Karnataka Temples
Famous Temples in Karnataka
Historic Hoysala marvels, coastal Shiva shrines and living pilgrimage centers across Karnataka.
A sacred route becomes easier when names, places and purpose are clear.
What are Karnataka Temples?
Historic Hoysala marvels, coastal Shiva shrines and living pilgrimage centers across Karnataka.
Divine Significance
- • This cluster has one clear pilgrimage intent and should be treated separately from the general temple listing page.
- • The complete names and locations help devotees compare temples before planning darshan.
- • Temple profile cards below link only to detailed pages currently available on Temples.bio.
Spiritual Benefits
Karnataka Temples Names and Locations
Region
Karnataka
Page Type
State temple guide
Use
Compare temple profiles and plan visits
Best Time
October to March for most routes
Karnataka Temples List
This is the canonical names list for the sacred cluster. Temple profile cards are shown separately when detailed Temples.bio pages are available.
- Karnataka major temples
- Karnataka pilgrimage places
- Karnataka temple timings and locations
- Karnataka temple travel routes
Temple Profiles Available on Temples.bio
These are the detailed temple pages currently linked to this cluster.
Anjanadri Hill Temple
Anjanadri Hill near Hampi is believed to be Hanuman’s birthplace. It sits a top AnjanadriHill, and getting there requires a bit of a climb. But once you’re up, the panoramic views of the ancient ruins are absolutely stunning. The peaceful, spiritual atmosphere makes it a great spot for reflection and connecting with nature.
Bheemeshwara Temple
A riverside Shiva shrine on the Cauvery at Bheemeshwari, where the river runs fast and green through forested banks and the temple sits close enough to the water that the sound of the current carries all the way into the sanctum.
Bhoga Nandishwara Temple
At the base of Nandi Hills, this 1200-year-old complex holds three separate shrines built across four dynasties — you can walk from the 9th century to the 16th in under twenty minutes, while mist drifts off the hill and into the courtyard.
Bhoo Varaha Swamy Temple
A unique temple dedicated to Lord Varaha (boar avatar of Vishnu), famous for its connection to earth element and agricultural prosperity.
Bull Temple (Dodda Basavana Gudi)
Built by Bangalore's founder Kempe Gowda in 1537, this Basavanagudi shrine houses a 4.5-metre monolithic Nandi so massive and polished-black from centuries of oil that it feels less like stone and more like something that might, at any moment, move.
Chamundeshwari Temple Mysuru
Perched atop Chamundi Hills in Mysuru, this ancient temple is dedicated to Goddess Chamundeshwari, the fierce form of Durga who vanquished the demon Mahishasura.
Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple Melkote
A significant Divya Desam in Karnataka established by Acharya Ramanuja, Melkote temple is famous for its beautiful Cheluvanarayana deity and the Vairamudi (diamond crown) festival.
Chennakeshava Temple (Belur)
Belur's Chennakeshava Temple took 103 years to build — and standing in front of the star-shaped platform, you understand why. Every inch of the black soapstone is alive with carving; it is less a building and more a civilisation recorded in stone.
Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple
A unique temple where Jain trustees serve a Shaivite deity, famous for free meals (Annadana) and representing religious harmony and dharma.
Ekanathamma Temple (Chitradurga Fort)
The Ekanathamma temple sits inside one of South India's most dramatic fort complexes — seven concentric granite walls built into a boulder-strewn hillside — and the best way to find it is to simply walk in and let the labyrinth lead you.
Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple
Hidden inside a natural cave in Gavipuram, this 9th-century rock-cut shrine pulls off one of India's most precise astronomical feats: every Makar Sankranti, a single beam of sunlight pierces the cave entrance and falls exactly on the Shiva Linga — and it has done so for over a thousand years.
Gokarna Mahabaleshwar Temple
A sacred coastal temple and important pilgrimage site, famous for its ancient Shiva Linga and beautiful Arabian Sea beaches.
Gommateshwara Bahubali Temple
A 57-foot monolithic Bahubali carved from a single block of granite stands on Vindhyagiri hill — arms at his sides, creepers climbing his legs, utterly still and utterly commanding. Nothing quite prepares you for the first sight of him.
Hampi Virupaksha Temple
The principal temple of UNESCO World Heritage Site Hampi, dedicated to Lord Virupaksha (Shiva) and representing the glorious Vijayanagara Empire heritage.
Hornadu Annapoorneshwari Temple
Sacred to Goddess Annapoorneshwari, the provider of food and nourishment, nestled in the Western Ghats and famous for its powerful blessings for prosperity and food security.
Idugunji Vinayaka Temple
A powerful wish-fulfilling Ganesha temple near Udupi, famous for its miraculous blessings and the ability to grant devotees' sincere desires.
ISKCON Temple Bangalore
Perched on Hare Krishna Hill in Rajajinagar, this is one of the largest ISKCON complexes in the world — a campus of chanting, colour, and flower-scented corridors where the evening aarti pulls hundreds of people into a single rhythm of devotion.
Kateel Durgaparameshwari Temple
A powerful Shakti Peetha on the banks of River Nandini, famous for its miraculous powers and the annual Navarathri celebrations.
Keshava Temple
If you have only one Hoysala temple to visit in your life, make it Somnathpur — a 13th-century star-shaped marvel standing alone in a quiet village, every horizontal band of its exterior alive with carvings that tell the entire mythology of the Puranas in stone.
Kote Venkataramana Temple
Built by the Mysore Wodeyars in 1689 inside Bangalore Fort, this Dravidian shrine stands a minute's walk from Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace — two histories occupying the same square metre, still intact after three centuries of war and change.
Kotilingeshwara Temple
A modern pilgrimage site near Kolar housing a 108-foot Shiva Linga surrounded by a sea of over 90 lakh individually consecrated smaller Lingas — a place where collective human devotion, rendered in stone, becomes physically overwhelming.
Kukke Subramanya Temple
One of the most important Subramanya temples, famous for Sarpa Dosha remedies and nestled in the scenic Western Ghats with powerful serpent worship traditions.
Mahalakshmi Temple Sringeri
Located in the sacred town of Sringeri, this Mahalakshmi temple is part of the famous Sringeri Sharada Peetham complex, combining wealth worship with learning and wisdom.
Mookambika Devi Temple Kollur
Located in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, Mookambika Temple is a powerful Shakti Peetha where the goddess is worshipped as the combined form of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati.
Murudeshwar Temple
Famous for the world's second-tallest Shiva statue and spectacular coastal location, dedicated to Lord Murudeshwar on the Arabian Sea shore.
Nimishambha Temple
The Goddess who grants wishes in a Nimisha — a single minute — sits on the Kaveri bank at Ganjam, 2 km from the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangapatna, where lemon garlands fill every vendor stall outside and the queue on Fridays winds past the river.
Ragigudda Anjaneya Temple
Climbing the rocky steps of Ragigudda at dawn is a South Bangalore ritual — the hilltop Hanuman shrine in JP Nagar is the kind of place where the city's roar fades into the sound of bells and wind, and Tuesdays feel like a festival.
Ramadevara Betta Rama Temple
India's only Vulture Sanctuary also shelters a thousand-year-old hilltop Rama temple on the same Sholay boulders where Sugriva is said to have installed the Lord's idol during the Ramayana — the climb involves 400 steps, a natural lake that never dries, and panoramic views over Ramanagara's orange granite hills.
Sakleshwara Swamy Temple
The town of Sakleshpur gets its name from this temple — a 12th-century Hoysala Shiva shrine on the banks of the Hemavathi, where a broken Linga was found in the earth, and where the surrounding coffee hills make every morning visit smell of roasting beans and incense simultaneously.
Shivagange Cave Temple
A granite hill shaped like a Shiva Linga rises 4,500 feet above Tumkur district, housing a cave temple where priests apply ghee to the Shiva Linga and it inexplicably turns into solid white butter — a miracle that has been observed here for centuries and has no scientific explanation.
Shivoham Shiva Temple
A 65-foot white Shiva statue rises from an artificial mountain along Old Airport Road — grand enough to see from the expressway, quiet enough inside to actually sit and think.
Sigandur Chowdeshwari Temple
A unique island temple surrounded by Sharavathi backwaters, dedicated to Goddess Chowdeshwari and accessible only by boat, famous for its serene water setting.
Someshwara Temple
In a town built on gold, this 14th-century Vijayanagara temple predates every mine shaft and colonial structure by centuries — its Kalyana Mantapa pillars so finely carved they look like woodwork rather than stone.
Sri Santhana Venugopala Swamy Temple
Sri Santhana Venugopala Swamy Temple, known as "Dakshina Govardhana Kshetra," is a Krishna temple in Hemmaragala village near Nanjangud, Mysuru district, famed for blessing childless couples with progeny. The presiding deity, also called Hucchu Gopala or Bala Gopala, stands in the flute-playing Tribhangi pose.
Sringeri Sharada Peetham
One of the four cardinal Advaita Vedanta peethas established by Adi Shankaracharya, dedicated to Goddess Sharada and famous for its spiritual learning and philosophy.
Srirangapatna Ranganathaswamy Temple
An important Divya Desam temple on an island in River Cauvery, historically significant as the capital of Tipu Sultan and featuring ancient Vishnu worship.
Udupi Sri Krishna Temple
Founded by Saint Madhvacharya in the 13th century, Udupi Sri Krishna Temple is one of the most famous Krishna temples in India, known for its unique tradition of worshipping Lord Krishna through a silver-plated window called Navagraha Kindi.
Vaidyanatheshwara Temple
Talakadu is genuinely strange — sand dunes have swallowed entire temple complexes along the Cauvery, some shrines buried to their rooftops — and the five-temple Panchalinga Darshana circuit can only be completed once every twelve years when the shifting sands allow all entrances to be excavated.
Karnataka Temples Map
All temples plotted on one map. Tap a marker for details and driving directions.
Related Temple Clusters
Frequently Asked Questions
Embark on Your Sacred Pilgrimage
Visit these divine temples and experience the transformative power of devotion
Explore All Temples