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Temple of Hephaestus, a Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted).

The 12th-century Khmer Angkor Wat Hindu temple in Cambodia, one of the largest temples in the world.

A temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur.^[1] It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the dwelling places of a god or gods. The word "temple" dates to about the 6th century BCE.^[2] Despite the specific set of meanings associated with the religion of the ancient Rome, the word has now become quite widely used to describe a house of worship for any number of religions and is even used for time periods prior to the Romans.

Oldest temple[link]

Göbekli Tepe, located in southern Turkey, is the oldest-known, existing temple in the world. It was built approximately 11,000 years ago.

Mesopotamian temples[link]

Ziggurat of Ur, Iraq

The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in Mesopotamian religion. It spanned several civilizations; from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. The most common temple architecture of Mesopotamia is the structure of sun-baked bricks called Ziggurat, having the form of a terraced step pyramid with flat upper terrace where shrine or temple stood

Egyptian temples[link]

Luxor temple, Egypt

Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the gods to reside on earth. Indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means "mansion (or enclosure) of a god".^[3] A god's presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and allowed humans to interact with the god through ritual. These rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, the ideal order of nature and of human society in Egyptian belief.^[4] Maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion,^[5] and thus it was the purpose of a temple as well.^[6]

Greco-Roman temples[link]

Parthenon on Acropolis, Athens

Though today we call most Greek religious buildings "temples," the ancient pagans would have referred to a temenos, or sacred precinct. Its sacredness, often connected with a holy grove, was more important than the building itself, as it contained the open air altar on which the sacrifices were made. The building which housed the cult statue in its naos was originally a rather simple structure, but by the middle of the 6th century BCE had become increasingly elaborate. Greek temple architecture had a profound influence on ancient architectural traditions.

The rituals that located and sited the temple were performed by an augur through the observation of the flight of birds or other natural phenomenon. Roman temples usually faced east or toward the rising sun, but the specifics of the orientation are often not known today; there are also notable exceptions, such as the Pantheon which faces north. In ancient Rome only the native deities of Roman mythology had a templum; any equivalent structure for a foreign deity was called a fanum.

Pagan temples[link]

The Romans usually referred to a holy place of a pagan religion as fanum; in some cases this referred to a sacred grove, in others to a temple. Medieval Latin writers also used the word templum. In some cases it is hard to determine whether it was a building or an outdoor shrine. For temple buildings of Germanic paganism, the Old Norse term hof is often used.

Zoroastrian temples[link]

The Yazd Atash Behram

Zoroastrian temples may also be called the darb-e meh and Atashkadeh. A fire temple in Zoroastrianism is the place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire (Atar), together with clean water (Aban), are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies is regarded as the basis of ritual life," which, "are essentially the rites proper to the tending of a domestic fire, for the temple fire is that of the hearth fire raised to a new solemnity.

Sikh temples[link]

Golden temple in Amritsar

A Sikh temple or shrine is called a Gurudwara, that is, the House of God, the House of the Guru, where the Guru dwells. Its most essential element also known as Shurk is the presence of the Guru. The temples have entrance from all sides, signifying that they are open to all without any distinction whatsoever.

Hindu temples[link]

Akshardham Temple a Hindu temple in New Delhi, India.

These may also be called by other names, including mandir or mandira, ambalam, kavu, koil or kovil, déul, devasthana and devalaya, depending on the region in the Indian subcontinent and its local language.

Hindu temples are large and magnificent with a rich history. Some date as far back as the Bronze Age and later the Indus Valley Civilization. In the present day magnificent Hindu temples have been built in various countries of the world including India,Nepal,Great Britain, the United States, Australia, South Africa and Canada.

This section requires expansion.

Buddhist temples[link]

Wat Phra Kaew, Buddhist temple

They include the structures called stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace.^[7]

This section requires expansion.

Jain temples[link]

Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rajasthan, India.

A Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism.^[8] Some famous Jain temples are Shikharji, Palitana Jain Temples, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Shravan Belgola, Dilwara Temples and Lal Mandir. Jain temples are built with various architectural designs. Jain temples in North India are completely different from the Jain temples in South India, which in turn are quite different from Jain temples in West India. Additionally, a Manastambha (meaning column of honor) is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples.

Jewish synagogues and temples[link]

A model of Herod's Temple adjacent to the Shrine of the Book exhibit at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

In Judaism, the ancient Hebrew texts refer not to temples, the word having not existed yet, but to a "sanctuary", "palace" or "hall". Each of the two ancient temples in Jerusalem was called Beit Hamikdash, which translates literally as "the Holy House."

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the site where the First Temple of Solomon and the Second Temple were built. At the center of the structure was the Holy of Holies where only the high priest could enter. The Temple Mount is now the site of the Islamic shrine, the Dome of the Rock (c. 690).

The Greek word synagogue came into use to describe Jewish places of worship during Hellenistic times and it, along with the Yiddish term shul, and the original Hebrew term Bet Knesset ("House of meeting") are the terms in most universal usage.

From the beginning of the nineteenth century, the word "temple" began to be used for Jewish houses of worship, almost exclusively by the followers of Reform Judaism, first in Germany, then in other countries, especially in the United States, as in Temple Beth-El. Orthodox Judaism considers this usage inappropriate, as it does not consider synagogues a replacement for the Temple in Jerusalem (there were local places of worship contemporaneous with the existence of the Temple, e.g. the one that can be seen at Masada).

Christian temples[link]

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia.

The word temple has traditionally been rarely used in the Western Christian tradition. The principal words typically used to distinguish houses of worship in Western Christian architecture are basilica, cathedral and church. The Catholic Church has used the word temple in reference of a place of worship on rare occasions. An example is the Roman Catholic Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona, Spain and the Roman Catholic Basilique du Sacré-Cœur Temple in Paris, France.

The word temple, however, is used frequently in the tradition of Eastern Christianity and particularly the Eastern Orthodox Church, where the principal words used for houses of worship are temple and church. The use of the word temple comes from the need to distinguish a building of the church vs. the church seen as the Body of Christ. In the Russian language (similar to other Slavic languages) while the general-purpose word for "church" is tserkov, the term khram (Храм), "temple", is used to refer to the church building as a temple of God (Khram Bozhy). The words "church" and "temple", in this case are interchangeable; however, the term "church" (Ancient Greek: ἐκκλησία) is far more common. The term temple (Ancient Greek: ναός) is also commonly applied to larger churches. Some famous churches which are referred to as temples include Hagia Sophia, Saint Basil's Cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, or the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. See also: Orthodox church (building) and catholicon.

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, following the Enlightenment, some Protestant denominations in France and elsewhere began to use the word temple to distinguish these spaces from Catholic churches. Evangelical and other Protestant churches make use of a wide variety of terms to designate their worship spaces, such as church, tabernacle or temple. Additionally some Breakaway Catholic Churches such as the Mariavite Church in Poland have chosen to also designate their central church building as a temple, as in the case of the Temple of Mercy and Charity in Płock. The Iglesia ni Cristo called their Central House of Worship as Central Temple, the Largest Ecclesiastical Edifice of Iglesia ni Cristo located at INC Central Complex, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.

Temples in the Latter Day Saint movement[link]

LDS temple in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Dedicated 1893.

According to Latter Day Saints, in 1832, Joseph Smith, Jr. received a revelation to restore the practice of temple worship, in a "house of the Lord". The Kirtland Temple was the first temple of the Latter-day Saint movement and the only one completed in Smith's lifetime, although the Nauvoo Temple was partially complete at the time of his death. The schisms stemming from a succession crisis have led to differing views about the role and use of temples between various groups with competing succession claims.

Temples of the LDS church[link]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a prolific builder of "Latter-day Saint" or "Mormon" temples. There are 137 operating temples (3 undergoing renovation), 15 under construction, and 14 announced (not yet under construction).^[9] Latter-day Saint temples are reserved for performing and undertaking only the most holy and sacred of covenants and special of ordinances. They are distinct from meeting houses and chapels where weekly worship services are held. The temples are built and kept under strict sacredness and are not to be defiled. Thus, strict rules apply for entrance, including Church membership and regular attendance. During the open-house period after its construction and before the temple is dedicated, the temple is open to the public for tours.^[10]

Other Latter Day Saint denominations[link]

Various other sects of the church founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., initially known as the Church of Christ, also have temples.^[11]

• Independence Temple at Independence, Missouri was built by the Community of Christ by then church prophet-president Wallace B. Smith. The Community of Christ also currently owns the original Kirtland Temple, built by the Church of Christ, in Kirtland, Ohio, which it operates as a historic site.
• YFZ Ranch Temple was built by The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Church just outside of Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas.^[12]
• In 1990 or earlier a temple in Ozumba, Mexico was built by the Apostolic United Brethren.^[13]
• A pyramid-shaped temple near Modena, Utah was built by the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints^[13]

Masonic temples[link]

Freemasonry is a fraternal organization with its origins in the eighteenth century whose membership is held together by a shared set of moral and metaphysical ideals. Freemasons meet as a Lodge. Lodges meet in a Masonic Temple, Masonic Center or a Masonic Hall, such as Freemasons' Hall, London. Some confusion exists as Masons usually refer to a Lodge meeting as being in Lodge.

Other religions[link]

Though the word "temple" is used broadly, one should use it with discretion in the context of some religions. For example, a masjid or "mosque" should not be considered a temple because masjid in Arabic means "the place for kneeling (to God)."

Convention allows the use of temple in the following cases:

• Bahá'í temple (Mashriqu'l-Adhkárs or ‘Houses of Worship’).
• Mankhim, the temple of the ethnic group the Rai, located at Aritar, Sikkim.
• Confucian temple or Temple of Confucius.
• Shintoist jinja are normally called shrines in English in order to distinguish them from Buddhist temples (-tera, -dera).
• Taoist temples and monasteries are called guan or daoguan (道观, literally "place of contemplation of the Tao") in Chinese, guan being the shortened version of daoguan.
• Shrines of the traditional Chinese Ethnic Shenism are called miao, or ancestral hall in English. Joss house is an obsolete American term for such kind of places of worship.

See also[link]

• Cathedral
• Basilica
• Church (building)
• Mosque
• Chinese pagoda
• Dravidian architecture
• List of temples of Tamil Nadu
• National Temple of Divine Providence
• Temple (Chinese)
• Tō
• Ziggurat

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hani, Jean, Le symbolisme du temple chrétien, G. Trédaniel (editor); [2. éd.] edition (1978), 207 p., ISBN 2-85707-030-6

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Temple

• online – distinct for the religious and anatomical terms
• Comparison between Egyptian and Greek temples
• All Temples In India