Places of Worship

In large cities and small villages around the world, regardless of the region’s prevailing religion, the tallest, most elaborate buildings are often religious structures. Sacred structures are physical “anchors” of religion. Some structures are designed for a group to gather, whereas others are intended for individual meditation.

Religious Structures for Assembly

Church, basilica, mosque, temple, and synagogue are familiar names that identify places for collective religious expression in various religions. They share the feature of being places where people come together for prayer.

Christian Churches

The Christian landscape is dominated by a high density of churches. The church is an expression of religious principles, an environment in the image of God. The word church derives from a Greek term meaning “lord,” “master,” and “power.” Church also refers to a gathering of believers as well as the building at which the gathering occurs.

The church is relatively prominent in Christianity in part because attendance at a collective service of worship is considered extremely important by all three major Christian branches. The prominence of churches on the landscape also stems from their style of construction and location. In some communities, the church was traditionally the largest and tallest building and was placed at an important square or other prominent location. Although such characteristics may no longer apply in large cities, they are frequently still true for small towns and neighborhoods within cities.

Since Christianity split into many denominations, no single style of church construction has dominated. Churches reflect both the cultural values of the denomination and the region’s architectural heritage. Orthodox churches follow an architectural style that developed in the Byzantine Empire during the fifth century. Byzantine-style Orthodox churches tend to be highly ornate, topped by prominent domes. Many Protestant churches in North America, on the other hand, are simple, with little ornamentation. This austerity is a reflection of the Protestant conception of a church as an assembly hall for preaching to the congregation.

Orthodox Church

Saint Nicholas, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Availability of building materials also influences church appearance. In the United States, early churches were most frequently built of wood in the Northeast, brick in the Southeast, and adobe in the Southwest. Stucco and stone predominated in Latin America. This diversity reflected differences in the most common building materials found by early settlers.

Islamic Mosques

The word mosque derives from the Arabic for “place of worship.” Muslims consider a mosque to be a location for the community to gather together for worship. Mosques are found primarily in larger cities of the Islamic world; simple structures may serve as places of prayer in rural villages.

A mosque is organized around a central courtyard—traditionally open-air, although it may be enclosed in harsher climates. The pulpit is placed at the end of the courtyard facing Makkah, the direction toward which all Muslims pray. Surrounding the courtyard is a cloister used for schools and nonreligious activities. A distinctive feature of the mosque is the minaret, a tower where a man known as a muezzin summons people to worship.

Sikh Gurdwara

Sikhs come together for worship at a gurdwara. The most important gurdwara is the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, in Amritsar, India. The Golden Temple houses Sikhism’s holiest book, the Guru Granth Sahib. Most gurdwaras imitate the layout of the Golden Temple. A gurdwara is identified by the Sikh flag flying from a tall flagpole.

Sikh Gurdwara

The Harmandir Sahib, known informally as the Golden Temple, Amritsar, India.

Jewish Synagogues

The word synagogue derives from the Greek word for “assembly.” The building is often referred to by the Yiddish word shul, similar to the German word for “school.” As these words suggest, a synagogue is a place for study and public assembly as well as for prayer. The origin of the synagogue is unknown; it possibly came to be during the sixth century B.C.E., when Jews were living in exile in Babylonia, after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. (refer to page 226). Synagogues took on more importance as the place for communal prayer after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.

Bahá'í Houses of Worship

Bahá'ís have built Houses of Worship in every continent to dramatize that Bahá'í is a universalizing religion with adherents all over the world. Houses of Worship have been built in Wilmette, Illinois, in 1953; Sydney, Australia, in 1961; Kampala, Uganda, in 1962; Lagenhain, near Frankfurt, Germany, in 1964; Panama City, Panama, in 1972; Tiapapata, near Apia, Samoa, in 1984; and New Delhi, India, in 1986. The first Bahá'í House of Worship, built in 1908 in Ashgabat, Russia, now the capital of Turkmenistan, was turned into a museum by the Soviet Union and demolished in 1962 after a severe earthquake. New Houses of Worship are planned in Tehran, Iran; Santiago, Chile; and Haifa, Israel. In addition, several holy places related to the Prophet Bahá'u'lláh are located in Israel. All Bahá'í Houses of Worship are required to be built in the shape of a nonagon (nine-sided).

Religious Structures for Individual Meditation

For some religions, a structure is intended as a place of reflection for an individual or a small group.

Buddhist Pagodas

Pagodas contain relics that Buddhists believe to be a portion of Buddha’s body or clothing. After Buddha’s death, his followers scrambled to obtain these relics. As part of the process of diffusing the religion, Buddhists carried these relics to other countries and built pagodas for them. Pagodas typically include tall, many-sided towers arranged in a series of tiers, balconies, and slanting roofs. Pagodas are not designed for congregational worship. Individual prayer or meditation is more likely to be undertaken at an adjacent temple, at a remote monastery, or in a home.

Buddhist Pagoda

Shwedagon Pagoda (Golden Pagoda), Yangon, Myanmar.

Hindu Temples

Important Hindu religious functions are more likely to take place at home within the family. A Hindu temple is a structure designed to bring individuals closer to their gods. It serves as a shrine to one or more gods and as a place for individual reflection and meditation, in accordance with one’s personal practices within the faith.

As with many other elements of Hinduism, the time and place of origin of temples are unknown. Detailed evidence of the existence of temples dates from the first century B.C.E. Size and number of temples are determined by local preferences and commitment of resources rather than standards imposed by religious doctrine.

Pause & Reflect 6.3.1

What differences appear in the images of a Buddhist pagoda and a Christian church?