Top 10 Temples & Mosques in Delhi

Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in India and one of the most magnificent in the world — a vast red sandstone and white marble structure built by Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656 at a cost of one million rupees, employing 5,000 workers for twelve years. The mosque can accommodate 25,000 worshippers in its main prayer hall and courtyard, and its three great domes and two 40-metre minarets are among the defining images of the Delhi skyline. The climb to the top of the south minaret offers the best bird's-eye view of Old Delhi's rooftop landscape — a sea of terracotta, television aerials, and minarets stretching to the horizon. At the time of Friday prayers, the forecourt fills with tens of thousands of worshippers in a sight of extraordinary collective devotion.

Inaugurated in 2005, Akshardham is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records — a statement of ambition and devotion on a scale that leaves first-time visitors genuinely speechless. The central monument is carved entirely from pink Rajasthani sandstone and Italian Carrara marble, featuring 234 ornate pillars, 9 domes, 20,000 carved figures of divine beings, saints, and wildlife, with zero use of steel in its construction. The complex encompasses a 300-acre campus with themed exhibitions, a boat ride through 10,000 years of Indian culture, a large musical fountain show at night, and pristine gardens. Akshardham represents contemporary Hindu India's capacity for monumental religious expression.

The Lotus Temple is one of the great architectural achievements of the 20th century — a flower of 27 free-standing white marble petals that unfurl around a central prayer hall capable of seating 2,500 people. Designed by Iranian-Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba and completed in 1986, it welcomes worshippers of all faiths equally, with no religious icons, images, or rituals required or permitted. The interior is remarkable for its quality of light and its extraordinary silence despite the thousands of daily visitors. The surrounding lotus-shaped reflecting pools and gardens create a meditative approach to the building. It is consistently one of the most visited buildings in the world, drawing more annual visitors than the Eiffel Tower.

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is the most prominent Sikh gurudwara in Delhi — a gleaming golden dome and white marble complex that serves as both a major place of worship and an extraordinary expression of the Sikh tradition of seva (selfless service). The langar here feeds thousands of people every single day, completely free of charge, regardless of caste, religion, or economic status. The sacred sarovar (pool) beside the gurudwara is believed to have healing properties — its waters were used by the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan, during a smallpox epidemic in the 17th century. The gurudwara is open 24 hours and the sound of kirtan (devotional music) never ceases.

Birla Mandir, built by industrialist G.D. Birla and inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1939, was the first major Hindu temple in Delhi built in the modern era and the first temple to explicitly welcome devotees of all castes — Gandhi would not inaugurate it otherwise. The white marble temple complex is dedicated to Vishnu (Narayan) and Lakshmi, with subsidiary shrines to Shiva and Durga. The architecture blends Orissan shikhara style with elements of Rajasthani craftsmanship in a combination that manages to be simultaneously traditional and fresh. The festival of Janmashtami is celebrated here with extraordinary fervour — the crowds begin arriving at midnight and the temple remains open through the night for darshan.

Delhi's ISKCON temple is a dramatic white marble complex perched on a hill in East of Kailash, combining the architectural traditions of ancient India with the institutional ambitions of a global religious movement. The main temple hall — dedicated to Radha and Krishna — is adorned with Belgian crystal chandeliers, Italian marble floors, and finely carved panels, and the evening aarti here draws large crowds who participate in the energetic chanting and dancing of the Hare Krishna tradition. The temple also contains an excellent museum on the life and teachings of ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada, and a multi-level complex including a restaurant, a book shop, and a guesthouse. The Janmashtami celebrations here are among Delhi's most elaborate.

The dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya — the 14th-century Chishti Sufi saint who is buried here — is the most spiritually powerful place in Delhi, a narrow-laned complex of marble and silver where qawwali devotional music has been sung continuously for 700 years. The Thursday evening qawwali — performed by hereditary musicians who have sung here for generations — attracts Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and foreigners in equal measure, all drawn by the music's capacity to dissolve barriers between faiths and between the human and the divine. The dargah also contains the graves of Amir Khusrau (the great poet and musician who was Nizamuddin's disciple), Jahanara Begum (Shah Jahan's daughter), and other Mughal nobles. This is living Sufism, not a museum exhibit.

Chhatarpur Temple — officially the Shri Adya Katyayani Shaktipeeth Mandir — is the second largest temple complex in India and one of South Delhi's most spectacular religious sites. The complex dedicated to Goddess Katyayani (a form of Durga) spreads across 70 acres with multiple shrines, reflecting pools, and marble pavilions built from South Indian white marble in the Dravidian style. The temple was built by Baba Sant Nagpal Ji beginning in 1974 and has grown continuously to become one of Delhi's most important shakti pilgrimages. During Navratri, when over 100,000 pilgrims visit daily, the complex is illuminated by elaborate lighting and the queues for the main shrine stretch for kilometres.

Tucked against the western edge of Connaught Place, the Hanuman Mandir is one of Delhi's oldest and most beloved temples — its origins date to the time of Prithviraj Chauhan in the 12th century, making it one of the few religious sites that predates even the Delhi Sultanate. The temple is dedicated to Hanuman, the monkey-god of devotion and strength, and it draws enormous crowds on Tuesdays (Hanuman's sacred day) when the queue of devotees stretches around the block from before dawn. The temple is a constant presence in the daily life of Connaught Place — office workers, shopkeepers, and politicians all make detours for a quick darshan before important meetings. Its location at the heart of modern commercial Delhi feels cosmically appropriate.

Fatehpuri Masjid stands at the western terminus of Chandni Chowk, closing the great Mughal boulevard in the opposite direction from the Red Fort, and it is one of Old Delhi's most historically significant and architecturally beautiful mosques. Built in 1650 by Fatehpuri Begum, one of the wives of Emperor Shah Jahan, it is constructed of red sandstone with white marble decorative inlay in a design that is both powerful and elegant. The mosque was seized by the British after the 1857 uprising and sold to a Hindu merchant, Lala Chunnamal, for 19,000 rupees — it was returned to the Muslim community in 1877. The morning prayers here, with the bazaar beginning to stir outside and the pigeons erupting from the rooftop, are one of Old Delhi's most evocative experiences.