CityDekho
Mundeshwari Temple

Mundeshwari Temple

pilgrimage site · Bihar

You will be told this is the oldest functioning Hindu temple in the world, dated to 108 CE by the ASI and the state religious trust board.

State
Bihar
Type
Pilgrimage Site

You will be told this is the oldest functioning Hindu temple in the world, dated to 108 CE by the ASI and the state religious trust board. Architectural historians disagree, putting the surviving stonework no earlier than the 6th or 7th century and the octagonal shrine itself possibly as late as the 16th or 17th, assembled from older pieces. Either way it has been in continuous use, which is the rarer claim. It stands at 185 m on the Kaimur plateau above the Son, so there is a climb involved. Shiva and Durga are both worshipped here.

Mundeshwari Temple is known for

Octagonal hill shrineClaimed oldest Hindu templeASI-protected since 1915Kaimur plateau

Mundeshwari Temple guide & itineraries

Been to Mundeshwari Temple?

Write what you would tell a friend — where you stayed, what you would skip, the thing you wish somebody had mentioned before you went. We read every submission before it goes up.

Share your story

People also explored

Travellers viewing Mundeshwari Temple also loved these

Bihar

Mitheshwarnath Shiva Temple

A family temple, in the literal sense: Mitthu Mistri Thakur established it at Chunabhatti in Darbhanga district in March 1949, it carries his name, and his…

Bihar

Patneshwari (Maa Patan Devi)

Patneshwari (Maa Patan Devi) in Patna, Bihar is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism.

Bihar

Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary

A wandering river made this. The Burhi Gandak, a tributary of the Ganga, meandered across the plain in the geological past and left an oxbow lake behind…

Bihar

Nagi Dam Bird Sanctuary

Small, and honest about it: 2.1 square kilometres of reservoir at Jhajha in Jamui district, near the Jharkhand border, protected as a bird sanctuary since 1984.

More spiritual places to explore

More places you'll love

Kerala

Guruvayur (Sri Krishna Temple)

Guruvayur is a temple town in Kerala centred on the revered Sri Krishna (Guruvayurappan) Temple, often called the Dwarka of the South.

Kerala

Padmanabhaswamy Temple (Thiruvananthapuram)

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is a Vaishnava shrine where Lord Vishnu reclines on the serpent Anantha in the Anantha-shayanam posture.

Andhra Pradesh

Srisailam (Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga)

Srisailam, set amid the forested Nallamala Hills above the Krishna River, is home to the Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple, a rare site that is at once one of…

Maharashtra

Trimbakeshwar (Jyotirlinga)

Trimbakeshwar, near Nashik in Maharashtra, enshrines one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas of Shiva and marks the source of the Godavari, India's…

Maharashtra

Siddhivinayak Temple (Mumbai)

Shree Siddhivinayak is Mumbai's most beloved Ganesha temple, built in 1801 and today one of the richest and most-visited shrines in India.

Gujarat

Shatrunjaya Hill

Shatrunjaya Hill rises above the Shatrunjaya River near Palitana town in Bhavnagar district, and no other mountain in the world carries anything like what…

Gujarat

Pavagadh Hill

Pavagadh Hill is a volcanic plateau rising about 822 metres from the plains of the Panchmahal district, at the heart of the UNESCO-listed Champaner-Pavagadh…

Gujarat

Valsad

Valsad, once known as Bulsar, sits at the southern tip of Gujarat on the Arabian Sea.

Gujarat

Jamnagar

Jamnagar, once the princely capital of Nawanagar under the Jadeja rulers, sits on the southern Gulf of Kutch.

Gujarat

Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar is Gujarat's planned capital, laid out on the west bank of the Sabarmati by the architects H.K. Mewada and Prakash M.

West Bengal

Nalhateshwari Temple

Nalhateshwari Temple in Nalhati, Birbhum, West Bengal is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism.

West Bengal

Kankalitala Temple

Kankalitala Temple in Bolpur, Birbhum, West Bengal is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism.

Trending in Bihar

Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya is the most sacred site in Buddhism — the place where Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree to become the Buddha. The Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and monasteries built by Buddhist nations worldwide make it a global pilgrimage centre.

Nalanda

Nalanda

Nalanda was the greatest university of the ancient world, a vast Buddhist monastic centre of learning that flourished for 700 years and drew scholars from across Asia. Its red-brick ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a symbol of India's scholarly heritage.

Rajgir

Rajgir

Rajgir, set in a valley ringed by hills, was an ancient capital and a major site in both Buddhism and Jainism. The Buddha meditated and taught here; today its hot springs, the Vishwa Shanti Stupa reached by ropeway, and Griddhakuta hill draw pilgrims and travellers.

Patna

Patna

Patna, the ancient city of Pataliputra, was the capital of the mighty Maurya and Gupta empires and is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Today it is a key gateway to Bihar's Buddhist circuit and a major Sikh pilgrimage site as the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh.

Where next?

More like Mundeshwari Temple

Spiritual & Pilgrimage

Or a different kind of trip

Hill StationsBeachesHeritage

Everything in BiharBrowse all destinations