Sacred Places
584 places found
HinduismMaruthamalai Marudhachalamurthy Temple
Coimbatore · India · temple
On a granite hill of the Western Ghats above Coimbatore, the Marudhamalai Murugan Temple honours Lord Murugan as Marudhachalapathi, and is counted among the Aaru Padai Veedu, the six sacred abodes where he revealed himself in Tamil tradition.
HinduismMasroor Temples
Masrur · India · temple
Carved directly from a single hill in the Kangra valley, the Masroor Temples rise like a mountain range in miniature before the snow line of the Dhauladhar, their sanctum holding a four-faced form of Lord Shiva at the heart of an unfinished eighth-century vision.
IslamMecca Masjid
Hyderabad · India · mosque
Rising in dressed grey granite beside the Charminar in Hyderabad's old city, Mecca Masjid takes its name from bricks said to be made of soil brought from the holy city of Makkah, and stands among the largest mosques in India, still gathering thousands for Friday prayer.
HinduismMeenakshi Temple
· India · temple
A historic Shaiva-Shakta Temple on the southern bank of the Vaigai river in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, honouring Maa Meenakshi as a form of Maa Parvati alongside her consort Sundareswarar.
IslamMenüçehr Mosque
Ani · Turkey · mosque
Standing above the gorge of the Aras river on the ruined edge of Ani, the Menüçehr Mosque has stood since the Seljuk era as the first mosque the Turks raised in Anatolia, its octagonal minaret climbing over stone the colour of the surrounding steppe.
ShintoMeoto Iwa
Futami, Ise · Japan · sacred natural site
Two sea rocks bound by a great rope of twisted rice straw rise from the tide off Futami's shore, honoured in Shinto as Izanagi and Izanami, the first married kami, with a small torii marking the larger rock as a gateway to the sacred.
IslamMesih Mehmed Pasha Mosque
Istanbul · Turkey · mosque
A sixteenth century Ottoman Friday mosque in the Fatih district of Istanbul, raised for the grand vizier Mesih Mehmed Pasha and completed in 1585 to 1586, its lead covered dome resting on a stepped, sloping site above a vaulted row of shops.
IslamMolla Gürani Mosque
Istanbul · Turkey · mosque
A Byzantine church reborn as an Ottoman mosque in the Vefa quarter of Istanbul's Fatih district, its brick banded dome and arched windows counted among the city's most important surviving examples of Komnenian and Palaiologan architecture.
ChristianityMosque-Cathedral of Cordoba
Cordoba · Spain · cathedral
The Great Mosque of al-Andalus, begun in 786 with a hall of about 850 columns and a gold-mosaic mihrab, consecrated as Cordoba's cathedral in 1236 and in continuous Catholic worship since, with a Renaissance nave rising at its centre.
IslamMoti Masjid
Agra · India · mosque
The Pearl Mosque of Agra Fort, raised in white marble for the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1647 and 1653, its domes rising serene above the fort's red sandstone ramparts.
IslamMoti Masjid, Delhi
Delhi · India · mosque
A small, luminous white marble mosque tucked within the Red Fort at Old Delhi, built as Emperor Aurangzeb's own private place of prayer and among the last great flowerings of Mughal devotional architecture.
Multi-faithMount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar
Ngari Prefecture · China · sacred natural site
The unclimbed 6,638 m peak of western Tibet, held holy by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bonpos alike, circled by the 53 km kora beside the sacred freshwater of Lake Mansarovar.