CULTURE

The ten largest temples in the world

Believers or not, it is undeniable that religion has always played a fundamental role in human history, leaving an important imprint in all civilizations.

Just think of the great Roman temples, the Greek gods, the Egyptian culture or the great Hindu and Buddhist temples.

And, despite the passing of years, in some cases even millennia, today we are still lucky enough to be able to admire and visit some of the greatest temples ever built!

Here are the 10 largest temples in the world!

© Vyacheslav Argenberg / http://www.vascoplanet.com/, CC BY 4.0
10 - Baalbek Temple, Baalbek (Lebanon)
Baaalbek, also called Heliopolis, is a spectacular archaeological site in northeastern Lebanon, was built to be the largest temple of the Roman Empire. The temple is 69 meters long and 36 meters wide. Its walls are adorned with 42 Corinthian columns, 19 of which remain erected upright at 19 meters high.
KARTY JazZ, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
9 - Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai (India)
Located in the city of Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Here is the temple of Meenakshi Amman, located right in the center of the city and which covers 180,000 square meters. This temple is the highest expression of the Dravidian culture, a population that settled in this part of India 6000-5000 years ago.
Nirinsanity, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
8 - Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tamil Nadu, (India)
Just 170 kilometers from Madurari, in the small town of Thanjavur we can visit the Brihadeeswarar Temple, also  called Rajarajesvaram or Peruvudaiyār Kōvil. It is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the largest temples in all of southern India, with an extension of 180,700 square meters.
ogwen, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
7 - Tikal Temple IV, Tikal (Guatemala)
Tikal was the largest Mayan city between about 200. Tikal contains 6 very large step pyramids, the largest of which, the pyramid of Temple IV, is about 72 meters (230 feet) high and was finished around 720 AD.
Ela112 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia
6 - Jetavanaramaya, Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka)
Located in the city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, the Jetavanaramaya is the largest stupa in the world when measured in volume. The temple was built by King Mahasena in the third century AD and took 15 years to complete. With a height of 122 metres (400 ft), the Jetavanaramaya was the third tallest structure in the world behind the pyramids of Giza at the time of its completion. The diameter of the dome itself is about 95 metres (312 ft).
Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, CC BY 2.0 , v
5 - Sri Ranganathaswamy, Tamil Nadu (India)
Dedicated to Lord Ranganatha (a reclining form of Lord Vishnu), the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam is an important shrine that receives millions of visitors and pilgrims each year. With an area of 156 acres (631,000 m²), the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is one of the largest temples in the world; In fact, the temple can easily be defined as the largest functioning Hindu temple complex in the world.
Work for hire; Copyright held by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (web: www.baps.org, email: info@baps.org)
4 - Akshardham Temple, New Delhi (India)
The central monument is 43 metres (141 ft) high, 96 metres (316 ft) wide, and 110 metres (370 ft) long, and is lined from top to bottom with carved details of flora, fauna, dancers, musicians, and deities; It is built entirely of pink sandstone Rajasthani and Italian Carrara marble, and has no steel or concrete support.
By 22Kartika - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27781445
3 - Borobudur, Mageland (Central Java)
Located on the Indonesian island of Java, 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta, the Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The Borobodur can be divided into three groups: base, body and top, which resembles the three main divisions of a human body. The base is a square of 123×123 metres (403.5×403.5 ft) in size and 4 metres (13 ft) in wall height. The total area is approximately 2,500 m2.
Luciobocchi, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
2 - Karnak, Luxor (Egypt)
It is the largest ancient temple complex in the world, and represents the combined result of many generations of Egyptian builders. One of Karnak 's most famous structures is the Hypostyle Hall, an area of 5,000 m2 (50,000 square feet). 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows supported a roof that has now fallen. At a height of 24 meters (80 feet) the 2 middle rows are higher than the others.
Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wiki
1 - Angkor Wat, Siem Reap (Cambodia)
Angkor is a vast temple complex in Cambodia with the magnificent remains of several capitals of the KhmerEmpire, from the ninth to the fifteenth century AD. These include the famous temple of Angkor Wat, the largest temple in the world. The temple of Angkor stands on an elevated terrace above the rest of the city and consists of three rectangular galleries that rise up to a central tower, each level higher than the last. The outer gallery of the Angkor Wat temple measures 187 x 215 meters (614 x 705 feet). The inner gallery is a square area of 60 x 60 meters (197 x 197 feet). The tower above the central shrine stands 65 metres (213 ft) above the ground.
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