhand, India
The temple and town form one of the four Char Dham and Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites. The temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Badrinath - holy shrines for Vaishnavites. The temple is one of the holy places where the Hindus offer oblations to ancestors with the help of the priests. On average 3,000 people visit the temple on daily basis to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 6 to 8 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Kedarnath Temple - Kedarnath, Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, India
According to Hindu legends, the temple was initially built by Pandavas and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Shiva and is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, expounded in Tevaram. Almost 30000 pilgrims have been visiting the temple on a daily basis and 4 to 5 million people. Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple is open to the general public only in the autumn. To read more click on the below link
Shri Vaishno Devi Temple - Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Vaishno Devi returned here in the form of Vaishnavi and reentered her cave, where she assumed the form of three rocks and resides there to date. Each rock is representative of Saraswati, Mahalakshmi, and Mahakali. This shrine is lovingly called “Vaishno Devi”, where millions of devotees go every year, to get the blessings of their Mother Goddess. To read more click on the below link
Gangotri Temple - Gangotri, Uttarakhand, India
Gangotri, the origin of the River Ganges and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. In the pilgrimage journey of Chota Char Dham, Gangotri is often visited after Yamunotri. On average 23,000 people annually visit the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord. To read more click on the below link
Harmandir Sahib Temple - (Golden Temple) Amritsar, Punjab, India
The Gurdwara is built around a man-made pool (Sarovar) that was completed by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das in 1577 and is spiritually the most significant shrine in Sikhism. It became a center of the Singh Sabha Movement between 1883 - 1920 and the Punjabi Suba movement between 1947 and 1966. On average 100,000 people visit the temple on daily basis to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 13 to 16 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Yamunotri Temple - Banas, Naugaon, Uttarakhand, India
The temple of Yamuna, on the left bank of the Yamuna, was constructed by Maharaja Pratap Shah of Tehri Garhwal and is one of the four sites in India's Chhota Char Dham pilgrimage. The chief attraction at Yamunotri is the temple devoted to the Goddess Yamuna and the holy thermal springs at Janki Chatti. On average 3,000 people visit the temple on daily basis to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 6 to 8 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Shri Tungnath Temple - Tungnath, Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, India
Tungnath is one of the highest Shiva temples in the world and is the highest of the five Panch Kedar temples. This is the third (Tritiya Kedar) in the pecking order of the Panch Kedars and has a rich legend linked to the Pandavas, heroes of the Mahabharata epic. On average 3,000 people visit the temple on daily basis to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 7 to 8 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Amarnath Temple - Pahalgam, Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, India
The Amarnath temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, temples throughout South Asia that commemorate the location of fallen body parts of the Hindu deity Sati. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu and other devotees make an annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave across challenging mountainous terrain. Over 2,000 devotees flock to the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 6 to 10 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandir - New Delhi, Delhi, India
The three-storied temple is built in the northern or Nagara style of temple architecture and is one of the major attractions of Delhi and attracts thousands of devotees on the festivals of Janmashtami and Diwali. Over 3000 devotees flock to the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and a million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Akshardham Temple - New Delhi, India
Akshardham Temple displays millennia of traditional Hindu and Indian culture, spirituality and architecture inspired by Yogiji Maharaj and created by Pramukh Swami Maharaj. According to Swaminarayan Hinduism, the word Akshardham means the abode of Swaminarayan and believed by followers as a temporal home of God on earth. It receives around 100,000 visitors a week to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 8 to 10 million people visit annually. To read more click on the below link
Ranakpur Jain Temple - Desuri, Sadri, Rajasthan, India
The temple honors Adinath, the first Tirthankar of the present half-cycle (avasarpiṇī) according to Jain cosmology, and is one of the largest and most important temples of Jain culture. This temple is built in the form of Nalini-Gulma Vimana(a heavenly vehicle Dharna Shah saw in his dreams) in MÄru-Gurjara architecture. Over 5,000 devotees flock to the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and a million people visit annually. To read more click on the below link
Monolith Of Lord Gomateshwara Temple - Channarayapatna, Karnataka, India
The Gommateshwara statue is dedicated to the Jain figure Bahubali built around 983 A.D.is the tallest monolithic statue in the world, carved out of a single block of granite, It is 57 feet high monolithic. It symbolizes Peace, Non-violence, sacrifices worldly affairs and simple living as followed by Jainism. Over 15,000 devotees flock to the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of the Lord and 2 to 3 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
Sharavanabelagola Gomateshwara Temple
Shri Siddhi Vinayak Temple - Prabhadevi, Mumbai, Maharashtra
The Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Mandir is one of the richest temples in India. The temple has a small mandap with the shrine for Siddhi Vinayak ("Ganesha who grants your wish"). The wooden doors to the sanctum are carved with images of the Ashtavinayak (the eight manifestations of Ganesha in Maharashtra) with the inner roof and the central statue is of Ganesha of the sanctum plated with gold. Every day, over 25,000 devotees flock to the temple to offer their prayers and seek the blessings of Lord Ganesh and 4 to 5 million people annually. To read more click on the below link
