Bengaluru is a city built on the foundations of great antiquity. It is also a place with a rich culture and heritage. The oldest temples in Bangalore are the iconic ones, often surrounded by their followers and devotees – who’ve made them popular stops for everyone visiting this town.
14 Oldest Temples In Bangalore
1. Sri Banashankari Temple
One of the oldest temples in Bangalore and historic temple, Banashankari Amma Temple, it houses Goddess Parvati in the name of Banashankari Amma. Subramanya Shetty erected the shrine in 1915. The most notable aspect of the temple is that the – a special pooja is done during Rahu Kalam, which is unlucky in Hindu culture.
2. Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple
Kempe Gowda I, the city’s founder, constructed it in the sixteenth century. Bangalore is home to a display of Indian rock-cut architecture. The temple is famous for having enigmatic stone discs in the forecourt and precise planning that allows the sun to shine on the shrine at specific times of the year.
3. Chokkanatha Temple – Domlur
The temple is devoted to the divinity Chokka Perumal or Chokkanathaswamy (the Hindu god Vishnu). One of the city’s oldest temples is this one. You can still see various Kannada and Tamil inscriptions in the shrine. These inscriptions indicate that the temple is at least 1,200 years old.
4. Plague Amma Temple
During the Plague of 1898, Plague Amma, naale baa (Plague Amma, come tomorrow) it occurs that people wrote this phares outside their doors in the city. They thought that if Goddess Amman visited them at home to infect them, she would leave after reading the message. As in any moment of sorrow in India, people went to temples during the epidemic that devastated Bangalore in 1898. People at the time constructed Plague Amma temples throughout the city because they thought Goddess Amman’s fury caused the disease. According to legend, the temples would please the Goddess and shield the community from the deadly disease’s fury. Few of these oldest temples in Bangalore still stand in the city’s historic neighborhoods.
5. Gaali Anjaneya Temple
The temple has an almost 600-year history and was built in 1425. According to legend, Vyasa Raja erected the statue where the rivers Paschimavati and Vrishabhavati converged.
Recommended Read: Visit These 10 Popular & Old Shiva Temples in Bangalore on Mondays
6. Halasuru Someshwara Temple
One of the oldest temples in Bangalore, it honors the Hindu god Shiva and dates back to the Chola era. Under Hiriya Kempe Gowda II’s leadership, the Vijayanagara Empire made significant alterations and additions.
7.Sri Kaadu Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple
The Hindu temple was built in the Malleshwara, Bengaluru in the seventeenth century and is dedicated to Shiva. The word “Kadu,” which in this context refers to the dense vegetation surrounding the temple, meaning forests. Built in the Dravidian architectural style by Venkoji, the Maratha King Shivaji’s brother.
8. Dharmaraya Swamy Temple
The Thigalas, one of the region’s earliest social groups and an agricultural population that tilled the land and raised vegetables and flowers, constructed the temple more than eight hundred years ago. The temple showcases architectural elements from structures from the Pallava, Western Ganga, and Vijayanagara Empires. The temple was there before Kempe Gowda I constructed the contemporary Bangalore in 1530.
9 . Sri RanganathaSwamy Temple
A renowned Hindu Vaikhanasa temple in Bangalore dedicated to Lord Ranganathaswamy dates back to the 16th century C.E. The temple features exquisitely carved granite pillars with Hoysala influences. The temple is on the Rangaswamy Temple Street in Bangalore’s Chickpete neighborhood.
10. Shivoham Shiva Temple – One of the Oldest Temple in Bangalore and A popular Spiritual Destination
The idea of a temple with a massive statue of Lord Shiva towering over it is a source of hope and faith for future generations. The idol of Shiva is 65 feet (20 meters) tall.
11. Dharmesvara Temple
One Among The Oldest Temples in Bangalore Connected to Mahabharata.
The temple houses the god Dharmesvara and is in Kondrahalli, Bangalore Rural (the Hindu god Shiva). It was created in 1065 AD during the Chola era. The temple has also existed for 5000 years.
According to the Mahabharata, Yaksha Kandam took place here. The four Pandava princes perish in the temple’s pond while going to gather water. Dharmaraja faces the Yaksha and answers all 248 of his questions to win the blessing from Lord Yama to revive his four brothers.
12. Sri Madduramma Temple
The Hindu Goddess Madduramma’s temple, Sri Madduramma Temple, is near Huskur (Anekal Taluk) in Bangalore. Being from the Chola era, it is among the oldest temples in Bangalore. The Grand Festival takes place in March or April.
13. Old Madiwala Someshwara Temple
Someshwara, the god (Shiva) is the diety here. It was built during the Chola Empire era and is one of the oldest temples in the city. The temple dates to the first half of the 12th century. The temple’s Sanctum Sanctorum contains a “Swayambu” Shiva lingam (formed by natural Rock Formation). One can witness numerous Granthas and Tamil insciptions on the temple’s exterior walls. The earliest inscriptions, from 1247 AD, mention a land transfer made by a Veppur (modern-day Begur) resident “behind the huge tank of Vengalur.”
14. Sri Kalikamba Kamateshwara Swamy Temple
The Nagarathpet neighborhood of Bangalore is home to the Kalikamba Kamatheshwara Temple. This city worships Kaalikaamba and Kamatheshwara (the Hindu god Shiva and Goddess Shakthi or Parvathi). The temple was built during the Chola era and is around 800 years old.
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