Interesting Religious Sites

Built in 1906, this unique building was the first Hindu temple in the United States.

A gleaming white tower in ornate Indian style soars above the low-slung bungalows of north Tampa.

An unlikely Transcendental Meditation haven in the American Heartland built around the ancient Vedic principles of balance and harmony.

This enormous Hindu temple in Queens serves incredible dosas in its basement canteen.

Despite sitting firmly in the global cradle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this Hare Krishna temple is host to one of the largest color festivals outside India.

A Buddhist monastery tucked away in the mountains of Colorado.

A Buddhist retreat built on more than 100 acres of California Redwood forest.

This Buddhist temple is home to a number of towering statues spread over a peaceful wooded park.

An eatery within a Bay Area Buddhist temple pulls off all your favorite Vietnamese classics without the meat.

An ornate Buddhist temple located in an Atlanta suburb, built by and for the Laotian community.

One of the largest Buddhist communities in the West sits on the site of an old hospital.

This peaceful gem in upstate New York was chosen as the future home of the 14th Dalai Lama's Library and Museum.

The largest Buddha statue in the Western Hemisphere is just 50 miles north of NYC.

A glittering Thai Buddhist temple in suburban Pennsylvania.

This small and serene place for quiet reflection on Staten Island was built in China based on the gardens of the Ming Dynasty.

A hardware store Buddha statue installed to deter vandalism wound up attracting Vietnamese immigrants who came to pray.

A Tibetan Temple and Buddhist organization just off the beaten path in Northern California.

One of the largest Buddhist stupas in North America is built of concrete designed to last 1,000 years.

The smallest island in Manhattan is a manmade landfill dominated by a Buddhist peace arch.

An authentic replica of an Asian temple and garden hidden amongst the natural beauty of Hawai'i.

Ornate and vibrant, this temple is a colorful place of worship for Columbus's Thai and Laotian communities.

After an Illinois church was struck by lightning and burned down, Frank Lloyd Wright designed this replacement.

This Masonic lodge was the first major private building to be constructed in Washington, D.C. after the Civil War.

This hidden, women-built-and-operated Nevada temple on Shoshone Native American land is dedicated to the Egyptian lion goddess Sekhmet among other goddesses.

The design of this ornately decorated place of worship closely mirrors a church in Vietnam.

Hidden behind a YMCA stands the remains of a ceremonial site that dates back hundreds of years, whose ground is still considered sacred to many Hawaiians.

Every weekend, the parking lot of this Buddhist temple turns into a Thai street-food paradise.

Every dish is blessed in this basement eatery beneath a Hare Krishna temple.

A Japanese temple, old German townhouses, and public chess tables offer a peaceful escape from the bustle of the North Side.

Every Sunday, this Thai temple in Berkeley serves a backyard brunch.

This Hindu temple is an architectural marvel designed and built according to ancient Indian principles.

An unrealized Taoist palace left abandoned in a Houston suburb.

A gregarious Ohio resident has been building his whimsical temple to peace for decades.

A Bhutanese temple gifted from the isolated Himalayan kingdom is now a surprising cultural gem located at the University of Texas at El Paso.

America's original house of worship for Spiritualism, the religious movement based on communing with the dead.

This otherworldly church spire reaches up toward the heavens.

The tallest The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in the world soars above the Beltway.

This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

This intricate Hindu temple is the largest of its kind outside of India itself and was constructed like a giant puzzle.

A futuristic temple of light uses prisms and rainbows to create an atmosphere of peace.

This elaborate Hindu temple is located in a Chicago suburb, but looks like it was transported directly from India.

A shrine to a skeleton saint in the city of angels.

Huge masonic hall in Philadelphia with lavishly themed rooms.

Church and home-museum of a 1920s female revivalist preacher with a very sordid past.

A major spiritual gathering place in central Maine since the mid-1800s.

This coastal cavern is associated with the Hawaiian god of creation.

The remains of Abó, Gran Quivera, and Qurai are monuments to the long, complicated history of the Indigenous people of the Southwest.

The oldest functional consecrated church on Mustang Island.