These temples are from Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and
Taoism. These religious people worship in temples, which are
architecturally as diverse as the religions are different from each
other.
01. Wat Rong Khun
Wat
Rong Khun: – Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand is all white temple
which is highly ornated with mosaic mirrors to shine. Wat Rong Khun
temple is still under construction and is expected to take another 90
years making it a wonder of coming years.
02. Shwedagon Pagoda
Shwedagon
Pagoda: – Believed to be built between 6th – 10th century, Shwedagon
Paya (or Pagoda) in Myanmar, is termed as “golden temple” which mean
that the structure is golden in color. Buddhist people save for years to
buy small packets of gold leafs to stick to the temple walls. The spire
of the stupa or dome is covered with over 5,000 diamonds and 2,000
rubies. Shwedagon Pagoda housed one of the holiest relics in Buddhism:
eight strands of Buddha’s hair.
03. Tiger’s Nest Monastery
Tiger’s Nest Monastery: – Tiger’s
Nest Monastery (Taktshang Goemba), is situated on the edge of a
3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in
Bhutan. Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha, flew onto
the cliff on the back of a tigress, and then meditated in a cave which
now exists within the monastery walls. Now the entrance is restricted to
practicing Buddhists only.
04. Prambanan
Prambanan: – Built in 850 CE,
Prambanan is a Hindu temple in Central Java, Indonesia. The temple is
composed of 8 main shrines and 250 surrounding smaller ones. It has
walls which narrate stories of Vishnu’s incarnations, adventures of
Hanuman (the Monkey King), the Ramayana epic and other legends.
05. Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven: – Built in 14th
century, The Temple of Heaven is a Taoist temple in Beijing, the
capital of China. Everything in the temple, which represents Heaven, is
circular whereas the ground levels, which represent the Earth, are
square.
06. Borobudur
Borobudur: – In the 19th century,
Dutch occupiers of Indonesia found a massive ancient ruin deep in the
jungles of Java. What they discovered was the complex of Borobudur, a
gigantic structure built with nearly 2 million cubic feet (55,000 m³) of
stones. The temple has nearly 2,700 relief panels and 504 Buddha
statues. Until today, no one knows for sure when and why it was built,
nor the reason for its complete abandonment hundreds of years ago. Some
scholars believe that Borobudur is actually a giant textbook of
Buddhism, as its bas reliefs tell the story of the life of Buddha and
the principles of his teachings. To “read,” a pilgrim must make his way
through nine platforms and walk a distance of over 2 miles.
07. Chion-in Temple
Chion-in Temple: – Built in 1234
CE Chion-in Temple is most famous temples in Japan. Visitors to the
Chion-in Temple must first pass through the largest gate in Japan: the
two-story San-mon Gate. The temple bell is also a record setter: it
weighs 74 tons and needs 17 monks to ring it during the New Year
celebrations. Chion-in Temple has the “singing” floor of the Assembly
Hall which is called a uguisu-bari or nightingale floor. These wooden
planks were designed to creak at every footstep to alert the monks of
intruders!
08. Golden Temple
Golden Temple: – The Harmandir
Sahib (meaning The Abode of God) or simply the Golden Temple in Punjab,
India is the most sacred shrine of Sikhism. For the Sikhs, the Golden
Temple symbolizes infinite freedom and spiritual independence. The site
of the Temple began with a small lake that was so peaceful that even
Buddha came there to meditate. Thousands of years later, Guru Nanak, the
founder of Sikhism also lived and meditate by the lake. Construction of
the Golden Temple began in the 1500s, when the fourth Guru of Sikhism
enlarged the lake that became Amritsar or Pool of the Nectar of
Immortality, around which the temple and the city grew. The Temple
itself is decorated with marble sculptures, gilded in gold, and covered
in precious stones.
09. Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Bayon
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and
Bayon: – Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century in what is now
Cambodia. The world famous temple was first a Hindu one, dedicated to
Vishnu. In the 14th or 15th century, as Buddhism swept across Asia, it
became a Buddhist temple. The Western world’s got a glimpse of Angkor
Wat when a 16th century Portuguese monk visited the temple and
eloquently described it as “of such extraordinary construction that it
is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like
no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all
the refinements which the human genius can conceive of.” His words still
rang true today. Tourists visiting Angkor Wat usually also visit the
nearby ruins of Angkor Thom and Bayon, two fantastic temples that serve
as the ancient capital of Khmer empire.
10. Vishnu Temple of Srirangam
Vishnu Temple of Srirangam: – The
Temple of Srirangam (Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple), in the Indian city of
Tiruchirapalli (or Trichy), is the largest functioning Hindu temple in
the world. Legend has it that a long time ago, a sage rested and put
down a statue of Vishnu reclining on a great serpent. When he was ready
to resume his journey, he discovered that the statue couldn’t be moved,
so a small temple was built over it. Over centuries, the temple “grew”
as larger ones were built over the existing buildings. The temple
complex is massive: it encompasses an area of over 150 acres (63
hectares) with seven concentric walls, the outermost being about 2.5
miles (4 kilometers) long! The walls demarcate enclosures within
enclosures, each more sacred than the next, with the inner-most
enclosure is forbidden to non-Hindus.
