Book Review: Amazing Temples of the World by Michael Kerrigan

Amazing Temples of the World by Michael Kerrigan offers readers an intimate portrait of some spectacular and unusual places of worship dating from the fourth millennium BCE to the present. Ornate or spartan, immense or intimate, from the Middle East to California, this book features such impressive places of worship as the Mahabodi Temple, India, built in the location where Buddha is thought to have achieved enlightenment; the fifth century BCE Temple of Confucius in Qufu, China, the largest Confucian temple in the world; Abu Simbel, in southern Egypt, the great carved monument to the Pharaoh Ramses II; the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, the spiritual home of the world’s 25 million Sikhs; and the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, the biggest Hindu temple outside India. With more than 180 photographs, this book includes more than 150 places of worship, from Ancient Greece and Rome, through traditional synagogues to modern Buddhist, Taoist and Sikh temples organized by region.

Amazing Temples of the World is a collection of stunning temples from around the world. I liked that the images included ancient and modern places of worship, including those in a wide variety of repair. The contrast between the ancient ruins, the well maintained and highly decorated, and the simplicity of some of the temples was wonderful to see. I loved getting the opportunity to see places that I am not likely to get to see in person, for a variety of reasons. It was also interesting to see that even across several continents, spanning a variety of religions and centuries, there is a similarity of reverence and majesty in all locations regardless of the obvious differences.