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Sun temple

Religious building dedicated to solar deities and/or the Sun From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sun temple
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A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the world including in India,[1] China, Egypt, Japan and Peru. Some of the temples are in ruins, undergoing excavation, preservation or restoration and a few are listed as World Heritage Sites individually or as part of a larger site, such as Konark.[2]

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The 11th century Suryanar temple dedicated to the Hindu Sun-god Surya is still in active worship.
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China

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West Holy Gate, Temple of the Sun (Beijing)

The Temple of the Sun in Beijing, China, was built in 1530 during the Ming dynasty by the Jiajing Emperor,[3] together with new temples dedicated to the Earth and the Moon, and an expansion of the Temple of Heaven.[3][4] The Temple of the Sun was used by the imperial court for elaborate acts of worship involving fasting, prayers, dancing and animal sacrifices, as part of a year-long cycle of ceremonies involving all the temples.[5] An important element was the colour red, which was associated with the Sun, including red utensils for food and wine offerings, and red clothes for the emperor to wear during the ceremonies.[5] The temple is now part of a public park.[6]

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Egypt

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A plan of Userkaf's temple

In ancient Egypt, there were a number of sun temples. Among these old monuments is the Great Temple of Ramses at Abu Simbel,[7] and complexes built by the Fifth Dynasty, of which only two examples survive, that of Userkaf and of Niuserre.[8] The Fifth Dynasty temples usually had three components, a main temple building at a higher elevation, accessed by a causeway, from a much smaller entrance building.[9] In 2006, archaeologists found ruins underneath a market in Cairo, which could possibly be the largest temple built by Ramesses II.[10][11]

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India

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The sun temples of the Indian subcontinent are dedicated to the Hindu deity Surya,[12] with the most prominent among them being the Konark Sun Temple (also known as the Black Pagoda), a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[13][14] at Konark in Odisha and the Sun Temple at Modhera, Gujarat, built in 1026–1027. Both are now ruins, having been destroyed by invading Muslim armies. Konark was constructed around 1250, by Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.[15][16] Surya was an important deity in early Hinduism, but sun worship largely declined as a principal deity around the 12th century. In Manipuri mythology, the sun god Korouhanba is the synonym of the Hindu deity Surya. Other Surya or sun temples in the Indian subcontinent include:

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Inca empire

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Qurikancha with Convent of Santo Domingo above
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The base of the circular tower of the Inca Muyuq Marka still remains

The following are Pre-Columbian temples of Inti (the Inca god Sun):

Others

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Maya Temple of the Sun in Palenque, Mexico.

There are also sun temple sites in a number of other countries:

  • In the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, United States, there is a structure which may have been used as a sun temple by the Pueblo culture,[36] with construction thought to have begun in 1275 AD,[37] although it does not seem to have been completed.[38]
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Other usages

The name Temple of the Sun or Sun Temple was given to a folly which stood in Kew Gardens from 1761 until 1916. It was designed and built by William Chambers, who also planted a cedar tree next to the structure earlier, in 1725. In 1916, a storm brought down the cedar tree, which destroyed the folly in the process.[39]

See also

References

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