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This temple is one of India's most prized architectural sites. The temple stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The 'Vimana' - or the temple tower - is 216 ft (66 m) high [4] (about 70 meters) and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kalash or 'Shikhara' (apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is of monolithic granite weighing 81.25 tons. There is a big statue of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high[5]. The entire temple structure is made out of hard granite stones, a material sparsely available currently in Thanjavur area where the temple is located.
Peoples Temple church building in Redwood Valley. Photo taken August 2012. Photo permission courtesy Laura and Ron Kohl.
Paestum,Campania (Italy)
The temple of Hera, built around 550 BCE by Greek colonists, is the oldest surviving temple in Paestum. Eighteenth-century archaeologists named it "The Basilica" because they mistakenly believed it to be a Roman building. A basilica in Roman times was a civil building, not a religious one. Inscriptions revealed that the goddess worshiped here was Hera. Later, an altar was unearthed in front of the temple, in the open-air site usual for a Greek altar; the faithful could attend rites and sacrifices without entering the cella.
Just south of the city walls, at a site still called Santa Venera, a series of small terracotta offertory molded statuettes of a standing female nude wearing the polos headdress of Anatolian and Syrian goddesses, which were dated to the first half of the sixth century BCE, were found in the sanctuary; other similar ones have been excavated at other Paestum sanctuaries during excavations in the 1980s, but the figure is highly unusual in the Western Mediterranean.[2] The open-air temenos was established at the start of Greek occupation: a temple on the site was not built until the early fifth century. A nude goddess is a figure alien to Greek culture before Praxiteles' famous Cnidian Aphrodite in the fourth century: iconographic analogies must be sought in Phoenician Astarte and the Cypriote Aphrodite. "In places where the Greeks and Phoenicians came in contact with one another, there is often an overlapping in the persona of the two deities," Rebecca Miller Ammerman has explained (Ammerman 1991), in identifying the cult at the site as that of Phoenician Astarte or Cypriot Aphrodite. In Roman times, inscriptions make clear, the cult was reserved to Venus.
Temple of ApolloThe nearby temple, the temple of Apollo, was built in about 450 BCE. It has been in the past variously thought of as a temple dedicated to Poseidon or to Hera (as Temple of Hera II). There are visible on the east side the remains of two altars, one large and one smaller. The smaller one is a Roman addition, built when they cut through the larger one to build a road to the forum. Again, offertory statues around the larger altar are used to demonstrate that Apollo was the patron of the temple.
In the central part of the complex is the Roman Forum, thought to have been built on the site of the preceding Greek agora. On the north side of the forum is a small Roman temple, dated to around 200 BCE. It was dedicated to the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.
To the north-west of the forum is the amphitheater. This is of normal Roman pattern, though much smaller than later examples. Only the southern half is visible; in 1930 AD, a road was built across the site, burying the northern half. It is said by local inhabitants that the civil engineer responsible was tried, convicted and received a prison sentence for what was described as wanton destruction of a historic site.
Temple of AthenaOn the highest point of the town, some way from the other temples, is the temple of Athena. It was built in about 500 BCE, and was for some time incorrectly thought to have been dedicated to Ceres. The architecture is transitional, being partly in the Ionic mode and partly early Doric. Three mediaeval Christian tombs in the floor show that the temple was at one time used as a Christian church.
All three temples have undergone some renovation and repair in recent years. Close access is allowed, but entry by visitors into the buildings is no longer permitted.
(Wikipedia)
Peoples Temple church building in Redwood Valley. Photo taken August 2012. Photo permission courtesy Laura and Ron Kohl.
The Golden Temple, Amritsar.
Believed to be made of 100kg of pure gold, the Golden Temple, also called Harmandir Sahib is a sight to behold. One of the oldest Gurudwaras, it is the most significant place of worship for the Sikhs.
The Golden Dome is supposed to represent an inverted lotus flower, pointing back to earth to symbolize the Sikh's concern with the problems of this world.
The serenity of the place, makes it one of the must see places in India.
This pic is one of the few decent evening shots I managed to get. Without a tripod, there's still a bit of shake and noise(dots) in the pic. I liked the Golden Reflection and the Blue tinge to the sky.
Built in 780 with natural waterfall running through it and listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is by far the most famous temple in Japan as the main wooden building with 13m high pillars supporting a cantilevered platform was built without a single nail.
Seen here was a shot taken in the early hours on a fine spring day.
The Temple of Ennoc is the main sanctuary of the Paladin Order. Ennoc, the Righteous Light, is the god of justice and honesty and his defenders are the great and noble knights and clerics of the Paladin Order.
Inspired of the Heroica RPG currently played at Eurobricks.
Photo walking with a fisheye lens
京都府宇治市 / 黄檗山萬福寺
Located : Obaku-san Manpuku Temple, Uji city, Kyoto.
HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE
Chengannur Mahadevar Temple one of the most famous and oldest temple, located in Allappuzha district. There are many chronicles connecting with this temple. One of them is said to be like this:
Long years back Chengannur was under the supremacy of Vangipuzha Thampuran, and rented to Mr.Nayanar Pillai. One day Nayanar Pillai asked his maid servant Kurathi to work on this place. In between her work, she sharpened her weapon on a rock; and there by she noted blood coming from that rock. And this reality was informed to Pillai and Thampuran.Thampuran reported this to Thazhaman Potty, a bharamin. Thazhaman Potty showered 36 para of Ghee on that stone in order to put off the blood. On discussion with Potty, Thampuran decided to raise a temple here. For this Perunthachan, the most talented carpenter was called.
The Temple and Kuthambalam (Performance Hall) was erected in accordance with the plan of Perunthachan. The prominence feature of kuthambalam was that the shadow of the artist would not fall on the stage if the entire lamp were lit on. After the construction of the temple and kuthambalam, Thampuran requested Perunthachan to skill an idol of Devi. Perunthachan ordered his workers to dig a pointed place. On digging an idol of Parvathi Devi was found and this idol has investiture at the nearest optimistic moment.
After a few years Perunthachan traveled around the place again and well-informed Thazhaman Potty that the temple would be damaged in fire and at that time the Idol of Devi would be destroyed. He also provided an Idol of Devi made up of Panchaloham and asked him to keep a record of what he said. And on 18th Century the temple complex was damaged by fire. Vangipuzha Thampuran refurbished the temple except the Kuthabalam.This could not be returned to its original position as it had been planned and constructed by Perunthachan.And the Devi's Idol had been taken from the river with the help of some fishermen of Karunagappalli. This took place on a Shivarathri.
Feb 14
HISTORY OF THE TEMPLE
Now also Shivarathri is celebrated with the same tradition as before.
A special sole element of this temple is Thriputharattu. It is measured as a sign of luck. The significance of thriputharattu is linked with another story. Once Lord Vishnu, Brahma, Priests, Devas, and all other God went to Himalayas to attend the auspicious marriage of Lord Shiva & Parvathi. Due to the weight of all invitees who came in Himalayas, the Earth starts to go down to the northern side. In order to prevent this, Trimoorthies demanded sage Agasthya to go and sit on shronadri, Southern bank of Pamba River, for balancing the weight. Sage Agasthya accepted the request but he expressed his worry about missing the chance of attending the marriage. After the marriage Lord Shiva and Devi went to meet Agasthya at shronadri. There Devi became Hrithu (menstruate) and she could not go back. Devi stayed there till the period of menstruation was over. And later these were rituals come to known as Thriputharattu and now it is observed periodically in the temple. The temple is also considered as Shakthi Peedam.
The ceiling of the Hypostyle Hall at Dendera Temple is enriched with an incredible amount of figurative detail carved in low relief and painted in subtle shades against a blue background. The subjects include numerous deities and hybrid figures (some familiar, others much less so) and even astrological elements, such as recognisable figures from the zodiac.
Over the centuries the ceiling had become so darkened by dirt and soot to become heavily obscured and hard to read, and this is how I saw it for the first time in the 1990s, when many visitors probably missed it altogether. Now it has been fully cleaned and restored it shines again not only as one of the glories of the temple but one of the most remarkable surviving decorative schemes of ancient Egypt. The contrast with its previous blackened, unrestored condition is dramatic, giving an entirely different impression from our previous visit.
The Temple of Hathor at Dendera is one of Egypt's best preserved and most beautiful ancient shrines. This magnificent edifice dates to the Ptolemaic period, late in Egyptian history, though the site long had been the cult centre for the goddess Hathor for centuries before (the earliest extant remains date to c360BC but a temple is recorded here as far back as c2250BC). Most of the main building dates to the reigns of the last Cleopatras and further decoration and building work within the complex continued in the Roman period up to the reign of Trajan.
The dominant structure in the complex is the Temple of Hathor, an enormous structure with a rectangular facade punctuated by the Hathor-headed columns of the hypostyle hall within. This hall is an architectural wonder, a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian design and decoration, which covers every surface and has been recently cleaned, revealing a superb astrological ceiling in all its original vibrant colours.
Sadly there was much iconoclasm here during the early Christian period and most of the reliefs of the walls and pillars have been defaced. Worse still is the damage to the 24 Hathor-head capitals: not one of the nearly a hundred huge faces of the goddess that once smiled down on this hall has been left unblemished, most with their features cruelly chiselled away.
The main temple building is otherwise structurally intact, and extends into further halls and chapels beyond, again with much relief decoration (much of which is again defaced). In one corner is an entrance to a crypt below, an unusual feature in Egyptian temple architecture consisting of several narrow passages adorned with carved relief decoration in good condition.
There are further sanctuaries and chapels above on the roof of the temple, accessed by a decorated staircase and including the room where the famous Dendera Zodiac was formerly located (today its place in the ceiling taken by a cast of the original, now displayed in Paris). The highest part of the roof complex is no longer accessible to tourists, but I can still recall making the ascent there on our first visit in 1992.
Several other buildings surround the main temple, the most impressive of which is the mammisi or 'birth-house'. This consists of a large rectangluar hall surrounded by a colonnade near the entrance to the site and has some well preserved relief decoration on its exterior. Most of this structure dates to the Roman period, but the ruins of its predecessor built under Nectanebo II (Egypt's last native pharoah) stand nearby.
Dendera temple is one of the most rewarding in Egypt and shouldn't be missed. It is one of the most complete and evocative ancient monuments in the country and its recent restoration has revealed a surprisingly extensive amount of colour surviving within (we were amazed by the dramatic contrast with the soot-blackened ceiling we'd beheld on our previous visit in the 1990s). Despite its relative youth (in Egyptian terms at least!) it is easily one of my favourite sites in Egypt.