No, we are not talking about the Taj Mahal… that is a huge tomb, not a temple. We are not even talking about Petra or the Pyramids, which have religious symbols but are not connected to those of a real temple. Temples are timeless places, frozen in time, sometimes still in use, other times abandoned… but they always have something deeply sacred that is striking. The world is full of temples, and making lists is not easy. But you can choose the most beautiful, or the largest, or the strangest based on their characteristics. Here we suggest five temples that you absolutely must see, at least once in your life.
White Temple of Chiang Rai
Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple of Chiang Rai, is the main tourist-religious attraction in Thailand. Large in size, it is especially impressive for the white color of the stone they used for its construction. The color is made even brighter by pieces of glass and mirrors set into the brickwork, so that it can even sparkle in the sun! In addition to the color and size, the wonder of this sacred place also consists in the very fine sculptural decorations with which its towers, pagodas, roofs and walls are literally “embroidered”. Overall it looks like a cloud of veil lace, or a riot of cherry blossoms, rather than a building. To reach it, the quickest and most comfortable way is to take a domestic flight from Bangkok Airport to the local one in Chiang Rai.
Datong’s Hanging Temple
This incredible Buddhist temple is located in China (the local airport is Datong) and has been enlarged and diversified over time. Today it includes around 40 rooms, perched on the cliff between 50 and 75 meters high. Over the centuries it has been dedicated not only to Buddha, but also to Confucius and to the Taoist theories. It can be reached by climbing a very long staircase. The perfectly finished and embellished architecture, despite the impervious location, can only leave you speechless! In the past it also functioned as a transit station for caravans crossing the mountains on their way to Beijing.
Batu Caves Temple
Discovered by chance by farmers looking for fertilizer, these three gigantic caves carved into a mountain in Selangor, Malaysia, are not far from Kuala Lumpur. And for this reason they are a destination for great tourism, religious and not. Pilgrims of Hindu faith come here because it is one of the largest Hindu shrines outside India. Tourists want to admire – and perhaps walk through – the endless colored stairways that enter the mountain. The internal spaces are so high that they could easily contain ten-storey buildings! Instead you will find endless statues, altars and flowers.
Parthenon in Athens
If you think that Western culture was probably born here, it gives you chills to admire the Parthenon in Athens. And you can’t help but stare at it in wonder, also because it dominates the city from the top of the Acropolis hill and is expertly illuminated at night. The style is Doric, the large columns are practically all intact. It has undergone several restorations, the last of which was between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s. The reference airport for visiting this temple is Athens‘.
Temple of Neptune in Paestum
The Doric temple of Neptune, in Paestum in Campania (Italy) is one of the best preserved thousand-year-old temples in the world. It means that from the 5th century BC to today it has only suffered a few collapses and is still almost intact. The powerful columns are all standing, as is the pediment. The internal environments are intact, with the division into naves and with the heart of the temple still well defined. To reach it you will have to land at Naples Airport.