10 Oldest Temples of the World

9. Gobekli Tepe
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Gobekli Tepe is located in southeastern Turkey, it is an artificially constructed "potbelly hill" that rises 1,000 feet above the valley floor. It has long been referred as the world's oldest temple and human-made religious structure. The site was most likely erected by hunter-gatherers in the 10th millennium BC, Gobekli Tepe not only predates pottery, and the invention of writing or the wheel but it was also built before the beginning of agriculture and animal husbandry.
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Reader's comments(92)
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Posted by: Agbor - 08 Apr, 2020
2: Go brothers and read about caves and cave temples of India. Read about Ashoka the Great. We Indians have never bothered to do proper carbon dating of various temples. Let us do that first.
Posted by: Rajeev Agarwal - 15 Oct, 2019
3: Nice collection!

All are very famous temple!
Shivohamshiva temple also very beautiful temple in Bangalore.
http://shivohamshivatemple.org/
Posted by: Sayani - 21 Oct, 2017
4: Will any rock are considered as temples?
Posted by: Raman - 09 Jan, 2016
5: Talk about being Butt-hurt. And still we are to believe that India is free if neo Nazis?
Newsflash!! Other countries outside India does exists. I know it's a remarkably and unshockingly gross fact as anything outside India has to be Pakistan for Indians.
And when talking about Harappa... It's not an Indian, but a Pakistani civilization.
You can't fucking boycott a country and then all of a sudden start licking it's ass for the sake of recognition of ancient pride.
There is no credible evidence than old temples in India are older than the temples mentioned here (again, I m sorry that it's incompatible with the ideas of proud patriotic neo Nazis of India)
And Hinduism? Bahahahahaha!!
Shamanism in ancient America, Druidism in ancient Britain, etc... Are older... Much older than any branch of Hinduism which came to life in the 14th century... Before that only parts of it were alive. Vedic Hinduism even started after 3000 BCE.
Not to mention the invasion of India by an alleged Persian group.
On top of that... Harappan civilization is one of the fewest in the world that didn't have any POLITICAL standing or ANY RELIGIOUS TEMPLES.
No temples heave been discovered as of yet... None. Harappa was an Anarchist civilization, which existed in perfect harmony.
So to summarize, neither Indian civilization (which is actually a Pakistani civilization, unless you have reached new definitions n levels of hypocrisy) isn't the oldest nor is Hinduism oldest in the world.
This list is more than justified.
Plus who knows? with the recent push on the Indian culture, some fuckwads might even get offended when a temple with bestiality like the Konarak or Khujaraho are listed.
Nothing can please these neo fascist Indians. Nothing.
Posted by: Subhankar Zac - 07 Jan, 2016
6: What weed have you been smoking .. can’t change history on your own ;0
RK replied to: Subhankar Zac post - 21 Nov, 2020
7: You are GETTING mad like muhammad~ dood!
Pakistani civilisatio? 😄 which started after 1947 😃 my mango tree is more older than your pakistan 😄
Idiot!
Hence, there was nothing about islam or allah!
Keep in your mind~ we are your genetic fathers☝
Ashok Kumar replied to: Subhankar Zac post - 01 Sep, 2020
8: Pakistani civilization began in 1947 no?
Gruham replied to: Subhankar Zac post - 24 Jul, 2017
9: Just to point out, Pakistan was part of India before the partition. The Harrapan civilization is said to have Dravidian roots as well. It's a culture, obviously it would surmise all sorts of ethnicity as trade existed even in Neolithic times. And just because they haven't been able to decipher the symbols on signboards that exist at the Harrapan sites, they cannot ascertain that the structures were prayer halls or not. There is absolutely no proof of it being an Anarchist civilization either. But deities found at the excavation sites bear a resemblance to fertility goddesses and lord Rudra who garners mention in the Rig Veda.
Aishwarya Deepak replied to: Subhankar Zac post - 09 Aug, 2016
10: huh?? hope your voice and prayers will be heard! you have a long way to overcome loneliness and frustration.
Pharaoh replied to: Subhankar Zac post - 09 Apr, 2016
11: Westerners always describe their credit with superlative words like "greatest","strongest","biggest"etc....as if whatever is not certified by them is negligible. This idiosyncrasy will be there as long as the IMF or the World Bank continues to give them better exchange rate against our currency.
Posted by: LION - 10 Dec, 2015
12: If Stonehenge is a temple then Amazon Rainforest is the oldest country..

Stonehenge is a rounded area with no sense of direction. Temples are usually (if not, always) shaped rectangular/angular with one side signifying something or pointing east (sunrise)...or North Star.or..some other natural phenomena. The only thing a rounded site signifies is that a center and a center has no sense of direction. A rounded site is more likely to be used for an event or ritual because it offers a better view.

Oldest temples under a fully institutionalized religion had to be in India since Hinduism is the oldest religion. Ancient people of Indus Valley had access to natural resources unlike any other cultures... including Egyptians and Sumerians.

Any religious site found in Harappa or Mahenjo Daro ruins should be considered the oldest temple. I was not a firm believer of this until I read about Harrappa
Posted by: Cruz - 01 Nov, 2015
13: i feel sorry for this list. Do we still need to clarify who takes the cake. Ancestors of Western community have done tremendous effort to mislead their upcoming generations.
Anyway don't take it seriously. At least India does not take this list seriously. Ha Ha some rocks are the oldest temple. It's a funny list.
I am NOT going to provide you with correct list.
Posted by: Vikhyat Mudrit - 21 Jun, 2015
14: yes ur right buddy.. western fools does these things.. dont care..:)
anonymous replied to: Vikhyat Mudrit post - 30 Oct, 2015
15: Very good,,, finally stonehenge is oldest temple or first temple and England oldeeessttt country.
Superb work..
Oh god show us the path of enlightenment
Posted by: Nila madhav - 16 Jun, 2015
16: Stonehenge seriously? It is so basic it defies belief. You want to compare it to Indian temples that are thousands of years old.
Posted by: the truth - 03 Jun, 2015
17: Absolutely no. You must do some home work before giving rubbish information.
You must go around India,Asia an South America ad study the facts
Posted by: sunil thakkur - 17 May, 2015
18: What in your view is the oldest Temple
SRIRAM T replied to: sunil thakkur post - 19 Jun, 2015
19: kailashnath. no technology of today can come close to doing that in rock. Not even the egyptian tech. ps dont believe the dating too....
sid replied to: SRIRAM T post - 18 Aug, 2016
20: This is so silly. Stonehenge is NOT a temple. If so,there are a lot of ancient cave "temples" comprised of a couple of stones all around Asia, which have been PROVEN to have housed deities. The English make Stonehenge out to be something more than it is.
Posted by: Allsys - 30 Apr, 2015
21: Archaeological Survey of India has carbon dated an Indian Temple in Malleshwarm, Bangalore to be 7000years old.
Posted by: P S Ganesh - 21 Apr, 2015
22: Historians only can estimate the date
Sudeep Majumder replied to: P S Ganesh post - 27 Jul, 2016
23: Hi,
Please read And write facts, w.r.t archeological evidences (forbidden archeology) by Michael a. Cremo. There are so many western theories sstill not accepted, ex aryan invasion theory.. most of them coined by westerners.. So don't write such article when you don't have proper clarity
Posted by: fiegel - 04 Apr, 2015
24: I have been searching for this templ for years now. I want to be brotherhood of this richies temple. I live in Nigeria
Posted by: idaewor Benjamin - 19 Mar, 2015
25: Egpty temple build in suriya varman . He one of the tamil kingdom .tamil is the oldest civilisation in the world .it prooved in research going on thrinaveli in tamil nadu. Told in Alex collior he one of the greatest American scientist .
Posted by: vicky - 11 Jan, 2015
26: Tamilian way is one of the olden day's way of life.it had many contemporary ways in other places.do notconclude this in isolation.please note that some tribals have worshipping rights in jagannath temple in Odisha even currently has no link with Tamil and it is the oldest worshipping place in this part of earth .
rabi rathsharma replied to: vicky post - 27 Jan, 2015
27: Tamilian way is one of the olden day's way of life.it had many contemporary ways in other places.do notconclude this in isolation.please note that some tribals have worshipping rights in jagannath temple in Odisha even currently has no link with Tamil and it is the oldest worshipping place in this part of earth .
rabi rathsharma replied to: vicky post - 27 Jan, 2015
28: Very good n informative. Suppose paid publication to encourage tourists.
Posted by: venkatesh - 02 Jan, 2015
29: This doesn't seem's to me. As it is proved world oldest city is Kasi,Today's Varanasi.Then how can or could be oldest temple or monument be outside Kasi,India
Posted by: Adhoksaja Das - 11 Nov, 2014
30: If you say kassi is the oldest place, you must recognise that kassi is for Biswanath and there are other 11 jotir lingams in India and why they be equally old. Secondly please note there are much olden Bishnu worshipping places in India which are older than kassi and biswanath. Do you come across kassi in any Vedic leteratute or even in any uppsnisad?
rabi tathsharma replied to: Adhoksaja Das post - 27 Jan, 2015
31: With no second thought, definitely Egypt is the homeland not only for the oldest temples on earth, bu the most breathtaking ones as well. India as well is known for various temples. However, Stonehenge as the oldest? I thoroughly deny this.
Posted by: Tony Essam - 05 Nov, 2014
32: Also missing the mention of Ajantha and Ellora in india
Posted by: parthipan - 02 Nov, 2014
33: Reason for that. They are not among the oldest.
vinsin replied to: parthipan post - 07 Feb, 2015
34: You ignored all the Indian temples. At least include angodcar temple in cambodia.... When I saw stone heng at first place, I felt like British are still ruling us... sorry ... :-(
Posted by: Parthipan - 02 Nov, 2014
35: This not about Indian Temples but oldest temples. This is not about the recent temples.
vinsin replied to: Parthipan post - 07 Feb, 2015
36: Stonehenge is in Ireland I suppose.
Posted by: Ven - 10 Oct, 2014
37: to enlist any religious stuff to get the permission of government.and india government can not give that this tem0le or mosque is the oldest one.if pm will try to enlist the world oldest temple then indian will fight among themselves first.south indian north indian ,kannad vs tamil,bihari vs maharastrian hindu vs muslims.toa bhaiya itna bada jhamela q uthhaye india government.first of all u fkn indians unite first then ask for any thing from this world.i visted across the globe i hvnt seen yet casteism.racial discrimination in developed country.seriosly u indians wake up.u hv guts but u r not unite.sorry for my language but i m also an indian.i love my india on top of this world.
Posted by: rahul roy - 27 Sep, 2014
38: Hello , Mr Scientists first you should know one thing that sanskrit is the oldest language in the world when it can be , how you saying others in the list other than india .bull shit you must know the history first than give ratings ......
Posted by: Vicky - 23 Sep, 2014
39: Bhai jbb tkk hindu unite nhi hoga aisa hi hoga ghat
That is only for divide hinduism by the western countries but leave that all shit do hardwork and show the power of india it is all done by western countries to keep the india underdevelopement country or to increase hindu conversion rate in india sorry if anybodyfeels bad by my words but it is truth
Sachin replied to: Vicky post - 25 Apr, 2020
40: This is about oldest temple and not language. Please read the topic.
vinsin replied to: Vicky post - 07 Feb, 2015
41: The writer of the following article is true about the above mentioned facts but many of these weren't temples.
He has entered many wonderfully crafted human made tombs and structures.
The stone hedge was an unfinished structure, which they left uncompleted, or it would have been one of the most beautiful and oldest civilized structure made.

Temple is a place for worship. The Egypt doesn't have any temples that u mentioned here, they were just tombs.

The oldest temple is still India, around Andhra Pradesh. Few of your scientists have already found just 10% of it , rest is still under that earth in series of calamities which took a big civilization around 15000 b.c. The records were found
Kept in nalandha vidayalaya before the pepole from mangole attacked and destroyed. My ancestors told me that someday someone is going to find this...its not very far
brahmamandaladevan replied to: vinsin post - 28 May, 2015
42: Bull shit --- read this links. Girnar( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girnar#Jain_Temples)and shankheshwar(http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shankheshwar)in gujarat,india are oldest temples.
Posted by: tapan shah - 26 Aug, 2014
43: It is about oldest temple. Your link doesnt talk about that. Not about some 1000 yrs old temples.
vinsin replied to: tapan shah post - 07 Feb, 2015
44: Stupid! These are tombs and monuments. Oldest temples are in India.
Posted by: Ajoy Banerjee - 29 Jul, 2014
45: Please name some. Those are temples.
vinsin replied to: Ajoy Banerjee post - 07 Feb, 2015
46: In india, Tamilnadu state is home for Temples Here MAHABALLIPURAM SHORE TEMPLE , TANJORE TEMPLE , CHIDAMBARAM TEMPLE , TIRUVARUR TEMPLE , SRIRANGAM TEMPLE
GOPI replied to: vinsin post - 28 Feb, 2016
47: It seems that you do not want to mention any temple of india. Youtake for granted the proofs given by americans. There is a jew temple in kashmir, it is mentioned by jew saint Izakel. He met the god there.
Your rome was formerly roma and originally Rama. There is a city called Ravana nearby.
Posted by: mukund parelkar - 29 Jul, 2014
48: Please provide historical and archeological evidence for your claim. It is not about temples of India but oldest temples.
vinsin replied to: mukund parelkar post - 07 Feb, 2015
49: better look on our sacred INDIAN temples u piece of shitshole......its India with oldest temples in the world!!!!!whoever yall are better b specific n teuth in ua presentations
vishu vishalkumar replied to: mukund parelkar post - 18 Dec, 2014
50: Which temple are you talking about? India doesn't have oldest temples.
vinsin replied to: vishu vishalkumar post - 07 Feb, 2015
51: India is the land of temples it has naturally emerged science in culture which is centered by temple there is no India where there if there is no temple
raviteja replied to: vinsin post - 05 Mar, 2015
52: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt
Posted by: gopi - 11 Apr, 2014
53: SRI THILLAI NATARAJAR TEMPLE LOCATED IN CHIDAMBARAM TOWN,TAMILNADU,INDIA IS THE WORLD OLDEST TEMPLE, THE AGE OF THE NATARAJAR TEMPLE IS 9000YEARS.
Posted by: GOPI - 11 Apr, 2014
54: Archaeological evidence please. How it was constructed at that time?
vinsin replied to: GOPI post - 07 Feb, 2015
55: For World's oldest temples.......Egypt Yes....then it should be the Indian Subcontinent before you include Greece, Italy, Turkey etc. Am shocked that not a single Indian temple is in your list.....remember Varanasi (Benares) is the OLDEST CITY IN THE WORLD after Babylon (Mesapotamia)
Posted by: Prof K S NARAYANAN - 03 Aug, 2012
56: Please provide the oldest temple of varanasi then. What was the religion then?
vinsin replied to: Prof K S NARAYANAN post - 07 Feb, 2015
57: Yes Egypt Civilization is the most oldest civilization in the World, even the evidence is still there about 7000 BC Tamples are still existing in ASWAN. Abu Simbel temples is still there.
First check the History second Check the Evidence.
hrdzia replied to: Prof K S NARAYANAN post - 12 Nov, 2013
58: The list is based on evidence. Evidence does not support the age given for the temples of India. There is no plot to undermine India or its people. The evidence suggests Varanasi began about 12th century B.C. this does not make it the oldest city in the world after Babylon. The temple in Turkey is by far the oldest structure yet found. These are simply facts based on the evidence to do otherwise is whimsical.
Rev. J. Ernst replied to: Prof K S NARAYANAN post - 28 Jul, 2013
59: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization
raj replied to: Rev. J. Ernst post - 09 Nov, 2013
60: I dont agree to your comments and the survey. Indian temples for sure are oldest. The survey is not ethical.
- Sarang
Sarang replied to: Rev. J. Ernst post - 08 Nov, 2013
61: Yes there are temples older than this-If somebody wants to know how old indian civilization is Read "Glimpses of world history" by Chacha Nehru.Then we will know what Greece and rome was like in prehistoric days.And even though our culture was humble and less of invading type we existed much ahead and that too civilised.Definitely there was ancient civilization as old as India (excavations in many sites in India are not moving ahead due to lack of technology and funds -only by another 20 yrs can the world know)in Egypt, Mesopotamia, china, central asia, North africa etc.But Rome and Greece a big NO sorry.ashok kumar
Posted by: ashok kumar - 21 Jul, 2012
62: Most of the oldest of temples have been rebuild - few examples are Lord Jagannath Temple - it is believed that it was a Buddha Shrine, Konark Temple - which was older than Puri Temple had a bigger temple structure before it was built by the maharanas of kalinga. Konark is not just a temple. It is has wheels that work as sun clock and the intrinsic designs in the wheels can serve as an almanac. I am sure there are many more older temples in India as well. Bhubaneswar is one of the oldest cities in the world with a histroy that predates most of the civilizations. It has a written history of 2000 years and it existed before the birth of Rishdev/Adinath, the first Jaina tirthankara..
Arjya replied to: ashok kumar post - 04 Dec, 2014
63: There are much more older hindu temples in india.Why is silicon India always negelcts india and indian heritage and is it only temples or culture outside india is important
Posted by: Mohan Sathyanarayana - 14 Jul, 2012
64: Please name some. It is not about India but oldest temples.
vinsin replied to: Mohan Sathyanarayana post - 07 Feb, 2015
65: Somnath temple gujrat is the oldest one..
abhi replied to: vinsin post - 03 Mar, 2015
66: Better read Indian civilization
Posted by: Krishna - 14 Jul, 2012
67: very informative.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
Posted by: Anumakonda - 14 Jul, 2012
68: This list not shows correct picture. There are lot of other temples which are older than these.
Posted by: Jayant - 10 Jul, 2012
69: Please name them temples that are atleast 12000 yrs old or older.
vinsin replied to: Jayant post - 07 Feb, 2015
70: i totally agree to this article... as Egyptian Civilization is lot older than Indian civilization....first go and study history guys.......
Posted by: Darren - 09 Jul, 2012
71: I think you mean Indus valley civilisation, in which case you are wrong. The Indus valley civilisation(3300BC-1300BC) is not only much larger than the Egyptian civilisation(3100BC-30BC), it also predates it.
You should at least wiki it, if not read more about it.
Also, its sites have been built over multiple times before the currently surviving ruins, suggesting a far older origin.
What a pity the river saraswati dried up, Otherwise it might have been there during the time of alexander(330BC) and THEN IT WOULD HAVE APPEARED IN YOUR HISTORY.

Follow your own advice. Study history. Not just partial, subtitled, tidbits of history. ALL OF IT.
Purujeet Parida replied to: Darren post - 02 Sep, 2014
72: It is about Temples. Indus Valley Civilization people maybe agnostic or atheist. Please name a temple of Indus Valley civilization with god or goddess.
vinsin replied to: Purujeet Parida post - 07 Feb, 2015
73: have u ever heard about the name "Cape Comorin or kumari kandam"... if u have known about this place u wouldn't be saying like this...
Subhash replied to: Darren post - 14 Jul, 2012
74: yes,they have carry award a oldest temple in world but, india (old India--pak, ban, srilanka, ) they carry large temple population in the world. above 50%. etc
rohit replied to: Darren post - 14 Jul, 2012
75: On what basis, we declare these as the oldest ones? Don't we have temples in India older than these
Posted by: Venkataramani - 08 Jul, 2012
76: Age of construction. Nope, oldest is Sanchi Stupa around 300 BC.
vinsin replied to: Venkataramani post - 07 Feb, 2015
77: Generations perfect bonds.Amazing collections.
Posted by: ShibaProsadBhattacharyya - 07 Jul, 2012
78: Amazing temples, the ancient civilization had the art and extravagant talent
Posted by: Reena - 06 Jul, 2012
79: Making fool our temples are older than any other civilization in the world.

But what a silly... none of them were here!!!!!!!
Bhawani Singh replied to: Reena post - 08 Jul, 2012
80: bragging about India without going into facts alone had brought India to this state today The details say some temples are of 1400 BC BC and not AD Pl mention any temple referred as built before AD
vedagiri replied to: Bhawani Singh post - 09 Jul, 2012
81: There are two temples known are of bc 1.surk kjatal ams tilla jagia and both are presently not in India.but the oldest worshipping place is jagannath Puri in odisha
rabi tathsharma replied to: vedagiri post - 19 Jan, 2015
82: There are two temples known are of bc 1.surk kjatal ams tilla jagia and both are presently not in India.but the oldest worshipping place is jagannath Puri in odisha
rabi tathsharma replied to: vedagiri post - 19 Jan, 2015
83: writing things without checking is something a person should not do bro ... anything mentioned as BC is always before AD
Henry replied to: vedagiri post - 15 Jul, 2014
84: Pls check and lnow abt indian history 1st and u will kniw for urself that there r many temples older in india even b4 AD. One such e.g. Is Ajanta/Elora caves. I fuly agree not to brag w/o details...however it is equaly notable that many astonishing facts are manipulated and destroyed during various conquests which make us ave at western accomplishments.
fact replied to: vedagiri post - 10 Jul, 2012
85: Dude this is western world what they think best hey put it, regardless of true
dhruv replied to: Bhawani Singh post - 09 Jul, 2012
86: There may be some more temples in the world, older than these but whatever information given here are good enough.Thanks for the collection.
a.n.basu replied to: dhruv post - 14 Jul, 2012
87: Good information. at least we know more about Egypt.love to see all temples.
Meenareplied to: a.n.basu post - 17 Jul, 2012
88: Budhist built their caves which later on slowly got into a mixture of caves and so called temple type.then indian worshipping places started took more to temple side of structures.the oldest Hindu presiding place where first temples came up was dasaabtar temple near deogarh in central province around 3ad.then was mamalpuram and changa temple in nepal
rabi rath sharmareplied to: Meena post - 18 Jan, 2015
89: Please do not bring the present indian maps into a subject where it does not address the contemporary issue.the temples of Pakistan and Afghanistan (tilla jagia and surkh katal) are older than the temples of dasabtar temple of central province.but them those temples were part of Hindu culture.we talso see temples in other places such as egyipt,Cambodia etc.
The question rather more important is what is the oldest Hindu worshipping place? Guess
rabi rathsharma replied to: rabi rath sharma post - 18 Jan, 2015
90: Please note that the worshipping places are temples. A stone over another stone back few thousands of years is also a temple. The temples should not be confused with parks,museums,tombs,large public places where even religious gathering take place. In that count, India has many old Vishnu temples baring shiv temples as lateral edition of temples including Jyothir Lingams. Most of them came in 300 because to 300 ad are old enough to be called temples of first phase. But when it comes the worshipping place, the purusottam khetra , is the oldest one and the presiding deity. Is lord purusottam as explained in Vedic letarture. No temple is supported so far by Veda. Sahitya . It is also one among the four dhams for Hindus called jagannath dham followed by other three as ram nath, Badri nath, dwarka nath..Hindu mythology is the reference but Hindu,s dharma grants Veda says so.it has taken all other religions to its preview. starting from Shankar, ramanand, Nanak, Ganapati Bhatta,, Tantra experts owned it. Example of universal cult
Rabi rathsharma replied to: rabi rathsharma post - 14 Sep, 2015
91: All above references are temples by their anatomy.some temples initially do not have it as temples have come long way.even the oldest worshipping place dedicated to Vishnu did not have any temple by todays standards.
rabi rathsharma replied to: rabi rathsharma post - 07 Feb, 2015
92: No matter you are right or wrong about the age of these structures but one thing is missing i.e. Temples. non of these structures are Temples.
Vijay Goyal replied to: rabi rathsharma post - 30 Jan, 2015