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India

Best temples in Bengaluru

Bengaluru’s temples are working Hindu shrines used daily by the city’s residents rather than sights built for visitors. Two of them go back to Kempe Gowda, the sixteenth-century founder of the city: the Bull Temple, Dodda Basavana Gudi, built in 1537 around a huge stone Nandi, and Gavi Gangadhareshwara, a Shiva shrine inside a natural cave in a granite outcrop. These are the two to prioritise; the ISKCON temple, opened in 1997 on a hill in the north-west, is the modern counterpoint.

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Bull Temple (Dodda Basavana Gudi)

Bengaluru, India

No ticket is sold for the Bull Temple, and none is needed: entry is free, there is no separate queue for visitors and…

No online ticket

ISKCON Temple Bengaluru

Bengaluru, India

Entry to ISKCON Temple Bengaluru is free, and no ticket for it alone is sold online.

No online ticket

The Bull Temple and Gavi Gangadhareshwara are both in the old south Bengaluru neighbourhoods of Basavanagudi and Gavipuram, close enough to combine in one morning. ISKCON is across the city in Rajajinagar and needs a separate trip. All three close for a few hours around midday and reopen in the late afternoon, so come early or for the evening aarti. Shoes come off everywhere, and men may be asked to remove their shirts in the Gavi Gangadhareshwara sanctum.

Which one to choose in Bengaluru

Temples in Bengaluru: questions

How many temples are there in Bengaluru?

This catalogue lists 3 temples, shrines and mosques in Bengaluru, 0 of them with tickets or tours to book online.

Which is the oldest temple in Bengaluru?

Bull Temple (Dodda Basavana Gudi), founded in 1537, is the oldest in the catalogue for Bengaluru.

Which temples in Bengaluru are free to enter?

3 of the 3 temples in Bengaluru charge no entry fee, among them Bull Temple (Dodda Basavana Gudi), ISKCON Temple Bengaluru, Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple. The entry fee is shown on each page.