Delhi's Sacred Spaces: Temples, Mosques, Gurdwaras and Churches
Delhi is home to sacred spaces of every major world religion within a few kilometres of each other — a geographical fact that makes the city uniquely significant for the study of coexistence. Here is your guide to the best.
No other major world city contains the same density of significant religious architecture as Delhi. Within 20 kilometres of Connaught Place you can find: South Asia's largest mosque, the world's most visited Hindu temple complex, the Baha'i faith's most significant house of worship in Asia, a Sikh gurdwara that feeds 50,000 people daily, and the tomb of one of Islam's most beloved Sufi saints. This geographical fact — the product of multiple empires and civilisational layers — makes Delhi unlike any other city in the world for the study of sacred space.
Jama Masjid — The Friday Mosque of the Mughals
Jama Masjid was built by Emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656 as the principal Friday mosque of his new Mughal capital, Shahjahanabad (now Old Delhi). At the time of its construction, it was the largest mosque in South Asia. The red sandstone and marble compound accommodates 25,000 worshippers in its courtyard; the four minarets and three great domes are visible from much of Old Delhi.
Visiting: Non-Muslim visitors are welcome between prayer times (the mosque closes for approximately 30 minutes during each of the five daily prayers). Women are provided a robe at the entrance gate if needed. Photography is permitted in the courtyard; inside the prayer hall is not permitted during prayer times. Climbing the south minaret (a tight spiral staircase to 40 metres) costs INR 100 — the view over the Old Delhi rooftop skyline is one of Delhi's great panoramas.
Nizamuddin Dargah — The Thursday Qawwali Tradition
The Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the 14th-century Sufi saint of the Chishti order, is Delhi's most spiritually magnetic place and the site of one of the subcontinent's oldest living musical traditions. Every Thursday evening after Maghrib prayer (around 7:00pm), qawwali singers perform devotional music in the dargah courtyard — a tradition maintained without interruption for over 700 years.
The dargah complex is dense — narrow lanes leading to the central tomb shrine, surrounded by the graves of poets (Amir Khusrau, the 13th-century polymath, is buried here) and courtiers who sought proximity to the saint. The Thursday qawwali draws large crowds; arrive 30 minutes early for a reasonable position in the courtyard. Dress modestly; women should cover their heads in the inner sanctum. Photography of the shrine interior is not permitted, though the courtyard is acceptable.
The surrounding Nizamuddin neighbourhood is itself worth exploration — one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas of Delhi, with a character shaped entirely by proximity to the dargah.
Akshardham Temple — Modern Hindu Architecture at Scale
Swaminarayan Akshardham, opened in 2005, is simultaneously one of the most visited and most controversial buildings in India. The central monument — an intricately carved stone pavilion executed entirely in Rajasthani pink sandstone and Italian marble — covers 356 metres of facade with figurative and ornamental carving involving over 20,000 artisans working for 5 years. The sheer scale and craft ambition are extraordinary.
Visiting: No cameras or phones are permitted inside (a bag storage facility is provided outside). Entry is free to the main monument; the cultural exhibitions inside require tickets (INR 170). The complex is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30am–6:30pm. Metro: Akshardham station, Blue Line.
Lotus Temple — The Baha'i House of Worship
The Lotus Temple (opened 1986) is the primary Baha'i House of Worship in Asia and one of the most architecturally distinctive buildings in South Asia — 27 white marble petals arranged in clusters of three to form a lotus flower shape, surrounded by reflecting pools. The interior is a single large hall with no religious symbols of any faith — the Baha'i tradition holds that a house of worship should be open to all, requiring only silence and contemplation.
The building has won numerous architectural awards and is consistently rated as one of the most visited buildings in the world. Entry is free. Metro: Kalkaji Mandir station, Violet Line. Note: No photography inside the prayer hall; the exterior and gardens are freely photographable.
Gurudwara Bangla Sahib — Langar and Sikh Hospitality
Gurudwara Bangla Sahib near Connaught Place is Delhi's most prominent Sikh place of worship and the site of one of the great acts of hospitality in any world religion: the langar. The langar is the gurdwara's communal kitchen, which serves free vegetarian meals to anyone who comes — approximately 50,000 people per day, every day of the year, regardless of faith, caste, nationality, or circumstance. Volunteers (many of them regular worshippers taking on service as a spiritual practice) cook, serve, and wash up continuously.
Visitors are encouraged to join the langar — remove shoes, cover heads (scarves provided at the entrance), sit in a row on the floor with other diners, and accept the meal of daal, sabzi, and roti from the volunteers who move through with large buckets. This is one of the most genuinely egalitarian experiences available in any city in the world. The gurdwara's gold dome and reflecting pool are also architecturally impressive. Entry is free; donations are welcomed. Metro: Rajiv Chowk, Yellow and Blue lines.
Sacred Heart Cathedral — The Gothic Presence
Sacred Heart Cathedral on Ashok Place (near Connaught Place) is Delhi's principal Catholic cathedral — a red brick Gothic Revival structure built between 1930 and 1934, designed by Henry Medd in a style broadly consistent with the colonial architectural vocabulary of the surrounding Lutyens' Delhi. The interior is cool and quiet; the stained glass windows and wooden pews create an atmosphere quite different from any other building in the city's vicinity. Free entry; Sunday Mass at various times in English and Hindi.
Delhi's sacred geography rewards the curious visitor who approaches it without doctrinal agenda — each of these spaces is profound in its own way, and their proximity to each other says something important about the character of a city that has hosted, simultaneously, some of the world's most significant civilisations. For more on Delhi's historical layers, see our historical monuments guide and our things to do guide.