The morphology of the phosphors plays a major role in altering luminescent characteristics, which can be altered using different templates. The present paper reports for the first time template directed co-precipitation synthesis of Gd2O3:Eu phosphors. Three water soluble templates i.e., Thioglycerol (TG), Dextran, and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in varying amount of 0.5 to 2.5 wt% were used during synthesis. The effect of templates on the structural, morphological and luminescent properties of Gd2O3:4mol%Eu phosphors were investigated. The addition of the templates during synthesis altered the morphology of the samples significantly. All the samples exhibited sharp, narrow and intense emission spectra, corresponding to the 5D0-7F0,1,2,3,4 transitions of Eu3+ ions. The photometric parameters such as CIE coordinates and CCT values were determined to check their applicability for practical applications. The synthesized phosphors find potential applications in optoelectronic devices and bio-medical applications.