Some of the Beautiful Temples of the World

Some of the Beautiful Temples of the World!

Here is a listing of some of the beautiful temples of the World! Includes the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Taktshang in Bhutan, Wat Rong Khun in Thailand, Prambanan in Indonesia, Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma, Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Chion-in in Japan, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tamil Nadu & the Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Taktshang

Taktshang is the most famous of monasteries in Bhutan. It hangs on a cliff at 3,120 metres (10,200 feet), some 700 meters (2,300 feet) above the bottom of Paro valley, some 10 km from the district town of Paro. Famous visitors include Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century and Milarepa.
The name means "Tiger's nest", the legend being that Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) flew there on the back of a tiger. The monastery includes seven temples which can all be visited. The monastery suffered several blazes and is a recent restoration. Climbing to the monastery is on foot or mule.

Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun is a contemporary unconventional buddhist temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat. Construction began in 1998 and is expected to end in 2008.
Wat Rong Khun is different from any other temple in Thailand, as its ubosot (Pali: uposatha; consecrated assembly hall) is designed in white color with some use of white glass. The white color stands for Lord Buddha’s purity; the white glass stands for Lord Buddha’s wisdom that "shines brightly all over the Earth and the Universe."

Prambanan

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia, located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.

Shwedagon Pagoda

The Shwedagon Pagoda also known as the Golden Pagoda, is a 98-metre (approx. 321.5 feet) gilded stupa located in Yangon, Burma. The pagoda lies to the west of Kandawgyi Lake, on Singuttara Hill, thus dominating the skyline of the city. It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese with relics of the past four Buddhas enshrined within, namely the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Konagamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa and eight hairs of Gautama, the historical Buddha.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in southeastern urban Beijing, in Xuanwu District. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism.

Chion-in

Chion'in Temple in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jodo Shu (Pure Land Sect) founded by Honen (1133-1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the nembutsu, Amida Buddha's name.
The vast compounds of Chion-in include the site where Honen settled to disseminate his teachings and the site where he died.

Harmandir Sahib

Sri Harmandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib, informally referred to as The Golden Temple or Temple of God, is culturally the most significant place of worship of the Sikhs and one of the oldest Sikh gurdwaras. It is located in the city of Amritsar, which was established by Guru Ram Das, the fourth guru of the Sikhs and the city that it was built in, is also due to the shrine, known as "Guru Di Nagri" meaning city of the Sikh Guru.

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

(Srirangam)

The temple occupies an area of 156 acres (6,31,000 m²) with a perimeter of 1,116m (10,710 feet) making it the largest temple in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world. In fact, Srirangam temple can be easily termed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world (Angkor Wat being the largest non-functioning temple). The temple is enclosed by 7 concentric walls with a total length of 32,592 feet or over six miles. These walls are enclosed by 21 Gopurams (Towers). Among the marvels of the temple is a "hall of 1000 pillars" (actually 953).

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat), is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Caves: The World Beneath the World

Caves: The World Beneath the World!

If you are stretched and squeezed by everyday life, then you might be in perfect shape to explore caves.
Enter a narrow natural passageway that may lead to simply mind-boggling underground world. Caves may lurk right under your feet: a fascinating and unexpected environment, which is often known only to spelunkers and dedicated Gollum-seekers.

Back to the Cave!

Gruta do Lago Azul, Bonito, Brazil. (photo by www.alexuchoa.com)
"Symphony of Stones" (how aptly named) -

Garni caves in Armenia. (photo by eco culture)
Fairyland Cave Formations
Caves are a fairyland of delight, from the burning hot enclaves to the glacial ice mazes. Thousands of years of dripping water, eroding stone and budding minerals create a silent world of mystery and beauty... Graceful arches, giant crystals... silent but for the sound of water dripping and bubbling through.

A "Wishing Well" at Luray Caverns in Virginia (photo by Declan McCullagh)
The most common type of caves form when slightly acidic rainwater trickles into the crevices of limestone and gradually widens the cracks as it dissolves the stone. Centuries of water, supersaturated with minerals, dripping from cave roofs cause stalagmites and stalactites to form (see here).

(image via)
One thing to keep in mind during cave exploration: though these structures are made of minerals, they are generally extremely thin and fragile, many of them are quite rare, and can be damaged or destroyed by touch alone. Calcite (the mineral which forms many cave structures), for example, is soft enough to be scratched by a fingernail.
Some of the cave and rock formations:
- Flowstone (also known as a Bacon formation)
- Cave Pearls
- Soda Straws
- Helictites
- Anthodites (or Aragonite)
- Bottlebrush formation

(image credit: Dave Bunnell)
Probably the most comprehensive cave-exploration site on the net is that of Dave Bunnell... You can spend hours there, wandering around pages, cataloging whimsical underground structures, oozing rock and dripping stone.

(Gruta do Mimoso, Brazil)
Largest Cave Systems
We mentioned the Jeita Grotto - the largest cave system in the Middle East- in our recent Lebanon article. The longest known stalactite in the world is found there at 8.2 meters long.
- The deepest known cave is Voronya Cave in Abkhazia, Georgia and has been explored to a depth of 2191 meters.
- The longest continuous cave system yet explored is Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, covering 591 kilometers.
Let's have a short world tour of the most interesting caves, why don't we? We'll start with North America -
Already mentioned Luray Caverns in Virginia are full of celebrated speleothems formations, calcite crystals of abnormal shapes - all formed when the chambers were completely filled with water, highly charged with acid. The acid began to eat away the softer material, resulting in ornate pinnacles and arches...

(image credit: Alejocrux)

(image credit: Declan McCullagh)
One of the deepest known cave pits, Fantastic Pit in Georgia's Ellison's Cave descends 586 feet (179 meters) in a straight tunnel:

(image credit: Michael Nichols, National Geographic)
Glacial Caves and Ice Caverns
Some ice caves must rather be called "glacier caves", which can simply astound with the intensity of ice color:

(image credit: Jenna and Tim Dickinson)
Here is a wonderful page of ice caves photography by Jason Gulley:

(images credit: Jason Gulley)
No sign of Superman or Megatron there yet:

Mount Kenya's Ice Cave Bobby Model, National Georgaphic)

Ice Cave in Matanuska Glacier, Alaska - photo by George F. Mobley, National Geographic
A lot of ice caves grow "hair" - ice extrusions, some are quite strange-looking:

(image credit: Ian Mckenzie)
Brazil: Crystalline Underground Waters
Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil (and especially the quiet town of Bonito) boasts many marvelous underground lakes: Gruta do Lago Azul, Gruta do Mimoso, Aquário Natural. Intricate limestone formations and grottos hide the intensely-colored pools and waterfalls (many adventure tours there feature diving, some pools are more than 100 meters deep):




(images via)
Limestone caves in the same region offer fantastic exploration:







(images via)
Venezuela: Cave of the Ghost
Cueva del Fantasma is big enough for two helicopters to fly into it, but it's not technically a cave - rather, a collapsed gorge. It does, however, sport a huge waterfall right inside of it:

(image via)
Iran: tremendous cave system
Katale Khor is a cave dating back to the Jurassic period. It's one of the "snow caves" in the Southwest Zanjan province and connects to other caves - a huge underground infra-structure which can hide who knows what (definitely anti-American... wink wink). See more pictures here



(images credit: Ali Majdfar)
Can't get enough images of Iran's natural beauty? See our previous articles... a country full of great sights and dubious politics.
Vietnam: Hang Thien Cung cave
There are plenty of caves in Vietnam, and just like in China, many are illuminated with garish colors. (see here). But sometimes even artificial light takes back stage to the incredible rock textures:

(image credit: Tai Vo)
Mexico: Giant Selenite Crystals!
In 2000, one of the most unusual and splendid caves was found in Mexico by miners. Located only a mile from an upthrust of magma, this cave is 112 degrees Farenheit and at 90-100% humidity, limiting greatly the amount of time explorers can spend in it. It is a spectacular cave, with gigantic crystal formations thought to be 600,000 years old.



(photos by Javier Trueba / Madrid Scientific Films, image via)
The crystals formed underwater; as water saturated with calcium sulfate heated in the cavern selenite molecules crystallized and grew, undisturbed, to giant proportions. The cave was drained (by unknowing miners) in the 1980's and stopped the process of growth. Who knows what we may find further on, in the heat and water?
A description of one photographer's attempt to document this cave is here.


(images credit: Richard Fisher)
"It is unquestionably magical that the cool white rays of moonlight can originate deep underground in a black chamber that is, at least in my perception, white hot." (Richard Fisher, photographer, comments on the huge selenite crystals.)
A Giant Geode
Geodes are normally formed by volcanic or sedimentary geologic activity - a cavity in the rock is formed, inside which crystals begin to grow, such as amethyst, quartz or a number of others. Most geodes are small enough to fit in your hand, but this one is large enough to climb inside. The crystals found here are gypsum. - More info.

(images credit: Javier Garcia-Guinea)
The largest Geode Cave in US is located in Ohio: Crystal Cave, check it out.
Ancient Cave Cities
Khosrov Caves in Armenia served as a shelter to ancient tribes - in a perfectly cinematic location:

(image credit: 18:18)

(photos by Raffi Kojian and eco culture)
We wrote about Cappadocia cave city in Turkey before. But you might not be aware that more modern establishment makes its home there - a luxury hotel!

Considering how hot it can get outside, it definitely provides a welcome coolness:

(images via)
This PC case mod would fit right there, in that cave hotel room:

(case mod by Mashie)
Then again, there's a wildly original Stockholm subway station, seemingly built inside a natural (in reality - blasted) cave :

"Metro on Mars":

(image credit: Hannes R.)