As they are designed and built to hold religious services and invoke and inspire the worship of God, churches have long counted amongst society’s most important and impressive buildings. This is because religious leaders built large churches with spires reaching towards the heavens, and monumental facades covered in scenes from the bible to convey the… Continue Reading
7 Amazing Jain Temples
Jainism is a religion that prescribes pacifism and a path of non-violence towards all living beings. The purpose of life according to Jainism is to undo the negative effects of karma through mental and physical purification. This process leads to liberation accompanied by a great natural inner peace. There are as many as 4.2 million… Continue Reading
10 Gothic Cathedrals of Medieval Europe
Gothic cathedrals are not the religious building of the ancient Goths, but rather cathedrals built in the Gothic architecture. Just as Vandalism doesn’t have anything to do with the Vandals, Gothic architecture has nothing to do with the Goths. It’s a style of architecture that developed in France out of the Romanesque style in the… Continue Reading
10 Amazing Buddhist Monasteries
Monasticism is one of the most fundamental institutions of Buddhism. Monks and nuns are responsible for preserving and spreading Buddhist teachings, as well as educating and guiding Buddhist followers. Buddhist monasteries emerged from the practice of vassa, the retreat undertaken by Buddhist monks and nuns during the South Asian rainy season. These monasteries gradually developed… Continue Reading
10 Amazing Christian Monasteries
Christian Monasticism is a practice which began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament. Originally, all Christian monks were hermits seldom encountering other people (monos means alone in Greek). But because of the extreme difficulty of the solitary life, many… Continue Reading
10 Largest Temples in the World
So, what is the biggest temple in the world? To answer this question we first have to establish what a temple is. Although roughly defined as a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities not all religions use the word temple. In the Western Christian tradition temple is rarely used for example so these churches… Continue Reading
10 Man Made Wonders of the World
The earliest lists of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were made more than 2,000 years ago by ancient Hellenic tourists. Except for the Great Pyramid of Giza those wonders no longer exist. They were destroyed by earthquakes, fires and in one case by an angry mob. Many lists of wonders have been made since… Continue Reading
10 Famous Buddha Statues
The study of Buddhism has inspired some of the world’s most beautiful contributions to the world of art, most notable in the form of statues known as Buddharupa (literally, the form of the Awakened One) that adorn Buddhist temples of worship. Listed here are ten of the world’s most famous and beautiful statues celebrating the… Continue Reading
10 Famous Buddhist Temples
Buddhism is a major world religion and philosophy founded in northeastern India in the 5th century BC. It is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as “The Buddha”, who was born in what is today Nepal. Buddhism takes as its goal the escape from suffering and from the cycle of rebirth: the… Continue Reading
10 Amazing Hindu Temples
Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions, and has over 900 million followers worldwide. Though most of the Hindus live in India there are substantial numbers present in Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
