Akshardham Temple in New Delhi..WOW

[antimony]

Reply to Mobme

Oh wow, thats it :)

sweet ain't it?

Its beautiful, and showcases Hindu influence in South East Asia. Since you are interested in these matters, you should really read up the different architectural styles. I think then you would enjoy them even more.

Meanwhile, here are a few more for your viewing pleasure. These are fairly modern and very well kept

Belur Math, the main temple of the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu Order


Dakshineshwar Temple at Calcutta: good e.g. of Bengali temple architecture


Birla Temple: built and maintained by the Birla industrialist (think Rockefeller, on an Indian scale) family

[antimony]

Reply to Chanakya

Not true. Most Hindu temples are open to all. I've seen a lot of foreign visitors at a lot of temples. I've never actually understood why even thirupati would bar non hindus. Philosophically Hinduism has no problems with people believing in anything they want. Hell they could believe in nothing at all if they like.

I actually like the South Indian style of temples. Depends on what you consider examples. If you consider it the likes of the Brihadeshwara temple then the symmetry is breathtaking. Tirupati is an atypical example and overtly commercialized.

I am not sure specifically about the Tirupati temple, but I have sen sugn signboards in the temples in Puri, Orissa. I have also seen "foreigners" (read white folk) turned away on that pretext. I don't much like the currently used temples anyway. Most of them are too dirty (Jagannath at Puri, Vishwanath at Benaras). The Dakshineshwar temple is a happy exception. But Kalighat temple in the same city...

Regarding the styles, the Tanjore temple is great, but examples like the Meenakshi tempe at Madurai simply reinforce the point that the Dravidian style is overwhelmingly gaudy for my taste.

[chankya]

The active Hindu temples (like Tirupati) are open to only Hindus anyway.

Not true. Most Hindu temples are open to all. I've seen a lot of foreign visitors at a lot of temples. I've never actually understood why even thirupati would bar non hindus. Philosophically Hinduism has no problems with people believing in anything they want. Hell they could believe in nothing at all if they like.

I actually like the South Indian style of temples. Depends on what you consider examples. If you consider it the likes of the Brihadeshwara temple then the symmetry is breathtaking. Tirupati is an atypical example and overtly commercialized.

[Mobbme]

I am not sure about the movie location, but Cambodia does have this:
Angkor Wat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh wow, thats it :)

sweet ain't it?

[antimony]

Have you watched Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie? In one of her movies she visits Cambodia I believe and the temples there resemble the ones you posted, also very beautiful.

I am not sure about the movie location, but Cambodia does have this:
Angkor Wat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Mobbme]

St. George campus is a beauty no doubt, but try the campus of University of Western Ontario. St. George campus pails in comparison. ;)

Cool. Never been there. Our prom was held at one of the Castles @ St. George campus, was absolutely beautiful :)

[Mobbme]

Personally, I never understood that either. Everyone seems to go orgasmic about the Taj, and yet there are tonnes of other great stuff.

There might be valid reaons though.

Well, to begin with, its a World Wonder ;)

[Mobbme]

If you like Indian temples, here is something for you.

Hindu temples in India have various distinctive styles. Here are some examples:

North Indian Style (also called the Nagara style): temple at Khajuraho


South Indian Style (also called Dravidian style): Brihadishwara Temple at Tanjore


Note that way the main towers go up and the difference in the decorations at the peak. Some of these temples are more than thousand years old, maybe older.

You will notice that the Swaminarayan temple follows the North Indian style. That is a style that I personally prefer, the South Indian style is too gaudy for me.

Now you're speaking my language m8 :) Those temples are beautiful. I could see myself hanging there all day, might sound boring to many, but the beauty is breath taking.

Have you watched Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie? In one of her movies she visits Cambodia I believe and the temples there resemble the ones you posted, also very beautiful.

My advice to you would be to take some time off and visit this "3rd world country", in winter. It would be very "different" from what Canada is, but the different things you can see will be worth the "difference":)

I'd love to visit India and the rest of Asia if I had the wallet for that, but my reason to visit wouldn't be for the temples, but in all fairness I would love to see these temples in person.

[antimony]

I was talking about the Indian temple in the OP, not the Canadian Temple. Although that Temple looks good too, over here there's the Neasden Temple which looks similar

Personally out of the three types of Architecture that seems to be prevalent in India, the Hindu architecture is the best looking, followed by Colonial/European, then Islamic. But I've never been a fan of Islamic architecture. Personally I'm surprised how much India likes to hype up various foreign buildings such as the Victoria station in Mumbai or the Taj Mahal yet doesn't seem to promote its own Hindu architecture, it's actually quite a shame

Personally, I never understood that either. Everyone seems to go orgasmic about the Taj, and yet there are tonnes of other great stuff.

There might be valid reaons though. The older Hindu temples are not in that great a shape when compared to the more modern muslim architcture, especially the Taj. Even the upkeep of the historial buildings that have come up in the past 500-600 years or so pale in comparison to the maintenance effort of the Taj.

The active Hindu temples (like Tirupati) are open to only Hindus anyway.

About the colonial buildings, the ones that are not on display are used as government building, so they are not open to thre public in many cases. Even then, the external facade is the interesting part. The internal space is very functional, even downright dingy due to the way government offices in India are run

[Steezy]

Yes, except that this building is in Canada, not India.

I was talking about the Indian temple in the OP, not the Canadian Temple. Although that Temple looks good too, over here there's the Neasden Temple which looks similar

Personally out of the three types of Architecture that seems to be prevalent in India, the Hindu architecture is the best looking, followed by Colonial/European, then Islamic. But I've never been a fan of Islamic architecture. Personally I'm surprised how much India likes to hype up various foreign buildings such as the Victoria station in Mumbai or the Taj Mahal yet doesn't seem to promote its own Hindu architecture, it's actually quite a shame

[Tronic]

Yeah, its an old building. Reminds me of a U of T campus building in Downtown, Toronto.

St. George campus is a beauty no doubt, but try the campus of University of Western Ontario. St. George campus pails in comparison. ;)

[antimony]

Reply to Mobme

Oh yeah, its not something you see in everyday life in India. I can say the same thing about your temples. I admire the beauty of your temples more, because its not something I see everyday.

If you like Indian temples, here is something for you.

Hindu temples in India have various distinctive styles. Here are some examples:

North Indian Style (also called the Nagara style): temple at Khajuraho


South Indian Style (also called Dravidian style): Brihadishwara Temple at Tanjore


Note that way the main towers go up and the difference in the decorations at the peak. Some of these temples are more than thousand years old, maybe older.

You will notice that the Swaminarayan temple follows the North Indian style. That is a style that I personally prefer, the South Indian style is too gaudy for me.

My advice to you would be to take some time off and visit this "3rd world country", in winter. It would be very "different" from what Canada is, but the different things you can see will be worth the "difference":)

[Mobbme]

Actually my city has a few of these building, since it used to be the capital of British India for some time.

All/ most of the old government building have a colonial origin and therefore European architecture


There are tonnes of these
That is why I really liked London, it was like getting back to much cleaner, coller Calcutta on a whole different level

Then you'd really like it in Quebec City, Quebec; except the people speak a different language lol

[antimony]

Yeah, its an old building. Reminds me of a U of T campus building in Downtown, Toronto.



Oh yeah, its not something you see in everyday life in India. I can say the same thing about your temples. I admire the beauty of your temples more, because its not something I see everyday.

Actually my city has a few of these building, since it used to be the capital of British India for some time.

All/ most of the old government building have a colonial origin and therefore European architecture

There is the St. Paul's Cathedral


The governor's Palace, based on Keddlestone Hall in England


Military Secretariat (used to be, at least)


There are tonnes of these
That is why I really liked London, it was like getting back to much cleaner, coller Calcutta on a whole different level

[Mobbme]

You will notice the similarity with the Taj, but this uses a completely different architectural style

Shame that I could not get better pictures of this beautiful monument

Yeah, its an old building. Reminds me of a U of T campus building in Downtown, Toronto.

To each his own.

The great thing about historic building in India is that you get to se a number of distinctive architectural styles, from the temples of Hindu India (north and south have different styles) to the Islamic architecturals styles to European styles.

Would you believe that I actually prefer the Victoria Memorial in my home town of Calcutta to the Taj?

Oh yeah, its not something you see in everyday life in India. I can say the same thing about your temples. I admire the beauty of your temples more, because its not something I see everyday.