23 astonishing places of worship from around the world
Beautiful places of worship don't have to be ornate, as the Pagoda, in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, demonstrates. The stone slab was recently shortlisted at the World Architecture Festival as one of the year's best designed buildings.
More familiar are the towering palaces that loom over their surrounding landscapes, like the Hazrat Sultan Mosque, widely considered a jewel in Kazakhstan's capital city of Astana.
Others include the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ...
... the Qolşärif Mosque, in Kazan, Russia ...
... and the Sultanahmet Mosque, which can be found in Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque is home to more than 20,000 handmade tiles.
The Golden Temple in Amritsar, India is a stunning structure that seems to have been dropped right in the middle of the Amritsar river.
Beijing's Temple of Heaven fits the bill.
As does the Taktsang Palphug Monastery, which is tucked away on a rockface in Bhutan's Paro Valley.
The Las Lajas Sanctuary in Narino, Colombia also looks like it defies gravity.
It's a problem the rock-cut churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia don't really have to deal with. (It might look like a small pit, but notice visitors in the bottom-right hand corner.)
Sometimes our mental picture of certain regions doesn't fit reality. The largest Hindu temple — the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir — is located in Atlanta, Georgia.
And sometimes our eyes can't comprehend what they see. Here's the Basilica Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, designed by modernist architect Antoni Gaudí.
In Onomichi, Japan, couples frequently turn to the Ribbon Chapel for their wedding ceremonies — and understandably so.
Also surrounded by green is the Light of Life Church in Seoul, South Korea.
Which, on the inside, looks a whole lot different.
Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral delivers a more traditional sense of awe with its colorful swirling peaks. The structure almost seems to be made of candy.
Other are purely architectural wonders, like the beautifully symmetrical Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India.
Or Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica, with its warm, golden interior.
The feel isn't unlike that of Iceland's Hallgrímskirkja, with its warm, golden exterior.
In Samut Prakan, Thailand, a custom involves Buddhist monks circling the Wat Asokaram temple with candles.
Similarly, in Mecca's Grand Mosque, Muslims orbit the holy structure by the tens of thousands. It's part of the faith's annual pilgrimage, known as Hajj. More than eight million people visited in a 10-day span for Ramadan in 2015.
Frenzied as some rituals may be, however, some places of worship — like the Cardedeu in El Salvador — bring faith back to a calmer place of reflection and serenity.
Wat Rong Khun, better known as the aptly-named White Temple, serves as a dual art exhibit and meditation site. The artist behind the renovation expects repairs to last until the late 21st century.
In Madurai, India, sits the busy, multi-colored Meenakshi Amman Temple. From far away, it's tough to appreciate the true level of detail that went into its construction ...
... but up close you can't ignore how much time and effort went into building such a precious work of art.
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