Religion has always occupied a huge place in human life. Strongly influencing society, even in its earliest forms, it was a whole system of values and views and helped to explain various phenomena occurring in the world around.
Ancient belief systems appeared several millennia ago, and at the same time, religious rites were performed in special places - places of worship. These are the so-called sanctuaries, which were available to various peoples, and often they were built in the open. The types of mysterious shrines built according to certain canons and in different eras are radically different from each other. You can see a variety of designs of sacred places in which people worshiped different deities.
Giant megaliths
Perhaps the most ancient places of worship are megaliths, assembled from stone blocks. shroudeda veil of secrecy, they still cause fierce debate among scientists. It is impossible to imagine that the primitive builders had incredible knowledge in the field of architecture, astronomy and mathematics, but it is true. Stone blocks weighing up to 15 tons are very closely adjacent to each other, and even a thin blade cannot be squeezed through tiny cracks. The place where the rock was mined was several kilometers away, and transporting giant blocks is as laborious as construction.
Mysterious dolmens
According to the official version of scientists, dolmens are places of worship that were also used as burial chambers. Appeared during the megalithic culture, they can be found in the most remote corners of the world. Mysterious buildings, whose name is translated from the Celtic language as "stone table", arose in the early Bronze Age. Several stone monoliths, standing vertically, were covered with a transverse slab, and a kind of house was obtained, where ancient people came to communicate with their gods.
A hole about half a meter in size was made in the front part, and often it was closed with a stone "cork". Near the megaliths, sacrifices and other magical rituals were performed. The priests, plunged into a trance, predicted the future and warned of dangers. And the hole in the megalith symbolized the gate to the other world, and after the burial of a leader or a noble person, it was clogged. Mysterious creations seemed to absorb all the knowledge and skills of the one who wasburied inside. It was believed that as long as the dolmen was intact, nothing threatened the tribe.
Ziggurat - a new type of temple
Gradually, the megalithic culture is being replaced by another, and old cults are replaced by new ones, and other forms of religious buildings appear. These are completely new buildings dating back to about the 4th millennium BC. In ancient Mesopotamia, where the most ancient civilization was born, ziggurats were built - the dwelling of the gods, having a pyramidal shape. Brick buildings, resembling the famous Tower of Babel, were precisely oriented to the 4 cardinal directions. You can see similarities with the Egyptian pyramids, but there were no rooms or burials inside the building.
Ziggurats, built as the habitat of the gods, were artificial hills, gradually narrowing upwards, and the number of tiers-terraces, connected by stairs, varied. In this way, people demonstrated their desire to establish connections with the sacred and showed that the human desires to merge with the divine. At the very top of religious architectural structures, temples were built, where offerings were made to the gods.
The biggest temple on the planet
One of the most curious sanctuaries in the world is an architectural complex located in the capital of the ancient Khmer civilization - Angkor. From the gigantic city-state in Cambodia, only a small part of it remains, striking with the skill of the ancient builders. This is a religious building that fell into disrepair after people left the city.for unknown reasons. It was opened only in the 60s of the XIX century, and since then it has been the main attraction of the country.
On our planet, the amazing temple of Angkor Wat is the largest. This is not just a religious complex, but a real giant city. The kings who ascended the throne completed it in such a way that the giant's heart constantly moved, and the center of the old sanctuary turned out to be on the outskirts of the new one.
Vishnu's Habitat
The brilliant masterpiece was never intended for believers: it was built as the dwelling place of the supreme deity, and access to the premises was open only to priests and rulers. Built in the 12th century, it surprises with the unusual architecture of a religious building dedicated to the god Vishnu. A true work of architectural art is a three-level pyramid topped with towers in the shape of lotus buds.
All gigantic blocks of the eighth wonder of the world are artistically processed, and plots from Khmer history and ancient Indian epics are carved on them. Surprisingly, the powerful monoliths are not fixed by anything, and the stones are so well processed and tightly fitted to each other that it is impossible to find the junction. The grandiose sacred building symbolizes the sacred Mount Meru, and the deep ditch that was dug in front of it is the world ocean.
Stupas as a symbol of wisdom
When it comes to religious buildings of Buddhism, one cannot but mention the most famous architecturalbuildings that contribute to the preservation of peace on earth. When dead people were cremated in ancient India, their ashes were placed in a grave mound. In order to preserve its shape during the rainy season, a small mound was lined with stone or erected on a pedestal. Over time, they turned into monuments built to commemorate various historical events. This is how stupas appeared, the name of which is translated from Sanskrit as "heap of earth and stones" or "crown".
Then they acquired a canonical form: the massive building is crowned with a hemisphere in the form of symbolic disk-umbrellas strung on a spire. The model of the Universe, in the center of which is the Buddha, is oriented to the cardinal points. Stepped terraces around the building seem to invite believers to rise to the divine peak - nirvana. This is a cult building that helps to discover the bright sides in oneself. Since the stupa symbolizes the mind of the founder of the world religion, all offerings are made to the Enlightened One's own nature. It is believed that the one who gives gifts accumulates positive and approaches the state of final happiness.
Chinese pagodas
And in China, the role of stupas is performed by buildings that not only symbolize the teachings of the creator of the original philosophy, but also become real decorations of the picturesque landscape. Graceful pagodas are an important part of Buddhist art in China and places of worship. Buildings with towers-terems, surrounded by terraces, were originally built of wood, but later architects, in order to secure themfrom fires, they began to build brick structures, adding wooden details from the outside.
Multi-tiered masterpieces, symbolizing the world cycle, differ from ordinary buildings in that the ends of their roofs are always directed upwards. Buddhist temples, rising from the hill and merging with the surrounding landscape, occupy a special place among the main attractions of the country.
This is only a small part of places of worship erected in different countries of the world. And they all have their differences both in architecture and interior decoration.
