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Amritsar, Golden Temple
The Harmandir Sahib, informally referred to as the "Golden Temple", is the holiest Sikh gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. The city was founded in 1574 by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das. The Harmandir Sahib was designed by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan, who had the cornerstone laid by the Muslim Sufi saint Sai Hazrat Mian Mir on 28 December 1588. Guru Arjan completed the Adi Granth, the holy scripture of Sikhism, in 1604 and installed it in the gurdwara.
The present-day gurdwara was rebuilt in 1764 by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia with the help of other Sikh Misls. In the early nineteenth century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh secured the Punjab region from outside attack and covered the upper floors of the gurdwara with gold, which gives it its distinctive appearance and its English name.
The Harimandir Sahib is considered holy by Sikhs. The holiest text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is present inside the gurdwara during daytime and the holy book goes for Sukhasan during the night time. Its construction was mainly intended to build a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come and worship God equally. Over 100,000 people visit the holy shrine daily for worship, and also partake in the free community kitchen and meal (langar) that is a hallmark of all Sikh Gurudwaras.
Some of the architectural features of the Harmandir Sahib were intended to be symbolic of the Sikh world view. Instead of the normal custom of building a gurdwara on high land, it was built at a lower level than the surrounding land so that devotees would have to go down steps to enter it.
The gurdwara is surrounded by the Sarovar, a large lake or holy tank, which consists of Amrit ("holy water" or "immortal nectar") and is fed by the Ravi River. There are four entrances to the gurdwara, signifying the importance of acceptance and openness. There are three holy trees (bers), each signifying a historical event or Sikh saint. Inside the gurdwara there are many memorial plaques that commemorate past Sikh historical events, saints and martyrs, including commemorative inscriptions of all the Sikh soldiers who died fighting in World War I and World War II.
Much of the present decorative gilding and marblework dates from the early 19th century. All the gold and exquisite marble work were conducted under the patronage of Hukam Singh Chimni and Emperor Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Darshani Deorhi Arch stands at the beginning of the causeway to the Harmandir Sahib; it is 62 metres high and 6 metres in width. The gold plating on the Harmandir Sahib was begun by Ranjit Singh and was finished in 1830. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a major donor of wealth and materials for the shrine.
(source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmandir_Sahib)
Temple of Portunus (formerly known as Fortuna Virilis), travertine, tufa, and stucco, c. 120-80 B.C.E.
Sonagiri means the golden peak. Sonagiri in Madhya Pradesh is located in Datia district which is famous for its Jain temples. Sonagir is known as a holy site for the Digambar sect of the Jains. History says that King Nanganag Kumar had attained salvation and got liberated from the cycles of death and life in this place. He was followed by millions of his followers. Thus, Jain saints who seek salvation or practice the paths to Nirvana flock to this place.
This sacred place is popular among devotees & ascetic saints to practice for self discipline, austerity and to attain Nirvana (Salvation) since the time of Bhagwan Chandraprabhu (The 8th Teerthankar), Five & half Crores of ascetic saints have achived salvation (Moksha or Nirvana) from here. The Samavsharan of Bhagwan Chandraprabhu came here for 17 times. Nang, Anang, Chintagati, Poornachand, Ashoksen, Shridatta, Swarnbhadra and many other saints achieved salvation from here. This is the unique place known as Laghu Sammed Shikhar covering the area of 132 acres of two hills. There are 77 beautiful Jain temples with sky high spires, Temple No. 57 is main among them. Acharya Shubh Chandra & Bhartrihari lived and worked here for spiritual achievements. They completed here some texts also.
The Baphuon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាពួន) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of the Bayon. Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountain built as the state temple of Udayadityavarman II dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. It is the archetype of the Baphuon style. The temple adjoins the southern enclosure of the royal palace and measures 120 metres east-west by 100 metres north-south at its base and stands 34 meters tall without its tower, which would have made it roughly 50 meters tall. Its appearance apparently impressed Temür Khan's late 13th century envoy Chou Ta-kuan during his visit from 1296 to 1297, who said it was 'the Tower of Bronze...a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base.' In the late 15th century, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple. A 9 meter tall by 70 meter long statue of a reclining Buddha was built on the west side's second level, which probably required the demolition of the 8 meter tower above, thus explaining its current absence. The temple was built on land filled with sand, and due to its immense size the site was unstable throughout its history. Large portions had probably already collapsed by the time the Buddha was added.
Pen and watercolor reconstruction of what the temple may have looked in the 11th century by Lucien Fournereau in 1889
The unfinished reclining Buddha on the west side of the temple
Bas-relief
Eastern Gopuram
Baphuon. Inner view
By the 20th century, much of the temple had largely collapsed, and restoration efforts have since proven problematic: a first effort begun in 1960 was interrupted by the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge, and records of the positions of the stones were lost. A second attempt started in 1995 by a team of French-led archeologists as of 2005 was still ongoing, restricting visitor access. As of November 2010, partial visitor access was once again allowed, though not to the central structure.
In April 2011, after 51 years, the archaeologists finished the restoration of the temple. King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France were among those who first toured the renovated temple during the inauguration ceremony on July 3, 2011
One of several temples scattered about the site of the former capital Inwa (also called Ava), which preceeded both nearby Amarapura and Mandalay as the royal capital of Burma. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inwa
Today little remains of the city itself aside from the sporadic temples and a few sections of fortified city wall, the rest of the area having reverted to purely rural agricultural use.
Brahadeeswara Temple at Tanjore (Thanjavur), dedicated to Lord Shiva, also called the Big Temple, belongs to the architecture of the Chola period. Built in the 10th Century A.D., by Raja Raja Chola.
Swaminarayan also known as Sahajanand Swami, is the central figure in a modern sect of Hinduism known as the Swaminarayan Hinduism, a form of Vaishnavism. Swaminarayan was born Ghanshyam Pande in Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1781. In 1792, Sahajanand Swami held a gathering and taught the Swaminarayan mantra. From this point onwards, he was known as Swaminarayan and within the sect, he is regarded as an incarnation of God, Purushottama, or is venerated as an incarnation of Narayana from the Nara-Narayana deity pair by his followers. The Uddhav Sampraday became known as the Swaminarayan Sampraday.
Swaminarayan developed a good relationship with the British Imperial Government. Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri, a book of social principles. Before his death, Swaminarayan appointed his adopted nephews as acharyas to head the two dioceses of Swaminarayan Sampraday.
Swaminarayan is also remembered within the sect for undertaking reforms for women and the poor, performing yagnas or fire sacrifices on a large scale as well as performing miracles. Swaminarayan had an estimated 1.8 million followers when he died.
It is a conjunction taken after one night of astronomical observation, when i arrived at my home.
08/211/2015 / 04h48m - Temple of Diana - Évora - Portugal
The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple. It is an agamic temple, built in the Dravdian style. Due to its architectural and historical significance, the temple has been gazetted a National Monument and is a major tourist attraction. The focus of this main prayer hall is the central shrine of Mariamman, which is flanked by the shrines of two secondary deities - Rama and Murugan. The main prayer hall is surrounded by a series of free-standing shrines, housed in pavilion like structures with decorated dome roofs, known as 'Vimana'. These are dedicated to the following deities: Durga, Ganesh, Muthularajah - also known as Mathurai Veeran, a rural Tamil deity, Aravan and Draupadi.
Today we took part in part of the the 88 stage pilgrimage in Aio which takes the pilgrim around the major temples and a larger number of small Jizo and Kannon Bodhisattva shrines in the fishing village of Aio and neighbouring hamlets. It started in 1783 making it the second oldest such pilgrimage after the 9th century pilgrimage in Shikoku, made famous by the esoteric Buddhist Kūkai (lit "empty sea" also known as Koubo Daishi - great teacher of the wide law), upon which it is based. For this reason the pilgrimage around Aio is called "O'Daishi Mairi", which means literally greater teacher's pilgrimage. Vistors to the temples and Buddhist receive stamps (inkan, seal pressings) as they would also do at Shinto shrines except when visiting Buddhist temples one takes a pressing oneself onto a piece of paper with 88 squares (or onto ones clothing or even body at other such pilgrimage sites), whereas at Shinto shrines one receives a small piece of paper, card or wood onto which as been pressed the seal of the god, as the representation of a household shrine (kamidana) deity, or protective amulet (omamori) which functions as a scapegoat (migawari) collecting the bad luck and impurity that would otherwise collect upon its owner. Perhaps the very act of collecting stamps, which Japanese do to this day when they take part in tourist stamp rallies, encourages the participant to supplicate, and look at ones hands. In the Christian Eucharist practitioners are encourage to look at their hands as they accept the sacrament, or even as they eat their daily bread. Christians accept bread. Japanese accept symbols. Visitors to the Buddhist temples are also given a small dish of rice crackers, soft rice nougat (uirou), a banana, some tea or coffee, so there is no shortage of edible refreshment, but it is not sacred. Some visitors chant the name of a Buddha. Most put their hands together, give a small (often token) monetary offering, and express their thanks. Some of the temples have a very pleasant, magical mystical vibe. The waiting at the temples on the pilgrimage are so extremely friendly. Sometimes old ladies beat a Buddhist wooden drum. This may be to encourage, or accompany visitors as they chant.
The psychological effect of taking part in the pilgrimage are many. The various communities of fishermen, farmers, furniture makers and foresters are encourage to recognise their unity, as part of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims find out about beautiful temples that they would not otherwise of known about. One pilgrim on the original Shikoku route spoke of being able, subsequently, to see his own back. I feel that having seen the stages on a map, visiting each in turn encourages me to imagine the route from a bird's, or god's, eye view looking down from above. With all the praying (almost everyone puts their hands together in front of them when they pray), and stamp collecting one is encouraged to look at ones hands, and stamps, an act which parallels that of seeing the pilgrimage from above in ones imagination. And according to the pilgrim lore, one is also encouraged to think that the great teacher, Odaishi, another self sacrificing scapegoat, is making the pilgrimage with you. This in turn calls to mind the Mc Dermott-Rochat hypothesis.
This was one of the most amazing Japanese temples I've seen so far. It was filled with little statues of buddhas. I made a pic with my Principessa.
The temple is on Miyajima, an island close to Hiroshima.
Golden Temple of Amritsar
The Harmandir Sahib, also Darbar Sahib and informally referred to as the "Golden Temple", is a prominent Sikh Gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It was built by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan, in the 16th Century. In 1604, Guru Arjun completed the Adi Granth, the holy scripture of Sikhism, and installed it in the Gurdwara.
There are four doors to get into the Harmandir Sahib, which symbolize the openness of the Sikhs towards all people and religions. The present day Gurdwara was rebuilt in 1764 by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia with the help of other Sikh Misls. In the early nineteenth century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh secured the Punjab region from outside attack and covered the upper floors of the Gurdwara with gold, which gives it its distinctive appearance and its English name.
The Harimandir Sahib is considered holy by Sikhs. The holiest text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is always present inside the Gurdwara. Its construction was mainly intended to build a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come and worship God equally. Over 100,000 people visit the holy shrine daily for worship
Ancient Aizanoi......Settlement in the area is known from the Bronze Age. The city may have derived its name from Azan, one of three sons of Arcas and the nymph Erato, legendary ancestors of the Phrygians.[2][3] During the Hellenistic period the city changed hands between the Kingdom of Pergamum and the Kingdom of Bithynia, before being bequeathed to Rome by the former in 133 BC. It continued to mint its own coins.[1] Its monumental buildings date from the early Empire to the 3rd century. Aezani was part of the Roman province of Phrygia Pacatiana. It became a Christian bishopric at an early stage, and its bishop Pisticus (or Pistus) was a participant at the First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council, in 325. Pelagius was at a synod that Patriarch John II of Constantinople hastily organized in 518 and that condemned Severus of Antioch; he was also at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. Gregory was at the Trullan Council of 692, John at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, and Theophanes at both the Council of Constantinople (869) and the Council of Constantinople (879).[4][5] The bishopric was at first a suffragan of Laodicea but, when Phrygia Pacatiana was divided into two provinces, it found itself a suffragan of Hierapolis, the capital of the new province of Phrygia Pacatiana II.[6][7] No longer a residential bishopric, Aezani is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. After the 7th century, Aezani fell into decline. Later, in Seljuk times, the temple hill was converted into a citadel (Turkish: hisar) by Çavdar Tatars, after which the recent settlement of Çavdarhisar is named.[1][2][3] The ruins of Aezani/Aizanoi were discovered by European travellers in 1824. Survey work in the 1830s and 1840s was followed by systematic excavation conducted by the German Archaeological Institute from 1926, resumed in 1970, and still ongoing
The Temple of Zeus, situated upon a hill, was the city's main sanctuary. Ceramic finds indicate local habitation from the first half of the third millennium BC. According to a recent reading of the architrave inscription, construction of the temple began under Domitian. Inscriptions document imperial assistance from Hadrian relating to the recovery of unpaid rents as well as the euergetism of Marcus Apuleius Eurykles. Later the Çavdar Tatars carved equestrian and battle scenes on the temple. The temple is pseudodipteral, with eight columns at the ends and fifteen along the sides (35 m × 53 m (115 ft × 174 ft)). It was damaged in a 1970 earthquake and has since been restored.
Kumbakonam, Kumbeshwara Temple
Kumbakonam is a town in the southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town is bounded by two rivers, the Kaveri River to the north and Arasalar River to the south. Kumbakonam is known as a "temple town" due to the prevalence of a number of temples here and is noted for its Mahamaham festival which attracts people from all over the globe.
Kumbakonam dates back to the Sangam period and was ruled by the Early Cholas, Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas. It rose to be a prominent city between the 7th and 9th centuries AD, when it served as a capital of the Medieval Cholas. The town reached the zenith of its prosperity during the British Raj when it was a prominent centre of European education and Hindu culture; and it acquired the cultural name, the "Cambridge of South India".
Adi Kumbeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva. Shiva is worshiped as Adi Kumbeswarar, and is represented by the lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Mangalambigai Amman.
The temple complex covers an area of 2,804 m2 and houses four gateway towers known as gopurams. The tallest is the eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 39 m. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Kumbeswarar and Mangalambigai Amman being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls; the most notable is the sixteen-pillared hall built during the Vijayanagar period that has all the 27 stars and 12 zodiacs sculpted in a single stone.
The present masonry structure was built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions are attributed to Vijayanagar rulers of the Thanjavur Nayaks of the 16th century.
(source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbakonam and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Kumbeswarar_Temple)
The Sun temple belongs to the Kalinga school of Indian temples with characteristic curvilinear towers mounted by cupolas. In shape, the temple did not make any major departure from other sikhara temples of Odisha.
Temple of Doom.....the Gateway to Hell....Mayan Ruins....Nazi headquarters... ???
None of the above. The Queen City Salvage yard.
better to View On Black
©2011. all images property of Bob Merco. Do not use without my permission.
Athens, Greece.
The Temple of Hephaestus is a well-preserved Greek temple which remains standing largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens. From the 7th century until 1834, it served as the Greek Orthodox church of Saint George Akamates. The building's condition has been maintained due to its history of varied use.
Hephaestus was the patron god of metal working, craftsmanship, and fire.