Some of the best churches in Karnataka can be found at Bangalore and Mangalore. Mangalore has the magnificent Saint Rosario Cathedral church with its tall frontal towers. The original building was of 1526, rebuilt in 1910. Milagres Church with beautiful tall facade accommodating many artistic images on its parapet reminds one of St. Peter's Basilicas in Rome. Equally notable is Our Lady of Sorrow church at Kodialbail built in 1857. It has a frontal tall wall facade divided into four rectangles of equal size with a pediment atop them. Mangalore has the Shanti Cathedral of the Basel Mission (now C.S.I) raised in 1862, which is a beautiful simple structure with its complex well-planned layout.
Virajpeth in Kodagu has a Catholic Church built in the Gothic style. The small Anglican Church in Madikeri in Kodagu district now houses the Government Museum and has beautiful glass paintings.
The St. Mary's Church in Belguam is a huge granite structure built in 1869 in the Camp area with fine piers in the prayer hall and gorgeous stained glass windows. The St. Philomina Church at Mysore with its two tall towers of imposing size is the pride of Mysore. The oldest St. Mary's Basilica in Shivajinagar supposed to be raised around 1600,and rebuilt in 1832,is in Bangalore.
Another imposing church in Bangalore is the St. Marks Cathedral built in 1927.With North-South alignment and built in Greeco-Roman style, was originally built for Irish soliders in 1844 and rebuilt in 1898. The Trinity Church in the Mahatma Gandhi Road was the official Anglican Church of British times. It has fine Ionic pillars and a majestic portico. Its nave is 90 feet long, with fine wooden carvings on the back- wall.

Buddhist shrines at Belgami, near Shiralkoppa, Koliwada and Dambal, are some of the prominent landmarks of Buddhist pilgrimages. Remains of razed Stupas and a large number of Buddhists plaques at Sannatti in Gulbarga were unearthed recently. 9th century Buddhist bronze images in the Manjunatha temple at Kadri in Mangalore provide a glimpse of the past. Buddhist stupas with artistically painted prayer halls can also be found in the Tibetan Settlements at Mundgod in Uttara Kannada and Bailukuppe in Mysore district. The Mahabodhi Society in Bangalore has a magnificent Buddhist stupa; a huge temple on the model of the Bodhagaya temple is being raised inside the compound.

Jainism has always held a predominant position in Karnataka. The relation between Karnataka and Jainism has been as continuous as it has been close. For centuries Jainism was Karnataka's State religion.

Beaches of Karnataka    Monuments of Karnataka    Hill Stations of Karnataka