Top 8 Largest Religious Sites in the World - Mytour.vn

Grand Mosque of Mecca, also known as the Holy Mosque or Haram Mosque; located in Saudi Arabia, was built to encompass the holiest shrine of Islam - being one of the destinations of Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. It welcomes millions of faithful visitors annually. The oldest parts of the modern structure date back to the 16th century. As of August 2020, the Grand Mosque of Mecca is the largest mosque in the world. It has undergone numerous renovations and expansions over the years, under the control of various kings, and is currently under the control of the Saudi Arabian monarchy.

According to Islamic tradition, this mosque was first built by angels; even before humans were created. However, over time, its structure was damaged by floods. But indeed, the mosque was first built during the reign of Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (634-644). The current structure of the Grand Mosque of Mecca dates back to 1571 AD, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Selim II. Following King Fahad, in the early 1950s, King Abdul Aziz Saud planned expansions to increase its capacity. Today, the structure that one sees has been renovated by King Salman - who renovated the northern part. Its current area is 400,800 square meters, including both indoor and outdoor prayer spaces, accommodating around 4 million Muslim worshipers during Hajj or Umrah. It includes 9 minarets, each towering 89 meters above the ground; with 210 gates, allowing pilgrims from all sides to enter. It has a rectangular central courtyard surrounded by prayer areas, where some pilgrimage rituals take place. Pilgrims use the courtyard to perform the circumambulation ritual. Two other sacred sites within the courtyard are: the shrine of Abraham, along with a sacred stone, and the Zamzam well. Directly east of the northern courtyard are two small hills that pilgrims must run or walk between in a special ritual. In the 20th century, a covered walkway between the two hills was incorporated into the mosque.

The current architecture is the product of many centuries of development. In pre-Islamic times, it was a place of worship for polytheistic Arabs, set in a spacious area where worshippers gathered to pray and perform rituals. It was very sacred to the early followers of the prophet Muhammad. After Muslims migrated to Medina in 622 AD, they prayed briefly near Jerusalem until Muhammad returned to Mecca in 630 AD, whereupon he ordered the destruction of the idols housed in the temple, thereby cleansing it of polytheistic associations.

In November 1979, the Grand Mosque of Mecca was the focal point of an uprising against the Saudi royal family, when it was seized by a group of several hundred Muslim militants. After receiving a religious ruling allowing the use of force in the mosque - where violence is forbidden, government forces retook it in a bloody battle in December.

Another expansion project of the Grand Mosque of Mecca was initiated by King Fahd in 1984, to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims. This number had risen to over a million people per year in the 1980s. The buildings around it were leveled to make way for expansion as well as the construction of a new marble area around the mosque. To alleviate congestion during Hajj, escalators were installed, along with the construction of tunnels and pedestrian walkways. Modern communication and outdoor air conditioning systems were also completed.

Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, is a sacred prayer and pilgrimage site for Jews. It is the only remaining part of the wall that surrounded the Temple Mount. The temples in Jerusalem were all regarded as uniquely sacred by ancient Jews. The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587–586 BCE, and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. King Herod built this wall in 20 BCE as part of the expansion of the Second Temple. When the Romans destroyed it, the supporting wall remained. For centuries, people prayed at a small visible section of the wall. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, Israelis dug deep beneath the wall and cleared the area around it to create the Western Wall Plaza that people can see today.

When the Romans leveled the Second Temple, they left a wall outside. Perhaps they also destroyed that wall, but it seems they deemed it too mundane for them, as it was not part of the temple, but merely a wall surrounding the Temple Mount. The Western Wall did not truly have special significance until the 16th century, when Sultan Suleyman I ended nearly 300 years of Mamluk rule and established the Ottoman Empire. He restored Jerusalem's walls in 1536 and encouraged Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal to settle in the city. In 1546, an earthquake devastated the area as well as damaging the Temple Mount and surrounding areas. Suleyman ordered the clearance of the rubble of neighboring houses to the Western Wall to create a place of prayer for Jews. He issued a decree that Jews had the right to pray there at all times, which has been upheld by his successors for over 400 years. It became the second holiest place for Jews as well as a pilgrimage site. For centuries, Jews from around the world have made pilgrimages to Palestine, always heading to the Western Wall to give thanks to God. The prayers offered here are so sincere that people began to call this site the “Wailing Wall”. However, it has endured terrible things for over a thousand years under Muslim, Arab rule; often being turned into a garbage dump by them to humiliate visiting Jews. In 1941, the popularity of pilgrimages and prayers here led appointed Jewish rabbis (by the British) to issue regulations on proper conduct.

As seen today, the Western Wall is about 50 meters long and approximately 20 meters high. The reverence of Jews there dates back to the Byzantine period, and the affirmation of the beliefs of the rabbis that the “Divine presence never departs from the Western Wall”. Jews lament the destruction of the temple while always praying for its restoration, hence the long-standing custom of placing written wishes or prayers into the cracks of the wall. Terms like the Wailing Wall were also coined by European travelers, as they witnessed the solemn prayers of devout Jews before the relic.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a renowned Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva, located in Vishwanath Gali, India. The temple is one of the sacred pilgrimage sites, situated on the western bank of the Ganges River, considered a central part of Shaiva cultural worship in Hinduism. In ancient times, Varanasi was called Kashi, meaning “luminous,” and hence it is named Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The temple has been destroyed multiple times, most recently by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb - who replaced it with the Gyanvapi mosque on its site. The current structure was built on a nearby site by the Maratha ruler Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1780. Since 1983, it has been managed by a board of trustees established by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Queen Maratha Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore oversaw the construction of the current Kashi Vishwanath temple. In 1835, Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated a ton of gold to gild the temple's dome at the urging of his wife, Maharani Datar Kaur. In February 2022, an anonymous sponsor from South India continued to donate 60kg of gold to the temple, which was used to gild sacred areas. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the “Kashi Vishwanath Corridor” project to expand the area between the temple and the Ganges River to alleviate overcrowding. Now, crowded streets have been transformed into spacious thoroughfares for convenient movement. Under the project, the temple now has 4 entrances for devotees to easily visit. In total, it comprises 23 structures, including: museums, visitor centers, dining areas, and tourist centers. During the implementation of the “Kashi Vishwanath Corridor” project, over 40 old buildings were also rediscovered. On December 13, 2021, Modi inaugurated the corridor with a holy ceremony.

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas (highly revered representations of the god Shiva) most sacred on earth. Its origins stem from a legend, where the gods Brahma and Vishnu fought to see who was the strongest. As a judge, Lord Shiva took the form of a beam of light traversing the three worlds. Shiva instructed them to find the source of the light, whoever finds the end will be deemed the strongest. Brahma rode a swan to search, while Vishnu transformed into a boar to dig. The 12 Jyotirlingas are where the light of Shiva traversed the earth, and this temple is one of them.

The carvings of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple are a splendid example of architectural grandeur. The main temple is square-shaped, with smaller shrines of other deities surrounding it. The main deity’s temple is covered by a silver altar, standing at 60cm high and 90cm long. The structure atop is divided into 3 parts: the first being a spire, the second a dome gilded in gold, and the third a tower also gilded in gold with a flag and three spires atop. Throughout the entire complex, one can find smaller temples dedicated to various gods. The temple has a small well, called the Jnana Vapi or Gyan Vapi (well of knowledge). Visitors make the most of their time there to contemplate the spiritual journey the temple represents.

The Holy Sepulchre Church is one of the most sacred and remarkable places in Christianity. Situated in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, it encompasses two of the holiest sites: the place where Jesus Christ was crucified, known as Calvary or Golgotha, and the empty tomb where he was buried and resurrected. Each reconstruction of the church incorporates relics from its previous structures. Today, the tomb is enclosed within a 19th-century shrine called the Aedicule.

Mahabodhi Temple is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the first Buddha, and it is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is an ancient Buddhist temple restored and reconstructed in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Additionally, this place houses the descendant of the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and it has been an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists for over 2,000 years. The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century BCE, and the present temple dates back to the 5th or 6th century CE. The property includes the largest remains of the ancient Indian subcontinent of this ancient period, with a site area of 48,600 hectares - one of the first Buddhist temples built entirely of brick that still exists in India since the late Gupta period, it is considered to have had a significant influence on the development of brick architecture over many centuries.

The current Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodh Gaya consists of a large temple 50m high, the Bodhi tree, and 6 other sacred enlightenment sites of the Buddha; surrounding it are many ancient stupas well maintained, well protected by circular boundaries inside, in the middle, and outside. It is a unique property, of archaeological significance for events related to the Buddha's time there, as well as recording the development of worship. Especially from the 3rd century, during the time Emperor Asoka built the first temple, the railing and the memorial platform are the next development of the ancient city, with the construction of conservation areas, monasteries by foreign kings over many centuries.

The main temple wall has an average height of 11m, built in the classical style of Indian temple architecture. The entrance is from the east and north, with a low basement decorated with golden flowers. At the four corners of the temple are 4 Buddha statues in small shrines. Each small shrine has a stupa built above it. The temple faces east and includes a small front courtyard, with Buddha statues on either side. Outside the entrance to the hall is where the seated Buddha statue is placed, gilded and over 1.5m high. Above the main hall is the shrine - where high monks gather to meditate. Outside are stairs leading to a long corridor right in the center of the main temple and its surrounding area. Along this corridor are important sites associated with events after the Buddha's enlightenment, along with pagodas, golden temples, and horses.

Most importantly among the sacred sites mentioned above is the giant Bodhi tree, west of the main temple, believed to be the direct descendant of the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha spent his first week of enlightenment. At the north end of the central road, on the raised area, is a prayer room - believed to be where the Buddha spent his second week. He spent his third week walking back and forth 18 steps in an area called Ratnachakrama - near the north wall of the main temple. The stone lotus blossoms carved on the main podium mark each of his steps. The place he spent the fourth week is Ratnaghar Chaitya, located northeast near the surrounding wall. Just after the stairs of the east entrance on the central road is a column marking the location of the Ajapala Nigrodh tree, where the Buddha meditated in his fifth week. He continued his sixth week next to the lotus pond in the southern area, and the seventh week under the Rajyatana tree in the southeast of the main temple. Next to the Bodhi tree is a platform integral to the main temple made of polished sandstone, called Vajrasana. Previously, a railing also made of sandstone used to surround this area under the Bodhi tree, but only some of its original pillars remain in place; they contain carvings of human faces, animals, and decorative details.

In the historical, philosophical, and cultural context, the Mahabodhi Temple complex carries significant meaning, as it marks the most important event at the time Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. This event shaped human thought and belief. This site is now revered as the most sacred pilgrimage site of Buddhism in the world, as well as being considered the cradle of Buddhism in human history.

The Ise Shrine, located in Mie Prefecture, Japan, is the Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu, the supreme deity of Japan. This complex comprises several shrines concentrated in the two main shrines, Naiku and Geku. Known as a spiritual home, it has a history dating back nearly 2,000 years and remains the most important shrine, culturally significant in Japan. One of the most intriguing facts about the Ise Shrine is that every 20 years, both the inner and outer shrines, as well as the Uji Bridge, are completely dismantled and rebuilt to reflect the belief in renewal, impermanence of all things, and to ensure that construction knowledge and techniques are passed down from generation to generation, as well as the innovation of Shinto.

The Ise Grand Shrine is steeped in spiritual, cultural, and mythological history, recorded in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) - the second oldest book on classical Japanese history. It began when the 11th Emperor Suinin requested his daughter to find a permanent place of worship for the sun goddess Amaterasu and the sacred mirror that the goddess had given to the first emperor. Entrusted with the mission, Princess Yama Hime-no-mikoto traveled throughout Japan for over 20 years to find a suitable location until she was guided by Amaterasu herself to the city of Ise in Mie Prefecture. The princess heard a voice telling her, 'Ise is a remote and comfortable land. I want to live in this land.' To mark the location, she had 50 bells placed to indicate Amaterasu's shrine; that is also why the Isuzu River is called the 'fifty bells' to this day. The shrine built at this location in Ise is known as Naiku (Inner Shrine), followed by Geku (Outer Shrine). Naiku and Geku together form the Ise Grand Shrine, also known as Ise Jingu.

Today, the Ise Grand Shrine comprises a complex of 125 shrines throughout the city of Ise, but Naiku and Geku remain the most sacred sites. Particularly with Naiku - where the sacred mirror is safely kept, this object is considered one of the three imperial regalia. All the shrines are built in a special variant of the architectural style called 'Yuitsu shinmei-zukuri', known for its simplicity, antiquity, and not used in any other shrine. Its buildings only use wooden pegs, interlocking joints instead of nails. Wood from previously dismantled shrines is recycled to make new Torii gates at the entrances, as well as being sent for use in shrines across Japan. The buildings of the Ise Grand Shrine today were constructed in 2013 and will be rebuilt in 2033.

The most important annual festival held at the Ise Shrine is the Kannamesai festival. It is held in October, which is a ritual offering of the first harvest to Amaterasu. A divine envoy from the imperial court will bring rice harvested by the emperor himself to Ise, as well as silk fabrics of five colors and other materials called Heihaku. In addition to the agricultural rituals mentioned, other rituals and festivals are also held throughout the year at both the Inner and Outer Shrines to commemorate things like the new year, the founding of Japan, past emperors, purification rituals for court musicians, the sake brewing process, and the emperor's birthday. Additionally, there are daily food offering ceremonies for the shrine Kami held both in the morning and evening.