OVERVIEWThe origin of the temple is found in the need for ancient peoples to make concrete their relationship to the forces of nature by means of substantial structures commanding attention. Around these the ceremonies of worship were elaborated, and in many societies the attendant priests became very powerful. Temples were often positioned with regard to some natural feature or phenomenon, such as a holy mountain or the apparent traverse of the sun, and they were often tall or placed on an elevated spot, in order to lessen the distance between mortals and the heavens.
TEMPLE FORMIn form the temple ranges from a plain mound of heaped-up material to sophisticated complexes of numerous buildings, but a main, central structure for the temple proper is always found in these elaborate systems. Temples usually are set within a precinct (also sacred), an enclosure extending well beyond the temple proper. Gateways, often of elaborate design, helped to control crowds of worshipers and pilgrims. Grand temple complexes might include priests' quarters, healing centers, monasteries, shops, and hostels. In general, temples have two types of form: the solid, hill-like type—pyramid, stepped mound, circular shape—and the chambered type—with an interior sanctuary and exterior colonnades or other sophisticated architectural treatment.
EGYPTIAN AND MESOPOTAMIAN TEMPLESIn ancient Egypt, temples were grandiose, built of huge blocks and columns of stone. Often they were enlarged by successive rulers to form strung-out series of temple parts, as in the gigantic Temple of Amon (circa 1550-1070 BC) at Al Karnak. The Nile cliffs were used as settings for temples, such as the massive mortuary temple (15th century BC) of Hatshepsut at Dayr al Baḩrī, the superhuman scale of which still inspires awe. A profusion of sculpture (both in the round and in incised relief) and painting told of the gods and their special connection with Egypt's rulers.
The Temple of Hatshepsut (rock-cut tomb and mortuary temple) built in the 15th century bc at Dayr al Baḩrī near Thebes.In the Middle East the hill form called the ziggurat predominated for a long time; this was a huge stylized constructed mound, sometimes encircled by a walkway. The best preserved is the ziggurat of Nanna at Ur (about 2100 bc) in present-day Iraq. Smaller, plainer constructed mounds also appeared. In the last few centuries bc columned temples with cellas appeared.
GREEK TEMPLESBeginning about the 7th century bc, the Greeks created the temple with columns around all sides that support a plain, pitched roof—the image that comes most readily to the Western mind when the word temple is mentioned. This form, perfected in the Parthenon (circa 447-432 bc) on the Athenian Acropolis, has had a long life in the history of art. Often atop a city hill (acropolis) and built of fine-grained marble.
The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 bc).The Greek temple is justly famous for its fine proportions and elegant clarity of form. It sits on a three-stepped stone platform upon which the columns and the walls of the cella are set; the gable ends of the roof, and other parts, were embellished with sculpture. As time passed, the kinds of columns (see Column) used by the Greeks—Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—became the touchstones of classically inspired buildings everywhere.
ROMAN TEMPLESThe Roman temple (4th century bc-3rd century ad) at first seems to be almost entirely derived from the Greek. Unlike the Greek examples, however, it is emphatically emphasized on one end with a high staircase set between two projecting wall sections that form part of the high platform, or podium, on which it is built. Every Roman town had one or more temples of this kind, placed not upon an acropolis but amid the urban fabric; its elevation on its podium helped give it distinction. The number of public buildings, both secular and religious, that descend from the centered, one-ended Roman temple, with its lofty porch, is beyond count. A well-preserved example, the famous Maison-Carrée (four-square house), in Nîmes in southern France, has been a major architectural source; for example, Thomas Jefferson's design for the State Capitol at Richmond, Virginia, was based on it.
The Maison Carrée at Nîmes in southern France, is one of the best preserved temples to be found.The forms of Greek and Roman temples are among the most influential of all Western architectural creations, not only because of their historical associations but also because of their solid symmetry and stable composition. They have stood, for centuries in the West, as architectural metaphors of civilization itself.
INDIAN TEMPLESThe major Buddhist temple structures of India are the stupa, a hemispherical mound, sometimes of great size) and the cave-hall, or chaitya. Stupas are reliquaries and represent the heavens. Rising from bases that symbolize the earth, they are the goals of pilgrims and are often set in groups within precincts. The Great Stupa (3rd century bc-early 1st century ad) at Sanchi is the most notable extant example. Encircling the base of the stupa is a fenced-off walkway for the ritual passage around it. The hemisphere proper is solid and is surmounted by a fenced enclosure symbolizing the peak of Mount Meru, the world-mountain.
A model of Borobudur, a Hindu-Buddhist temple on the island of Java in Indonesia.Within is often a schematized tree of stone representing humanity. The cave-hall, on the other hand, is emphatically an interior space, usually cut out of the rock, as is the Great Chaitya Hall (circa early 2nd century ad) at Karle. It has a stupa at its far end separated from the curving back wall by an ambulatory. Both the stupa and the chaitya are usually decorated with a profusion of high-relief sculpture.
Freestanding Hindu temples are large, rectangular, symmetrical precincts containing a towering sanctuary and various subordinate structures. Typical is the Lingaraja Temple (circa ad 1000) at Bhubaneshwar. The sanctuary, placed at the intersection of the cardinal axes of the precinct, is very tall, resembling an immense fountain of stone with a domelike, small-scale top bearing a finial. The nearby structures echo this great form. This style is common to the north of India; in the south a main feature is the towering, intricately formed gateway or gapura. All Hindu temples are highly articulated and are charged with symbolic carvings. The sanctuary proper is a kind of cave, dark and vaulted over by cantilevered stones. Jain temples (see Jainism), such as the marble temples at Mount Ābu (13th century) in western India, are placed in rectangular precincts lined on the inside with repeated cells. On the long axis are a dancing pavilion, a large gateway, a square vestibule, and then the shrine proper.
The Great Stupa is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Sanchī.Buddhist architecture appears also in other Asian countries. In Indonesia, for example, near Magelang on the island of Java, the Borobudur temple was built in the 9th century in the style of the Gupta architecture of India. The temple-mountain design symbolizes the structure of the universe. The central stupa is on a massive stepped base and is surrounded by scores of lesser stupas, the whole representative of Buddhist beliefs. Borobudur architecture influenced the famous Khmer temples, or wats, of Cambodia such as Angkor Wat (early 12th century), which has three vast rectangular terraces, each edged with passages, one higher than the other. The outermost, largest terrace wall is marked by low towers, the second by higher ones, and the innermost by still taller ones centered around the tallest of all—an awesome composition. The whole is covered with miles of religious relief sculpture. CHINESE AND JAPANESE TEMPLESChinese architecture is predominantly secular, with halls or monuments for ceremonies as much social as religious. When Buddhism arrived in China, it was the long, relatively low great hall of Chinese tradition that was first adapted to temple use. Later, more vertical structures were built to house the statue of the Buddha. Wood was the normal building material, assembled in an intricate system of posts carrying multiple horizontal brackets; the subtle manipulation of this technique produced the graceful roof shapes of traditional Chinese and Japanese architecture. Centralized buildings were constructed as well: The pagoda, often made of brick, is a tower of superimposed stories. The stories may diminish somewhat in breadth as the building rises, and each stage is normally accentuated by bold roof silhouettes that project beyond the mass. Circular buildings were not unknown; one of these, the Altar of Heaven (begun 1420; restored 1890) in Beijing, has a roof form that resembles a great conical hat. In Chinese wooden architecture extensive use is made of bright colors.
The Amida (Buddhist) Byōdōin temple, located in Uji, near Kyōto.Japanese religious buildings, which descend from the Chinese tradition, are often well preserved because of frequent, meticulous rebuilding of the original (impermanent) wood. Therefore, at Ise one can see a sanctuary that, although a modern work, faithfully represents the original building of the 3rd century ad. In Japan the relatively low, great-hall type of building is found; the pagoda form is also found in Japan. The ingenuity of the carpentry and of the woodcarving in some buildings is exceptional, and much attention was paid to the texture and to the patterning of roofs of thatch, shingles, and tile. The temple interiors can be brilliant, but on the whole the effect is one of an economical clarity of forms.
PRE-COLUMBIAN TEMPLESIn what is now Mexico and the countries immediately to the south, religious architecture predominated among monumental structures until the Europeans arrived. The Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon at Teotihuacán (a city that flourished from shortly before the beginning of the Christian era to about ad 650) show the development of this typical Mesoamerican form. The Temple of the Sun is a kind of step pyramid, composed of horizontal layers or slices of pyramids of diminishing size; a small dwelling for the god was once at the top.
The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán, Mexico.The later Temple of the Moon is more fully articulated than that of the Sun, carrying a series of richly sculptured bands around its base; both pyramids could be ascended by monumental staircases. Maya temples also used the pyramidal form, although usually as a base for a rectilinear structure above. At Chichén Itzá, the Temple of the Warriors was fronted by a sizable colonnaded hall. All such structures were of stone or of earth fill faced with stone; some were encased in painted plaster in lieu of cut-stone sculpture. Pyramid temples were often oriented to the passage of the sun; the Teotihuacán Temple of the Sun was oriented to the sun's passage at the summer solstice.
Source :
- Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library
- Mac Donald, William L., M.A., Ph.D.
Former A. P. Brown Professor of the History of Art, Smith College
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